Carving a chevron [aka a fern] on a stick

[suzanjane]

true beginner here: working with a stick: carving a long fern
i think i can carve out the leaves [they are thin shapes see pic] on the right side of the stem w a gouge, but the left seems to want have cuts done as cut out divots. is this correct? is there another way?

[Nebraska]

If following you correctly, think it would depend on if you want the leafs to be a positive or negative depiction. Thinking negative would be simplest. Positive the more realistic.

[Brian T]

Yeah, Ed, I wondered about that. I think it would be easier for me to carve deep down and under cut the background for the leaf to be elevated/positive. Monumental task, over and over again. Best of luck.

[suzanjane]

i want to carve out the leaf shapes not have them in relief. but when i do the leaves to the left of the stem it seems to be against the grain which i do not understand... it seems i have to cut into the wood each side of the leaf shape and create the carved out leaf shape that way. on the right side of the stem the gouge tool works perfectly.

[Just Carving]

The way I look at it is the leaf to the right would be carved raised but "wrapped around the stick" while the leaf to the left would require a "divot or recess" carved into the stick and then the leaf would be carved raised in the divot.

Another way I can explain it would be if you were carving on a half pipe made of wood. The leaf on the right would be carved on the outside radius while the left leaf would be carved in the inside radius. You just need to create the inside radius on the stick before carving the left leaf.

BobL

[Nebraska]

i want to carve out the leaf shapes not have them in relief. but when i do the leaves to the left of the stem it seems to be against the grain which i do not understand... it seems i have to cut into the wood each side of the leaf shape and create the carved out leaf shape that way. on the right side of the stem the gouge tool works perfectly.

A photo of your project could help us to better understand what you are dealing with.



It maybe if the grain of the wood requires a different process to obtain your desired results then that’s just the way it is.

or

possibly if you orientated the fern differently on the wood you could avoid this problem.

[Dark Lightning]

If you want the finished carving to look like the picture, you are going to run into cross grain, unless you cut every leaf out of a separate piece. That would be pretty tedious. If you make it lifelike and not a relief carving, the leaves will be weak because of the cross grain, otherwise.

[joepaulbutler]

You might try carving the silhouette of each leave before shaping them. leaving a good amount of wood beneath each leave, once satisfied with the placement and shape of the leaves, then carve the top surface to the desired shape, curved up or curved down. If you have any power tools, you could then undercut each leave, which could be done with hand tools, but breakage would tend to be higher A thin 'wheel" or a "knife edge" bur would be my choice