Carving...Day 2 Thursday, June 28th, 2001 Well, I worked from about 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. on the carving of the maple back plate. I used the two gouges you see in these photos to do the carving. With the maple, the gouges will only make short, shallow cuts, so it was slow going, but I got it done. (I'm sure I will have really achy hands tomorrow!) The little carving table worked out great. Two short screws protruding from beneath the table are holding the back plate firmly. I can turn the table easily to another position when I need to (the table is bolted onto my workbench with a clamping knob).

To the left, I have almost completed the rough carving of the back plate.         Below, I have used violin scrapers (an Internet friend, Mike Ashley, kindly sent me a full set of assorted shapes and sizes!), to smooth out the gouge marks and refine the shape. I still have more refining to do, as it feels kind of lumpy in places. That'll be tomorrow's job!

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