110 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
leave the greater part of the work to be 
done in the finishing. Of course, every 
piece of wood intended to be carved is 
subjected to at least two processes, viz., 
tlie roughing, or blocliing out, and the 
finishing process. The first thing, tlien, to 
be done, after the design has been care- 
fully marked or traced on the wood to be 
carved, is to cut away all waste or super- 
fluous wood, such as sinking the ground- 
work of a panel, for instance. "When 
this is done, the outlines and shapes of 
the leaves, etc., of the design should be 
roughly shown, and after the design has 
been thus blocked out, it is advisable to 
thoroughly sharpen the 
tools required, and then 
to carefully finish off 
every detail. I have, in 
Eig. 1, given a simple de- 
sign of ivy-leaves, which 
may easily be utilized as 
a panel. We will sup- 
pose that the piece of 
wood intended for the 
panel has been smoothly 
planed and squared, and 
is either oak or walnut 
and not exceeding half 
an inch in thickness, and that the de- j 
sign has been drawn on the wood, as 
at Fig. 1. The work should be firmly | 
fastened down to the work-bench by a 
carver's bench-screw or other efQcient 
device. A good holder can be made by 
taking a piece of pine about one and a 
half inches wide and one inch thick and 
six inches long ; saw out a piece from one 
end a little less than the thickness of the 
stuff to be carved, running down the stuff 
about a lialf an inch and across the 
widest way ; this will leave a jog or shoul- 
der on the piece ; run this shoulder against 
the edge stuff, letting the upper part over- 
lap. Then screw the piece tight down to 
the work-bench, and it will hold the work 
solid. Sometimes it may be necessary to 
use two or even three of these holders to 
make the work firm and solid. 
Having secured the work firmly to the 
work-bench, take a parting tool and work 
it carefully around the outside of the out- 
lines of the leaves and stems and inside 
of the panel mouldings, and then with 
tools of the proper shape and the mallet, 
set in the lines made with the parting 
tool. Cut away all the suoken portions of 
the design (Fig. 1) with hollow tools. The 
gToundwork of the design should be 
about i or i of an inch deep, and when 
this depth is reached the "router" will 
be found to be the most convenient in- 
strument for regulating the depth. The 
cutter of the "router" should be set to 
the depth required, and then by pressing 
it firmly, and working it sharply back- 
wards and forwards, a level ground will 
be obtained. 
In setting out the outlines of the leaves, 
Fig. 1. 
etc., it will be better to cut outside the 
lines, and care should be taken to cut 
down perpendicular; otherwise, if the 
leaves are undercut, the shape will be 
spoiled when they come to be finished. 
Bent fiat tools are used for clearing away 
the wood when making the groundwork, 
and for clearing out the wood that cannot 
be taken out with the "router." 
When the groundwork has been so far 
finished, a commencement should be 
made in forming the mouldings, and 
roughly shaping and giving the required 
turns to the leaves and stem, but no fin- 
ishing touches should be put on until the 
whole design has been gone over in this 
manner. 
It is better in doing this to use hollow 
tools only, leaving the flat tools to flnish 
off the work with. Of course, in setting 
in the outlines, the tools that are the 
proper sweep to fit the lines should be 
used. 
When all the design has been carefully 
gone over, as above described, there re- 
