Woodcarving
Magic
How
to transform a single block of wood into impossible shapes
by Bjarne Jespersen
Softcover
215 x 280mm
127pp
Published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co. Inc., East Petersburg PA USA
R.R.P.$25.90
ISBN 978-1-56523-523-6
The Hopf Link
Lovers' Hearts
Chains
Borromean Rings
Four Triangles
Square Dance
Six Pentagons
Star Cluster
Clover Leaves
Halo
Octoball
Double Star
Memento Mori
Flexus
Asalink
Hosohedral Hexalink
Hosohedral Decalink
Five Inverted Tetrahedra
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 162
One of this reviewer's earliest memories is of two wood carvings that sat on a cabinet in grandma's bedroom. Shaped like little towers, they had wooden balls held captive inside cavities along their length.
Everyone marvelled at them, trying to see a crack, a mark, anything that would prove that the balls were introduced to their cages, for surely, surely, they could not have been carved there.
How much more would they have marvelled, had they been able to see the work of Bjarne Jespersen. Where those old carvings might have seemed unlikely, the convoluted shapes of Jespersen’s carvings seem absolutely incredible.
The piece shown on the cover of his book is representative of the projects for which Jespersen gives instruction, but it is by no means the most complicated. Despite the title of the book, there is nothing magical about the work, though it seems so, for all these wondrous pieces are carved from a single block of wood.
Early in the book, there are clues as to how these remarkable pieces were developed, The author confesses to an adolescent interest in solid geometry and a life long interest in what he terms 'recreational mathematics'.
These are unquestionably important attributes for anyone wishing to design something like the Inverted Great Tetraknot. Fortunately, the same background is not required of the reader. At the beginning of Chapter 4, the author writes: 'Plenty of the projects in this book can be carved by following the drawings and instructions.'
One might imagine that this will be enough for many readers, but Jespersen appears keen to recruit others to his level of the discipline, providing guidance in building mock-ups and prototypes for use in the development of new projects.
The author carefully explains his tools and methods, discusses the preparation of a blank and drawing the necessary lines to guide the carving.
If you don't know what a Cubotetrahedron or a Dodecahedron is, it doesn't matter, since the diagrams and descriptions are quite explicit.
The chapter on Getting Started begins very simply with the carving of a couple of rings. Despite the simplicity of the techniques learned here, they can be put to immediate use making a charming alternative - entwined Lover's Hearts.
The natural progression from these exercises is the carving of a chain and from there, to the carving of flat rings. By Chapter 8, the discussion has turned to Cages and it no longer seems so very far to the intricate, intertwined rings that earn titles such Hosohedral Hexalink.
Despite the long names and the strong mathematical basis for the pieces, this is a practical book aimed at helping students to do their own woodcarving magic.
Photos: Colour
Contents
About
this Book
About the Author
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Traditions
Chapter
2 - Wood
- Desirable Grain and Figure
- Finding Wood
- Drying Wood
Chapter
3 - Tools and Methods
- Initial Steps
- Carving Tools
- Carving Techniques
- Separating Cuts
- Final Shaping and Rounding Off
- Sanding
- Surface Treatment
Chapter
4 - Mock-ups and Prototypes
- Pipe Cleaners
- Clay
- Metal Wire
- Copper Tubing
- 3-D Printing
Chapter
5 - Preparing Blanks to Carve
- The Cube (or Bar)
- The Cuboctahedron
- Dodecahedron from a Cube
- Rhombic Dodecahedron
- Dodecahedron Cut from a Board
Chapter
6 - Getting Started
- The Hopf Link
- Lovers' Hearts
- Chains
- Borromean Rings
Chapter
7 - Flat Rings
- Four Triangles
- Square Dance
- Six Pentagons
- Star Cluster
- Clover Leaves
- Halo
Chapter
8 - Cages
- Octoball and Variations
- Double Star
- Memento Mori
- Flexus
- Asalink
- Hosohedral Hexalink
- Hosohedral Decalink
- Five Inverted Tetrahedra
Chapter
9 - Twisted Rings
- Triple Whitehead
- Tetracoil
- Wave Packet
- Helicon
- Hexacoil
- Quintuple Borromeo
Chapter
10 - Knotted Rings
- Small Tetraknot
- Great Tetraknot
- Inverted Great Tetraknot
- Small Concentric Tetraknot
- Great Concentric Tetraknot
Chapter
11 - Creative Geometry
- Rings Hidden Within Solids
- A Lucky Star
- Themes and Variations
- Splitting Edges
- Inside Out
- Patterns and Kinship
- Duality and Rhombic Solids
- Rhombic Patterns
- Using Rhombic Patterns
For
Further Information
Index
Triple Whitehead
Tetracoil
Wave Packet
Helicon
Hexacoil
Quintuple Borromeo
Small Tetraknot
Great Tetraknot
Inverted Great Tetraknot
Small Concentric Tetraknot
Great Concentric Tetraknot