Sore hands and a tip of the day

The Chatsworth mouldings are progressing well, my back is holding up, with rests. Thankyou for encouraging comments, on this blog and in real life.

There are around 614 divisions altogether, each with a stem, leaf and curved flute. Now that I am nearly done, I feel OK to count them. It would have been too daunting to count them at the beginning. Callouses and sore hands from repetetive daily carving but musn't grumble!

Here's a carving tip that an old carver passed on to me. It has been useful doing this job.

When stabbing repeatedly into oak (especially doing mouldings like these), occasionally dip the tip of the gouge into tallow (from a plumber's supplier). It eases into the hard timber more easily and also seems to keep the edge sharp for longer. Don't use too much tallow or it will soak into the wood and stain.