Category Archives: Chip Carving

Board Warping (Cupping and Twisting)

Boards with Chip Carving Patterns

You may buy the highest quality basswood boards with applied chip carving patterns; they are ready for chip carving. These basswood boards are smooth but not sanded. A computerized system is used to apply the patterns with a regular mechanical pencil (0.5 mm) for easy clean-up.

The board size is 1/4 x 4 x 8″ (0.6 x 10 x 20 cm). The patterns are applied with narrow margins so the carved and finished square coasters will be 3.75″ (9.5 cm) in size.

Basswood board with applied pattern: Dandelion
Board Size: 1/4 x 4 x 8″ (0.6 x 10 x 20 cm)
$18 | Free Shipping within the US

Board with Dandelion design; it includes two chip carving patterns.

Basswood board with applied pattern: Supernova Square
Board Size: 1/4 x 4 x 8″ (0.6 x 10 x 20 cm)
$18 | Free Shipping within the US

Basswood board with applied pattern: Supernova Round
Board Size: 4 x 8 x 1/4″ (10 x 20 x 0.6 cm)
$18 | Free Shipping within the US

Read more about the chip carving patterns in my post about Coaster Patterns. Let me know if you would like to get more patterns ready to carve on the high quality basswood. If you comment below please specify the pattern name you tried. Thank you!

Find more boards with chip carving patterns in the READ N TRY online store.

Rosette Chip Carving Practice Board

4 Corner Chip Carving Practice Board

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The highest quality basswood is used to manufacture these chip carving practice boards. This board includes multiple classic Old-World-Style chip carving patterns that require vertical cuts on two sides of a chip. This board can be carved using both modern and old styles of chip carving with your regular chip carving knife. This board is great for advanced and for experienced chip carvers. We pre-carve examples so you could see how different chips should be carved. Click on the image below to enlarge the pattern.

4 Corner Chip Carving Practice Board

$16 | Free Shipping to US & Canada

The board features mostly 4-corner chips arranged in various ways; these are traditional chips used in old-world style of chip carving where vertical cuts are used on two sides of the chip. The board also includes standard 3-corner chips on top, so you could “feel” the board. The last pattern on the left shows an example of how 3-corner chips and 4-corner chips may be nicely combined.

Notice how we draw the chips with vertical cuts: the dash lines are placed very close to the solid lines of the chip borders on the internal side of the chip to indicate vertical cuts. These cuts are done by holding a chip carving knife vertically about 90 degrees to the board. Experiment with the vertical cuts by holding the knife at 85, 80, or 70 degrees, so they become almost vertical, to achieve different effects.

The third row of patterns features an interesting kind of chips: three corner chips where two sides are done using vertical cuts. These traditional chips are relatively easy to carve; they have a unique play of light and shade. Not sure what is the right English name for those chips but the translated name from Russian is “Splitters” (“Сколыши”).

Board Size: 4 x 8 x 1/4″ (10 x 20 x 0.6 cm). The practice board is 1/4″ (6 mm) thick; it is designed for carving with the angles up to 65 degrees. With the steeper carving angles and/or undercutting it is possible to cut through the board; use solid material under the board while carving to avoid accidents. We found that the board thickness is perfect to avoid/unlearn a heavy undercutting habit/mistake. The board includes a grid area at the bottom right. You could repeat some existing patterns there or draw a new design or two to practice more.

We transfer the chip carving patterns using our computerized system to achieve the ultimate precision. A regular mechanical pencil is used for drawing the chip borders (so it is easy to clean-up) and a red pen for highlighting the middle dash lines.

EZboard 3-Corner Chip Carving Practice Board

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Green EZboard material from EZcarving.com is used to manufacture these chip carving practice boards. This popular board includes multiple classic 3-corner chip patterns and it is great for beginner as well as for experienced chip carvers. The EZboard material is very soft — it is softer than basswood and does not have grain — it is ideal for kids, first-time carvers, and carvers who experience sore hands. We pre-carve examples so you could see how different chips should be carved. Click on the image below to enlarge the pattern.

3 Corner Chip Carving EZboard Practice Board

$18 | Free Shipping to US & Canada
Out of stock. Coming soon.

We transfer the patterns using our computerized system to achieve the ultimate precision. A regular mechanical pencil is used for drawing the chip triangles and a red pen or pencil for highlighting the middle dash lines.

The board features mostly 3-corner chips arranged in various ways; these are standard chips with all three facets carved with the same angle. The board includes a grid area on the bottom right. You could repeat some existing patterns there or draw a new design or two to practice more.

Board Size: 4 x 8 x 1/4″ (10 x 20 x 0.6 cm). The board is 1/4″ (6 mm) thick; it is designed for carving with the angles up to 65 degrees. With the steeper carving angles and/or undercutting it is possible to cut through the board; use solid material under the board while carving to avoid accidents. We found that the board thickness is perfect to avoid/unlearn a heavy undercutting habit/mistake.

Two rows on the bottom left of the board feature a different type of chips for you to try — we pre-carved those chips as well. Those chips are carved by using vertical cuts on two sides of a chip.

