The block is held on the sandbag by the left hand, generally towards the
corners, which allows the greatest freedom for turning. When cutting
straight lines the block is held stationary, the tool-hand cutting
forward; when cutting curves the block is turned round, the tool-hand
remaining in one position. There is no hard rule in this, the hands acting
flexibly for each other, but it can be seen at once when engraving that a
circle cannot be cut unless the block is turned round in precise ratio to
the cuts of the tool, while to cut a straight line the wood cannot advance
to the tool’s point.
Engrave the lines one under the other, not one above the other; for
circles it is much more easy to start the cut at the top than to start
underneath, though to be able to start underneath is sometimes useful. The
flat part of the handle should be just above the surface of the wood in
cutting lines or tints, but this does not apply to all work; the angle at
which tools are held must be determined by the shapes to be taken out. Do
not attempt to cut a long line with one cut, but with a succession of
short ones, and do not cut too deeply, or the line or wood on which the
belly of the tool presses will be bruised and will print broken instead of
clean and definite. If the tool be sharp the wood will chip out crisply at
each cut; the lines should be cut out, not pushed or pressed out. Blunt
tools are more responsible for slips than anything else except perhaps a
disturbed mind.
Should there be any danger of rubbing the drawing during engraving, cover
the block with a piece of thin paper after the manner of a tracing, first
making a small hole where work is to commence.
The craftsman is advised to practise by engraving something definite,
something that can be used. Aimless cutting and digging about on bits of
wood leads nowhere, for it is a very simple matter to cut a line that need
not be cut in any particular place, whereas to cut the lines exactly to
the subject, to produce something that is required is not only getting
experience, but the result is known at once in success or failure.
[Fig. 16]