Background

[Guest]

I did a carving on the door to a cabinet I am building . The carving is a raised branch .My question is how do I get the background smoth. There is not enough room to sand, especially in between the leaves.
Thanks for any help

[Captain_Bandaid]

Re: Background

Ed, several manufacturers offer dogleg grounding chisels. The dogleg chisel allows the cutting edge to reach into the carving, maintaining the cutting edge flat, while the handle is above the workpiece. I have seen them in 1/4' and 1/8' widths. Remember, it is not necessary to have a perfectly smooth background. The tool marks will emphasize the fact that the work is done by hand. However, if you really need to make the background flat and smooth, I have used a Dremmel tool in the router fixture (sold separately most of the time for about $25) with a flat bottomed diamond bit. A useable set of diamond bits can be purchased from Harbor Freight (12 small bits for about $5). Dremmel also offers a flat-bottomed router bit, 1/4' or 1/8' for about $5 each.

[John_T.]

Re: Background

I use the Dremel like the good captain says. or a 1/2 or 3/4 chisel will level off a lot of the small chisel marks. Make sure the chisels are razor sharp and use them very gently. Good Luck!