# Cutting little circles into a panel?



## mattwa1sh (Aug 31, 2016)

Hi--

I'm sure this is a very beginner question, but I kind of like the look of the attached panels. It looks like most of it was chip carved, but how did they do the little circles? What hand tool can do this kind of thing? 

Thanks!
Matt


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*possibly a leather punch*

It is very difficult so see any detail in the phooto, but a leather punch would remove or depress a perfect circle which could be carved out afterward:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It looks to me like the groove and the holes were done with a router bit such as this. It was probably two different sizes, smaller one for the groove and used a larger one in something like a plunge router for the holes. Probably all of it was done with machinery rather than being carved.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Looks old. In which case, I'd try to cut those with a scorp. Probaby 3 cuts and a little sanding.

Actually, if you had about an 11/2 and tracery-bent shank, you ought to be able to spin it around.


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## jeremymcon (Oct 16, 2014)

Carving gouges would be my guess. But I'm far from an expert. 

The right sweep of carving gouge can make a circle - the sweep just has to match the radius of the circle you want to make. Pretty sure I read that in a book about carving. That was before I realized that high quality carving gouges cost at least $50 each. Never did end up getting into carving.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Selecting a sweep (curvature) is easy to do from the London Pattern Book (aka Sheffield List). For this radius, I'll guess more than a 7 and likely a 9.
The #11 is a distinct U shape so you could work with a narrow one and work around to make a bunch of cuts. Hide the tool marks with sanding.

Good gouges are costly but you get what you pay for. Pfeil, Stubai, Henry Taylor, Ashley Iles, possibly Narex and Arioux are the best.

Fortunately, you don't need one of everything to begin with. I buy one at a time from open stock (Pfeil), maybe $300 to set up 15+ years ago,
then one or two every year since. I needed other gouges to do different things as my carvings went from 8-10" up to now 64" tall or like a turtle 18" x 16" x 4" for the shell/body.

Should you wish to use the excellent wood carving tools common here in the Pacific Northwest, adze blades alone will set you back $50 - $100 each and more.
Crooked knife blades, even good farrier's knives to be rebevelled, run approx $50 a piece.

Maybe 30 gouges, a couple of adzes, 15 or so crooked knives = looks like a lot but they were a long time in coming.

I could do those pits with the crooked knife (yellow whipping) by spinning it around. In a past life, it was a farrier's knife for trimming the tow nails of sheep and goats..
The curved piece of birch will become a bowdrill in a fire set, a pair of carved Ravens to hold the cord on their beaks.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

*carving a divot*

*CRAP !!* I just noticed this is a TWO YEAR OLD thread - sorry.....
oh well, someone may find the technique helpful anyway.

Matt - what is your question exactly ??
are you looking to reproduce panels and you want to carve the designs to match ??
or - are you just curious as to how they were made.
the age of the panels would be a big factor in the tools that were used.
ie: in 1920, they did not use electric routers.
it is very easy to make a divot with a hand gouge as well as the chips.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

*just a quick example in soft pine and a dull gouge, this is how it is done.*
with carving tools in skilled hands, these projects go rather quickly.


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## JohnJr (May 25, 2019)

John Smith_inFL said:


> *just a quick example in soft pine and a dull gouge, this is how it is done.*
> with carving tools in skilled hands, these projects go rather quickly.



Very neat, gave me an idea. Thanks!


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