The 12 days of Christmas: elephant carving day 10

I am now at the finishing off stage.

It can take as long to finish off all those edges and surfaces as it takes to carve the elephant to this point.

Carving a solid 3 dimensional piece has its added difficulties. By definition, at some point you will be carving with, against, and across the grain. It is across the grain that needs the sharpest of chisels if a clean finish is to be achieved.

On my elephant the cross grain is at the rear and you can see where the grain has opened up where my chisel was not razor sharp. I had to resharpen the chisels and recut across this entire area to achieve the smooth finish I wanted.

carved-elephant-10