How To Trace And Carve Parallel Lines?

[Ellen]

How to trace and carve parallel lines? Celtic knots, for example. All lines should be of the same width. Even if tracing was successful, the chances that swivel knife will never leave the line seem small to me. Add tight round shapes, even 1/4" (6 mm) swivel knife blade as not much space for turns. Then, what use as a tool for accurate beveling and smoothing, some micro modeling tool?

Assuming that the size of a knot is within 2" (5 cm).

Have one to be born a genius for such work, or there are some techniques to do that for the rest of us?

Thanks.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Ellen

[Ellen]

26 views, 0 answers You do that only at large scale, right?

This is a valuable information for me too.

Thank you!

[Tree Reaper]

Ellen;

There's a double swivel knife blade that would do that or you can buy the stamps, that's all I can offer.

Kevin.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Tree Reaper

[Timd]

Patience and practice, Ellen. I do a lot of celtic carving, and my lines are never as clean as I would like them to be. A very small stylus point and a very sharp swivel knife help also.

[pete]

I know that peter main likes to draw , cut bevel, one line and scribe the 2nd with dividers. It works.

pete

[wildrose]

I also do alot of Celtic work, and it amounts to practice practice practice. Lines will never be perfect when done by hand - there is, after all, no such thing as perfection in art. I use an angled ceramic blade for carving and a fine point stylus for tracing. How I bevel/tool is different with each project, but I usually use a small textured beveler from Tandy.

[Ellen]

Wow! This is a lot of information, especially about how Peter Main does this.

Will try each of advices, thank you all very much!

I got most of the required tools: 1/4" blade, ceramic angled, ceramic double, even swivel knife beveler, small Tandy beveler too.

Did anybody try a very small swivel tip knife?

Looks like Exacto knife's aluminum handle with trailing curved tip that is a trailing swivel knife. Vintage, not new.

[TigerPal]

Have you thought of using the Craftool Adjustable Creaser?? It's made for the purpose of scribing parallel lines, etc. Although I think most people use it only to make a line for a border, I don't see why it couldn't be used to scribe multiple parallel lines, as long as they were within its maximum width range. As an added plus, it leaves a groove the helps guide the swivel knife.

[Ellen]

Craftool adjustable creaser is for a large scale work, for small scale the ruler pen (drafting tool, to apply ink on drawing, same principle) is better. Both do not hold distance permanent, any uneveness on leather makes ends come closer together - nothing in their construction prevents them from that. I'm speaking trom practice, believe me.

But you made me think: grinding down the sharp ends of a drafting distance measuring tool and using it (two legs with pins and threaded rod between, for keeping distance permanent).

Thanks!