The reader will notice that the wood mentioned for each model is bass. Why? Because bass is the wood generally used for carving. The tree is the same as the linden and the lime. It is found in northern Asia, Europe, and North America, and grows to an immense height. The wood is soft, light, close-veined, pliable, tough, durable, and free from knots, and does not split easily; all of which qualities favor its suitability for carving.
In whittling, it is always best to lay off the pattern on both sides of the wood. Then one can work from either side without fear of spoiling the material.
In cutting, work with the grain, or the wood will be apt to split. Cut toward you, not from you.
In grooving, use the point of the knife, and work slowly and carefully. If the knife slips the wood is ruined.
Insist that nothing the child does is well done unless well sandpapered, and nothing is properly sandpapered until all roughness is done away with, and the grain appears.
In the making of designs, let the child first have a piece of paper the size of the wood he is to use, and have him work out a design to be applied to his wood. This design may be most crude, but with a suggestion here, and a correction there, from the teacher, it can be brought into shape. The child will be pleased, and will attack with more assurance of success each succeeding problem that he meets.
For coloring, use water color paints. Red, green, and yellow are most satisfactory, as their identity is retained when staining is applied.
Apply the stain with a brush, and with a soft cloth rub it in until it is dry. This develops or brings out the grain.
When sure that the stain is well rubbed in and dry, apply butcher's wax, and polish with a soft cloth. Some articles need two coats of stain, and an equal amount of polish.
In all work impress upon the child the fact that what is worth doing is worth doing well, or it should not be done at all.
Each model given works out a problem in handling the knife and cutting the wood, and each problem leads up to the one that follows.
We will begin with the simplest thing one can make--a puzzle.
_Problem_--To cut with the grain of the wood, and how to cut corners. (See page 57.)
_Material_--Basswood: one piece 7×1-1/2×3/16 inches; one piece 3×1-1/2×3/16 inches. One yard of macramé cord.