Carving an Eagle

 4.  Using the minihack and hacksaw blade, I begin to develop the basic shape of the eagle carving.

  Cut the head to reduce the width of the piece of stone to the width of the eagle's head.

The back is cut back at an angle to develop the wings to the width of the tail.

Where the eagle joins the base, cut about the depth of the hacksaw blade on each side.

On the left is the back view, on the right is the front view of your carving at this point.

 

 5.  Using the flat rasp, angle the body from the shoulder of the wing to the neck of eagle.

  Using a hammer and chisel, chip off the square corners of the front and bottom of the eagle. This is to take away the squareness of the stone and begin to define the shape of the eagle. Do not chisel any stone from the tail portion of the sculpture. This can be a delicate area due to the thinness of the tail and there is a very distinct possibility of breaking to much of the tail off while chiseling. It will be easier to file it into shape.

 At the top of the base, chip the stone back to the bottom of the saw cut to give the definition between bird and base.