In this article I’ll describe how I make chip carved ornaments for Christmas for my family and friends. In other articles, I’ll go through the process of creating other kinds of ornaments out of paper and other gift ideas.
Why would I write about the process of designing and creating Christmas ornaments just before the holiday? Well, as you’ll see after reading this article, there’s more to making an ornament than just a bit of work on a piece of wood and send it off. It can take a while for your design decision process. You’ll probably have to send off for supplies or materials. You might have other things you’re doing with your life during the year. And, you can never start too early making holiday gifts for family and friends. Or at least planning for the gift making.
Every year for the past 20 or so years I’ve carved or made ornaments for my family to put on their trees. Most of them have either been carved Santa head ornaments or chip carved ornaments.
The family is not huge, but I use a generous definition of “family.” I include not only my daughters and their husbands, but also all my grown grandkids, my nieces, our friend and her grown daughters. All in all, it’s about 12 ornaments each year!
Making Chip Carved Ornaments
With that in mind, I try to come up with a do-able project for each year. I look for inspiration from lots of sources, mostly online. For chip carved ornaments I look at silhouettes of Christmas themed images. I look for scenes or images I can transform into a simple design.
Once I settle on one, I see how it translates into an ornament. The first step is to size and simplify (if I need to) the design. I do that usually on the computer in one of the presentation applications. I use Open Office for the sizing most of the time. It’s somewhat easier for me than using Pages. As you might suspect, I grew up on MS Power Point, so apps like that are easier for me to do what I want quickly. I print the design out on plain printer paper. I print on a very inexpensive Canon laser printer from Amazon. (See below for a special use of a laser printer for this task)
After sizing and simplifying, I print and transfer the design onto a blank – a pre-cut piece of basswood. I have ordered round blanks from My Chip Carving. He has lots of blanks, pre-cut patterns, and other chip carving items for sale. I’ve bought several boxes from him as well.
Sometimes, I’ve decided on a square ornament shape. I have a wonderful little table saw for cutting small items. It’s perfect for this kind of smaller cutting and fits in my townhouse much more easily than a full sized table saw. I buy finished practice boards (6” x 12” x 3/8”)as they are called. I then cut the blanks to the size I need and start to work.
Transferring the design can be done by using graphite paper under the printed design. Tape the printed design in place with painter’s tape, then slip the graphite paper under the design. Trace the design with a stylus, preferably, or a pencil. Press hard enough to transfer the graphite, but don’t ‘dent’ the wood.
Another method for design transfer that is especially useful for larger or complex designs is to reverse the image in the computer application, then print it on a laser jet printer (not an inkjet). This reverse image is then taped face down onto the blank and a heating tool – like a simple wood burning tool with a flat round head instead of the smaller tips, is carefully placed on the surface and moved around the image back. The tool must be kept moving to avoid burning the paper or the wood. The heat from the tool melts some of the ink on the design. Your downward pressure presses the melted ink onto the blank below. Gently pull the design off and admire your design in place on the blank!
Never use carbon paper to transfer a design to the wood. The waxy nature of carbon paper makes it very hard to erase any left over line on the finished board. Graphite cleans up much more easily and quickly.
Now that the design has been transferred to the wood blanks, you’re ready for chip carving. I won’t go into how to do that here on this blog. I’ll put in some links to sites where you can buy the knives, honing stone, other tools and other supplies.
Remember, you’re doing more than one of these ornaments each year. You don’t want to have a month-long project for each unless you have only a few people to carve for. Remember too that you want the design to look nice when you are finished. Take time and focus on the quality of the work.
Don’t worry about slight variations in the finished product. I doubt my family will ever get together after a Christmas holiday and compare what each got! At least I hope not. Hmm, are they reading this blog?
I’ll post pictures of several of my recent creations in future posts.
Resources
Sites
Chip Carving | Wayne Barton’s Alpine School of Woodcarving – for books, knives, some blanks, and information about his classes.
My Chip Carving – web classes, videos, books, tools blanks, etc.
The John C. Campbell Folk School – for classes and instructors
Blick Art Supplies – for graphite paper, tools, etc.
Amazon – for books and some supplies
(Note, there are other links and locations for learning chip carving. Search the web for suppliers nearby or who might have unique offerings)
Supplies
Basswood blanks
Graphite paper (Saral from Blick is my choice)
Stylus
Scissors
Printer paper
Stain – either polyurethane or wax paste stain (Briwax)
Screw eyes for hanging the ornament
Wrapping paper or tissue paper