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.
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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.
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