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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2007)
SEPTEMBER 1,2007 WHey look at that.N V""""? they're so cutel J-v "T fT!T h ., kl i S i y-i ual they itft spotted. R J I) k 04 (Are they still) I W'l J "7"" .. 'f behind us? J V they go? J . i - - I . srie-il ru n Carvers are By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer Although there is something beautiful about making carving tools, and then get ting down to work on projects, the impetus behind the latest effort at the Tribal carving class was much more practical. "I was running out of tools to lend out," said carver Adam Mc Isaac, who leads the group and provides materials, including 01 tool steel. "A good high-carbon steel," Mclsaac said. Creating carving tools involves super heating the tool steel with a propane torch. Mclsaac started the class with blocks of wood on which he had stapled different grits of sandpaper. At the end of each block, he wrote the grit number with a marker 220, 320, 400, 600 with the lowest numbers used first and the highest numbers doing the finest job of sanding. no) a u o now making their own tools. fty" 7 '''.'v;:'''; O ,': ; ' '; Jf ' r " .. .--'' - Si . ' ' O , I Tribal member Travis Mercler, left, holds the propane torch as carving instructor Adam Mclsaac bends a blade on the anvil. Carving blades are held flat and sanded across the width of the blade until all grits are used and the bottom of the blade has a shiny surface. Then, the process is repeated for the edges. The blade is then clamped to a table with the top up, and using a file in the cutting direction only, an angle is cre Sophia Morningstar came that had made a home for playground. Even while the photos were being taken, the birds packed up their belongings and headed west And they haven't been seen again. rt M r-1 out to watch quail babies themselves in the preschool o nncss ated on the top edges. Then, the edges are sanded sharp, again using a suc cession of increasingly finer grits until the edges are shiny like the bottom. Then the blade is tempered with the propane torch, and if the blade is to be curved at the end, it is bent while it is hot. Smoke !J 0 Qh out of the handle to match the blade that will fit there. The blade is epoxied in place and then wrapped with string, which holds it well and allows for many years of use. And when blades dull, or when they drop on the floor, point first, carvers who have made their own tools sharpen them again. Signals 7 Tribal Elder Bob Watson, a rec ognized artist and carver for many years since his retirement, was making handles out of purpleheart wood, an exotic hardwood found in Central and South America. His neighbor had a pile and gave him some small pieces that are perfect for knife handles. Many of Mclsaac's tool handles are made of maple. The idea is to re serve at least half of the blade to be se cured to the handle. Cultural language coordinator Tony Johnson (Chinook), who is also a sil versmith, said that he often wishes his tools had a smaller cutting surface with more attached to the handle because the tools are easier to control, with less undesirable vibra tion (chatter), when they are shorter. A chunk is cut
