Both projects assume the basic cuts in wood carving for beginners — the stop cut, the slicing cut and cutting downhill — and the tools in wood carving tools. Knife-only figures for a first project are in beginner wood carving patterns.
The two projects at a glance
| Item | Chip-carved rosette | Relief-carved leaf |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Basswood 1/2 × 5 × 5 in | Basswood 3/4 × 5-1/2 × 8 in |
| Kind of carving | Chip carving: chips cut out of a flat surface | Relief: the background lowered round a raised design |
| Tools | A carving knife; a pencil compass | V-tool, shallow and medium gouges, flat chisel, knife |
| Holding | Clamped flat, or on a non-slip mat with the holding hand out of the knife's path | Clamped to the bench at every stage |
| Depth | Each petal 0.27 × tan θ at its middle | Background 1/8 in down |
BenchRoot designs. Basswood is the Wood Handbook's carvers' favourite; any soft, even-textured, straight-grained wood will do.
Project 1: a chip-carved rosette
The six-petal rosette is laid out with a compass set once. A circle's radius steps round its own circumference exactly six times, and an arc of that radius from each point passes through the centre, so the arcs cross in pairs to make six petals. Each petal is a lens 2 in long, bounded by two arcs of radius 2 in; its width at the middle is twice the height of each arc above the chord, 2 × R(1 − √3/2), about 0.54 in for R = 2 in.
Formula
petal width = 2 × R × (1 − √3 ÷ 2) ≈ 0.268 × R
depth at the middle = (petal width ÷ 2) × tan θ
R is the rosette's radius, 2 in here; θ is the wall angle the carver holds.
Each petal comes out as a two-walled chip: a stop cut straight down its centre line, deepest at the middle and running out to nothing at each tip, then a slicing cut along each arc down to the bottom of the stop cut. With 1/2 in stock there is ample depth for any reasonable wall angle.
Carving the rosette
Lay out
Find the centre of the 5 × 5 in plaque by its diagonals. Set the compass to 2 in, draw the circle, step the same setting round it to mark six points, and from each point draw an arc through the centre to the circle on each side. Draw a light pencil line from the centre to each point: the petal centre lines.
Clamp it
Clamp the plaque flat to the bench, or work on a non-slip mat with the holding hand behind the knife.
Stop cuts
With the knife point on each petal's centre line, rock the blade along it, pressing deepest at the middle and lightly at the tips.
Slice the walls
Hold the knife at a steady angle and slice along one arc from the middle of the petal towards each tip, down to the stop cut; then the other arc.
Clean up
Lift each chip; if one clings, recut its wall rather than prying. Erase the pencil lines, or sand them off lightly with a block before carving if they are heavy.
Project 2: a relief-carved leaf panel
The layout adds up exactly: a 5-1/2 in panel less two 1/2 in borders leaves a 4-1/2 in field, and the 2-1/2 in leaf leaves 1 in each side; the 8 in length less the borders leaves 7 in, and the 6 in leaf leaves 1/2 in at each end. Lowering the ground 1/8 in leaves 5/8 in of the 3/4 in panel under it. Run the panel's grain along its length, so the leaf's midrib follows the grain and the side veins cross it.
Carving the leaf panel
Transfer and clamp
Draw the border and the leaf on the panel, or transfer the leaf with graphite paper, and clamp the panel to the bench. It stays clamped to the end; both hands stay on the tool.
Outline
Run the V-tool round the leaf just outside its line, cutting downhill — on each side, from the widest point towards the tip and towards the stem — so the outline is separated from the background before any waste comes out. Run it along the inside of the border too.
Set in
Press gouges whose curves match the leaf's outline straight down on the line, and a flat chisel along the border, a little at a time, so the wall is vertical.
Lower the ground
Remove the background with the shallow gouge, working across the grain, then flatten it to depth. Check the depth with a combination square's rule set to project 1/8 in below its head, the head resting on the border.
Model the leaf
Pare the leaf's surface down from a high midrib towards its edges and its tip, leaving the edge standing clear of the ground. Cut downhill from the midrib on each side.
Veins and finish
Cut the midrib and the side veins with the V-tool, each vein from the midrib outward. Clean the ground and the corners with the knife and the flat chisel.
Safety— Clamped, both hands gripping the tool
Relief work is done with the panel clamped and both hands gripping the gouge — one pushing, one guiding and braking — never with one hand holding the panel in front of the edge. Flexcut says work struck with a mallet needs a very stable surface and clamping. See also woodworking safety rules.
Finishing and hanging
Basswood's shrinkage is rated high in the Wood Handbook, although it seldom warps in use, so mount either piece so it can move: a hanger screwed to the back of the panel rather than the panel glued into a frame. A clear finish keeps basswood's pale colour; finishing oils and wood finishes cover the choices.
Before carving either piece
- Clear, straight-grained basswood at the sizes in the table
- Layout drawn and checked: six even points, or the leaf centred
- Knife, V-tool and gouges stropped
- Work clamped; both hands gripping the tool for the panel
- Each cut planned downhill with the grain
Sources
Both are BenchRoot designs; every dimension is on the drawings and the rosette's geometry is exact. Gouges are named by shape (shallow, medium) rather than by sweep number, because makers number sweeps differently. The wall angle of a chip is the carver's choice and is not given as a figure. The designs were not carved for this page.
- 1.
Chapter 2: Characteristics and Availability of Commercially Important Woods. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Basswood soft and light, of fine even texture and straight grained, easy to work with tools and a favourite of wood carvers; its shrinkage in drying rated high, though it seldom warps in use.
- 2.
Selecting Your Flexcut Tools. Flexcut Tool Company.
Used for: Beginners clamping the work to a stable surface; mallet tools needing a very stable work surface and clamping; palm tools held in one hand while the other holds the work.
- 3.
Sharpening Your Tools. Flexcut Tool Company.
Used for: Stropping the inside and outside of the edge, gouges rolled on the strop, when a tool starts to drag.
- 4.
Peter Follansbee. Carving gouges. Peter Follansbee, Joiner's Notes, 2025.
Used for: Sweep numbers not matching from one maker to another, so tools are named here by shape, not number.
- 5.
Staff of Woodcarving Illustrated. Comparing Carving Gloves. Woodcarving Illustrated, 2026.
Used for: A holding device with both hands gripping the tool the safest approach; gloves stop slicing cuts but not punctures.
About this guide
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