Small wood carvings can be held
steady in a vice while roughing
out with gouges and a wooden mallet.
For detail work I find it natural
to hold the piece in one hand and
rotate it as I work with a Sloyd
knife, blockcutter and riffler.
Larger pieces can be screwed to
the bench from beneath or held
in place with "bench dogs".
I find I get most control by
using a couple of heavy sandbags.
Logs can be roughed out with a
chainsaw, angle grinder and
a 1½" no.5 gouge hit with a
rubber mallet.
Further shaping can be done with
a large rasp before picking up
smaller gouges, knife and rifflers
for more detailed shaping.
