Carving Towards Yourself
We often hear that carving towards yourself is a no-no. However, by restricting the use of the arm and wrist and only using the range of movement afforded by your fingers, it is possible to carve towards yourself in a safe manner.
Controllable and repeatable, this is a huge boon for tackling grain that sometimes just can't be got at from another angle.
Carving Away From Yourself
While carving away from yourself seems like an obvious technique, retaining control and limiting the range of motion is again key to carving safely and getting the desired results.
Keeping your two hands connected with each other, the tool and/or the work is an excellent principle that allows you to deliver power behind your cuts safely.
Carving Out Hollows
Here's one for the spoonies! We get plenty of questions about hook knives, and whether Japanese makers manufacture any. The truth is, we don't know of any who do - and we have asked!
What most makers call "bent gouges" do a very similar job to a hook knife, and we prefer them as they allow you to drive your pressure straight behind the cutting edge, instead of using a twisting motion next to it.
Again, Christian demonstrates the techniques he uses with these tools to get great results.