3 Corner Chip Carving Practice Board

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The highest quality basswood is used for manufacturing these chip carving practice boards. This popular board includes multiple classic 3-corner chip patterns and it is great for beginners as well as for experienced chip carvers. I pre-carve 3 chips so you could see how different chips should be carved. Click on the image below to enlarge the pattern.

3-corner chip carving practice board features traditional chip carving patterns. — 3 Corner Chip Carving Practice Board

$18 | Free Shipping to US & Canada

I transfer the patterns using a computerized system to achieve the ultimate precision. A regular mechanical pencil is used for drawing the chip triangles (so it is easy to clean-up) and a red pen for highlighting the middle dash lines.

The board features mostly 3-corner chips arranged in various ways; these are standard chips with all three facets carved with the same angle. The board includes a grid area on the bottom right. You could repeat some existing patterns there or draw a new design or two to practice more.

Board Size: 1/4 x 4 x 8″ (0.6 x 10 x 20 cm). The board is 1/4″ (6 mm) thick; it is designed for carving with the angles up to 65 degrees. With the steeper carving angles and/or undercutting it is possible to cut through the board; use solid material under the board while carving to avoid accidents. I found that the board thickness is perfect to avoid/unlearn a heavy undercutting habit/mistake.

The basswood board surface is flat but not polished; you may see some very minor tool marks from a thickness/surface plainer on the board. If a surface is sanded the wood fibers would keep some abrasives from sand paper that may dull a chip carving knife faster; therefore the the boards are not sanded.

Two rows on the bottom left of the board feature a different type of chips (4-corner chips) for you to try — I pre-carved those chips as well. Those chips are carved by using two vertical cuts on two beveled cuts.

Don’t forget to sign and date your chip carving practice board; it may be helpful when you find your carved board decades later. Read a story about how the chip carving practice board project started, tips, feedback, comments and see examples of carved practice boards.

Chip Carving Coaster Patterns

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After chip carving my previous design that was a combination of my free chip carving patterns I decided to design a few more unique chip carving coaster patterns. I challenged myself with the goal of using only three corner chips with straight edges; I try using lines and rectangle chips as sparingly as possible.

Even though some patterns below depict easily recognizable things this is not a free style chip carving. These chip carving patterns can be carved using simple classic chip carving techniques.

The boards are 8 x 4″ (20 x 10 cm). They are 1/4″ (6 mm) thick. I found that thickness is ideal for coasters. I like carving two coasters at a time as it is easier to hold a larger board while carving.

Supernova

This chip carving pattern reminds me an exploding star, so I named this chip carving pattern: Supernova. Two versions of the patterns are available in the store: Square and Round.

Supernova chip carving pattern is an ultimate project for new chip carvers. To make it an easier project I placed the chips apart, so no two chips share the same edge. That makes the project forgiving to some common mistakes that lead to broken or uneven ridges such as excessive undercutting and curved cuts. One coaster has 108 three corner chips.

Buy a basswood board with the applied Supernova pattern from my online store.

Chip Carving Coaster Patterns: Camping

The “Camping” coaster design consists of 153 chips including 104 four-corner chips for the border. Work is still in progress. It was a challenge to combine a recognizable palm using only 3 corner straight chips. The palm trunk is straight; I am thinking making it a little curved next time.

Well, I broke one or two ridges while carving the coaster. Since I usually carve the designs in pairs I hope the second coaster will be a better one.

Chip Carving Coaster Patterns: Dandelion

The pattern’s name is “Dandelion”. It consists of 123 standard 3-corner chips with all straight edges. It is very easy to carve.

I like the scene dynamic: a gust of wind not just bends the flowers on the right and disturbs the dandelion but also helps the dandelion flakes to break the wall/border.

All coasters carved above are carved on basswood boards 1/4 (6 mm) thick. Buy a basswood board with the applied Dandelion pattern from my online store.

I will update that post with several other patterns as I carve them.

Chip Carving Coaster Design: Forest

Free Chip Carving Patterns

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I designed several simple chip carving patterns that are suitable for making fridge magnets, various ornaments or using them as part of a chip carving composition. These free chip carving patterns are part of my “Dozen chips or so” collection as most of them combine just 10-15 chips together. Even with a few chips used these free chip carving patterns still look good and balanced. The smaller number of chips makes these projects quick to carve. These simple, scalable, printable, and free chip carving patterns are suitable for carvers of all levels including beginners.

A board with multiple free chip carving patterns. It is easier and more safe to carve ornaments while they are combined on the same board and separate them after carving. — Chip carved ornaments

Since a larger board is easier to hold during chip carving I usually carve several projects on the same basswood board and then cut the board using a scroll saw. I usually carve on one side of a board that is 1/4“ (6 mm) thick; pick a thicker board especially if you plan to do chip carving on both sides.

Picture of the other side of carved free chip carving patterns that shows decoration, branding, and embedded magnet. — Back of chip carved ornaments

You can see a wood burned and painted decoration on the Christmas tree ornament as well as the rare-earth magnets inserted and glued into other pieces.

