Nautical Research Journal
For those unfamiliar with the steps to produce an applied carving, here is an illustrated guide.
A. Choose the carving you need to produce.
B. Trace the elements. T is tracing will be used to cut the wood you need.
C. Draw a section through it and establish the required thickness of the wood. Cut the wood as in the image, and drill the holes ensuring perfect round, uniform circles, if this is applicable to your design. Mount the blank on a piece of brass using shellac.
D. Turn a dowel of the same wood to the proper diameter to fi t into the holes, cut it into slices of the correct thickness, and mount them on the brass. Start carving, checking fi t as you go. I use round diamond burs periodically to smooth the elements and establish their thicknesses. Tiny tips ground small and fl at are invaluable at this point. Also use a #11 blade to keep corners square.
E. Mount the fi nished product on the ship or a suitable background. Most applied carvings are mounted directly to the ship’s outer surface. Because this is a multi-part carving, I found it easier to assemble it on a board. I like doing this because I can detail it further and make corrections before mounting it. I have not yet made corrections in this photograph.
Gunport lions and other small ornaments can be treated in the same manner as the fl eur-de-lys shown above. Larger ornaments, such as the eagle in Figure 14, can be attached to a carving backboard with rubber cement. T is works because the carving is larger (almost two inches across) and it has no small thin parts that might move while carving. Purchase good quality rubber cement from a local artist supply store along with Bestine rubber cement solvent and thinner. Simply apply the rubber cement to your backboard and the back of the blank, let it dry for a couple of minutes, and touch the two together. Be
accurate; they will not move once in contact with each other.
Bestine can be used where other solvents, like lacquer thinner, might dissolve a fi nish or a plastic. It will not dissolve water-based paint, either, and it is excellent for cleaning off graphite, dirt, or some adhesives, like from Post-it labels.
III: Figurative carving
Figures, fi gureheads, and most free-standing carvings are carved from a block of wood held in the carver’s hand. If the object is small, allow a piece of the wood to form a handle we can grasp as we work. (Figure 15) A handle also avoids darkening your fi gure with natural body oils and discoloring it.
T is powder monkey is leaning over a rail to fetch a canister of powder. He will be mounted in the powder room. I will not be making a mold to duplicate this fi gure. If I were, I might place the handle elsewhere to let it also serve as a sprue for the injection of material into the mold.
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15. Powder monkey carving showing the handle for the carver’s grasp.
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