Sculpting and Shaping
Shaving Tools
Spokeshaves shape convex and concave curves — flat-sole for convex, round-sole for concave hollows. The drawknife is the fastest wood-removing hand tool: pulled toward the body with two handles, it removes thick shavings in seconds. Rasps (especially Auriou cabinet rasps) work like a coarse file but leave a surface that can be refined directly to finishing grade without sandpaper.
Power Carving
Angle grinder carving disc attachments (King Arthur's Tools, Kutzall) remove material faster than hand tools — useful for chair seats, organic sculpture, and large hollows. Die grinders with carbide burrs work the same principle at smaller scale. Power carving requires a full face shield and heavy leather gloves.
Bending Wood
Steam Bending
Steam softens the lignin holding wood fibres together, allowing them to compress and stretch. Build a simple steam box from PVC pipe and a wallpaper steamer. Steam time: approximately 1 hour per 25mm of thickness. Bend immediately after steaming — you have 30–60 seconds before the wood cools and stiffens. Use a bending strap on the outside of the curve to prevent fibres from breaking in tension.
Bent Lamination
Resaw a board into 3–6mm strips. Glue all strips simultaneously and clamp over a curved mould or form. When glue cures, the assembly holds the curve permanently — less springback than steam bending and capable of tighter radii. Bent lamination requires no steaming apparatus and is repeatable exactly.
Veneering and Marquetry
Vacuum Pressing
Highly figured burls and exotic veneers are too unstable to use as solid wood. Vacuum pressing laminates them to stable MDF or plywood substrates. A vacuum bag pulls the veneer flat against the substrate with 100kPa pressure — equivalent to 100kg per 100cm² — ensuring full contact across irregular surfaces.
Inlay
Routing a precise channel and inlaying a contrasting material — another wood species, brass, ebony, or mother-of-pearl — adds decorative detail without compromising structural integrity. The channel must be routed to exact depth (1.5–2mm) with vertical walls. The inlay is glued in, cured, then planed or scraped flush. String inlay around a tabletop edge is one of the most classic furniture embellishments.
The Sculpted Stool
A three or four-legged stool with a deeply power-carved ergonomic seat. Legs are shaped dynamically using a spokeshave or drawknife, and attached with wedged through-tenons visible on the top face of the seat.
Success criteria: Seat is visibly concave and ergonomically shaped — not flat with a chamfer. Legs are tapered and shaped, not square-cut. Wedged through-tenons are tight and wedges show on the seat surface. Stool does not rock on a flat surface.
Phase 4 Practice Exercises
12 exercises to build skill through direct application.
Spokeshave Practice
Shape 10 curved components — convex and concave — with a spokeshave.
- Spokeshave adjustment
- Curve direction reading
- Clean shaving technique
Drawknife Work
Rough-shape a chair leg blank from square stock with a drawknife. Refine with spokeshave.
- Drawknife control
- Bevel orientation
- Surface quality progression
Power Carving Session
Power carve a saddle seat shape into a 38mm thick seat blank.
- Grinder attachment control
- Form development
- Depth and symmetry
Rasp and File Refinement
Refine a power-carved surface with a cabinet rasp until all grinder marks are gone.
- Rasp technique
- Surface progression
- Transition from power to hand tools
Steam Bending Setup
Build a simple steam box. Steam and bend one length of straight-grained ash or oak.
- Steam box construction
- Timing the bend
- Form and strap setup
Bent Lamination
Build a bending form. Glue up a 5-strip bent lamination over it.
- Form construction
- Even glue-up
- Clamp placement over curve
Veneer Substrate Prep
Prepare an MDF substrate for veneering: sand flat, seal with shellac.
- Substrate flatness
- Shellac sealer
- Surface prep sequence
Vacuum Press Veneer
Apply one veneer face using a vacuum bag press. Assess adhesion after cure.
- Bag assembly
- Glue spread
- Bond quality check
Inlay Channel
Route a 2mm deep channel around a small panel. Test-fit a contrasting wood strip.
- Router depth consistency
- Channel wall squareness
- Inlay fit
Stool Design Mock-Up
Sketch a stool design. Build a cardboard mock-up to verify proportions before cutting wood.
- Design visualisation
- Proportion checking
- Waste prevention
Bookmatched Panel
Resaw a plank into bookmatched veneers. Glue up a symmetrically matched panel.
- Bookmatching alignment
- Symmetry detection
- Panel glue-up
Free-Form Sculpture
Carve an abstract sculpture from a solid block using rasps, spokeshave, and sandpaper.
- Form development freedom
- Finishing progression
- Artistic decision-making