Cat's Eye Carving

Acorn commission.

So the next stage in this commission was to start shaping the acorns so they were no longer just barrels!

Sandstone is a very brittle stone and if I try and take too much off at one time it has a tendancy to pluck out where I don’t want it too, so it is essential not to rush.
In order to keep the shape I scribe circles on the top and bottom getting smaller each time, I pitch the stone off to these lines so I can control the amount of stone I take off.
As sandstone is incredibly abrasive it wears my chisels away very quickly and therefore it is very important to keep my chisels sharp.
The main set I used were Pitch, Punch, 1 inch flat chisel and 2 inch bolster and several claw chisels with varying teeth sizes.
But the punch was the most used! needless to say I had to buy a new chisel once this commission was complete-I upgraded to a tungsten carbide tipped punch-lets see how it fairs!!

As you can see I used the gap between my benches to nestle the acorns in, by doing this I was able to turn incredibly heavy stone over and keep it secure while I was carving it!
As I mentioned before it is very important to keep moving the stone and not concetrate on any one area-this would lead to uneveness in the shape.
I am able to alter areas I don’t like by checking the whole shape. Like a painting, it is important to step back and have a look!

To be continued…. 🙂