Keystone

[Mark Yundt]

This Keystone block measured 4 1/2 X 4 1/2 X 8 inch including the toss away moldings. I did the front and side profiles allowing stock for the center of the volutes. I like to do as much as I can with the band saw.
In the center of the scrolls there is a 1/8th inch wide groove that I didn't have a chisel for so I made one. I used an old screwdriver ( tempered metal) bent it to the shape I wanted , tempered it , annealed it, then sharpened it . Worked terrific!

To check on the shape of the scrolls I made a quick template out of thin plastic to act as a visual guide.

[Mark Yundt]

I then had to redraw the sketch because foreshortening made it too small. Also knowing these Architects the look is a bit different than what they draw. So I did my own design keeping the flavor of what they drew for the Acanthus leaves.
As you can see they fit into a space roughly 3" X 3". Not a lot of room for detail but it worked just fine. All carving was done with full size chisels. On a piece like this you can't make a traditional type pass because you're working on a curved surface and the top of the leaves get in the way. You just can't sweep like you could with a traditional carving. Instead you have to make nearly vertical cuts with the chisel in a sweeping motion. It works although seeing it in action looks a bit unorthodox to say the least. You have to anchor one hand and pivot the tip of the chisel against it in a sort of "prying " motion but you can indeed make nice cuts with the chisel basically vertical.

On this piece there is a section of molding that will be butted up against the keystone. This area, though flat and angled had to have a sweep at the junction where it meets the molding along the top. A small detail but important none the less.

The photos of the Leaves are just from carving. The last had some finessing cuts made and since that photo I have done some sanding.
On a piece like this being so small there is little that can be done in the way of sanding so the chisel cuts must be accurate and clean for the most part.
Remember,, this area is not quite 3" X 3 " and there is still a lot going on in there. My fingertip easily covers each leaf so consider the size.

[Mark Yundt]

Just some visual references. As I said my finger can easily cover an entire leaf. Two fingers covers half the carving and my thumb covers the bottom volute.

[Karl Andersson]

Very nice Mark, as usual
that short grain on the tips of the leaves would have made me pretty nervous trying to cut and not pop one off. is that Basswood?
Karl

[Mark Yundt]

Yes it is Karl.
The "cobra hood" was the worst part of this carving with the quick grain changes in so small an area. Here is where sharp chisels are very important . It's basically carving end grain in an unsupported area. There as well as being able to make near vertical shearing cuts where the chisel acts almost like a scraper or plane.

One other area is the radius surface of the scrolls. Here the chisels are used upside down . Some wonder ( recent posts) if a micro bevel is needed to carve this way. It isn't necessary. The chisels do just fine without it. Actually better since since you can use a shallower bevel than you'd have if you put a micro bevel on whatever chisels you're using " upside down". It also changes the angle of attack and makes it steeper increasing the chances of tear outs. Without an inside bevel you can make much more delicate , accurate cuts.
But if you add an extra bevel then what? Remove it for the rest of the cuts? That's just silly.

[Karl Andersson]

I agree - I like a gouge to be dedicated in-cannel or out-cannel as i find they act and cut specific ways. I double-beveled one gouge based on a writer's recommendation and I didn't like it at all - tended to make me have to tilt the handle up to get it to cut, so fine paring wasn't easy. Microbevel - fageddaboudit! too hard to do freehand on shaped carving blades, and stropping blocks keep my tools more than sharp enough.

For wide convex areas like your scrolls, I like an out-cannel gouge with a "nosed" or thumbnail profile - gives a nice shearing cut, especially useful on the portion that is end grain (like having two skew gouges in one). Of course, that profile makes the gouge about useless for anything else - has to be used upside down from then on.

[Mark Yundt]

I personally don't care for that shaped chisel for that as well as other reasons. I also saw an author use one and I didn't like the look of the cuts. It's easy enough to make any chisel act like a skew and keep a more traditional edge on it. Though most of my larger chisels I have never had an edge perfectly square to the shaft either so that goes a long way towards conventional use as well as upside down. Doing that also allows me to make cleaner stop cuts without digging into a vertical sheared cut.
i don't like to see any chisel marks remain after vertical or shearing cuts and this helps a lot.

[Roger Strautman]

You had as much fun making the screwdriver chisel as you did carving the piece didn't you? LOL! I would have! Just give me and excuse to make a unique chisel and I will.

[Mark Yundt]

Yeah it's fun.
Here's another I needed for some large Corbels I did for Cornell Univ. I needed to reach over the scrolls to make just one cut similar to my example on this little key. Now where could you buy something like this?
It was made from a firmer gouge like I'm holding here. I knew I kept those gouges for a reason.

[Mark Yundt]

After swatting at gnats I'd call them done.

[Mark Yundt]

Dropped these off and the next carving in a week or so will be a pair of 3 ft Acanthus corbels with swags and floral drops. Should be interesting.