If you would like to learn more about chip carving and see my chip carving knife consider reading other chip carving articles on my website: Chip carving Practice Board and Chip Carving Coasters. You may review all my articles about chip carving by browsing the “chip carving” category.

Free Chip Carving Pattern: Tree

The tree (fir) pattern combines 11 chips; one of them is four-corner (rectangular) chip for the trunk. This scalable pattern is interesting to carve as the big difference between the largest and smallest chips makes this pattern a little challenging. I like to chip carve this free pattern on a piece of basswood where the grain direction goes from side to side. It would be a little more difficult to chip carve the tree if the grain goes vertical to the pattern. I use this printable chip carving pattern to carve Christmas tree ornaments.

Tree pattern is a part of the collection of free chip carving patterns — Tree Free Chip Carving Pattern

Free Chip Carving Patterns: Air Balloon

Here is the Air Balloon chip carving pattern. It consists of only 13 three-corner chips. Combining a simple rosette and the diamond patterns makes a new recognizable object – an Air Balloon. The carving may be left unpainted but if you decide to paint your chip carved balloon avoid too watery paint – it can bleed into the neighbor chips.

Free Chip Carving Pattern: Packman

I haven’t played Packman for decades but with this recent chip carving I can’t say that anymore. The packman free chip carving pattern is easy to carve — it has only 9 three-corner chips. The chip carved diamonds are the smallest separate carvings I have done so far.

Packman chip carving pattern — Packman free chip carving pattern

Free Chip Carving Patterns: Water Wheel

I call this printable chip carving pattern “Water wheel”. It consists of only 12 chips and has two versions: right and left. The center rosette may be left uncarved so that area can be decorated differently.

Water-wheel chip carving pattern is included in the collection of free chip carving patterns. The picture shows three ways of carving the pattern: left wheel, right wheel, and leaving the center decorated without carving it, — Water-wheel free chip carving pattern

Chip Carving Pattern: Real Diamond

This diamond chip carving project is only six chips away. Try to experiment with the grain direction for this free chip carving pattern; transfer the diamond chip carving pattern horizontally, vertically or diagonal to the wood grain direction.

Real Diamond Chip Carving Pattern — Real Diamond Free Chip Carving Pattern

You may see more free chip carving patterns on the READ N TRY Pinterest board.

If you tried any of these free chip carving patterns please send me a picture of your carving.

Thank you,
Roman

Update 2017-01-29:
I painted fir trees using different shades of green. I unexpectedly achieved an interesting effect on the dark green tree when some wood dust stuck to the “branches” during the final sanding (see the picture below). I also like a tree without any painting. Here is my little forest:

A picture of three carved trees painted with different shades of green. The pattern is included in the collection of free chip carving patterns. — Forest

The painting is a little challenging as it is important to keep the paint from bleeding into outside of the chips. I use a small, flat, skew type of brush — I found it suites well reaching deep, sharp corners.

I got another idea: next time I carve this tree pattern I am going to carve the branches first, paint the entire tree on all sides and then carve and paint/shade the trunk. This way painting should be very fast. I wonder how would it look.

Chip Carving Coaster Set – Winter Theme

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This chip carving coaster set adds a nice touch to any easy going talk near a fireplace, on a patio or balcony. Ski resorts depicted on the coasters help to remember and share more stories from the slopes. The display stand arranges the chip carved coasters in the “Olympic Rings” pattern to emphasize enjoyment and importance of the outdoor sport.

Chip Carving Coaster Set arranged as the Olympic Rings pattern — Chip carved coasters

The chip carved coasters are decorated with the Lake Tahoe, Jackson Hall and Whistler Blackcomb ski resorts.

glass on top of the coaster — Nice coaster

These coasters were carved from basswood, decorated, painted and finished with several coats of Tung oil. The coasters are ¼” thick and 3.5” in diameter.

Chip Carving Coaster Set — Chip carved coaster set

The way I draw and carved these coasters was very similar to the coasters that I chip carved last year (2014). If you are interested in chip carving you may find this article about chip carving practice board useful.

Carving Coasters — Chip carving Coasters

I carved the coasters from one basswood board so they have the same grain pattern.

I participated with this project in the woodcarving competition during the Santa Clara Valley Carvers 44th Show in San Jose, CA in May 2015. I am very proud that this coaster set won a blue ribbon (first place) in chip carving category.

roman_scvc_show_2015 — Santa Clara Valley Show 2015 – Roman

To make it fun I wood burned a sketch of a confused skier on one of the coasters. This sketch comes from the “Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad” book that I have been using to learn sketching in 2013. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn sketching and drawing: ISBN 0-671-65694-5.

Back side of the coaster base serves as a shelf for small handy items:

This chip carved coaster set was a nice project to improve my chip carving skills, practice focus and patience. I hope these coasters will remind a lot of nice skiing stories over the years.

Chip carving coaster set - 5 coasters. — Chip carved coaster set