Guide to Carving Escaping Sardines by Mick Illsley

CARVING ESCAPING FISH – A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

The whole concept for the escaping fish was –
What would it be like if you were live fish?
Trapped in a tin can
How would you feel if someone opened the lid???

“WHOOOOOPPPPEEE !!! I’m outa here”, and the rest is up to you.

The full carving can be broken down into five simple stages;
1 carving the fish,
2 the tin can,
3 the lid of the can,
4 the key, and
5 connecting all the parts to form the finished product.

All dimensions are in inches with millimeter conversions in brackets.

STAGE ONE – CARVING THE FISH

Using pieces of offcut timber, all of the same species, ¾ “ (18mm) thick approx. 9” (225mm) long by 3” (75mm) wide, sketch on a typical fish shape, either an actual fish, or, an abstract,or any representation you wish for a fish.
TIP  Drawing a centre line thro’ the fish will make it easier to balance and shape the fish.
TIP. By introducing curves to the centre lines it will make the finished product more alive than straight, rigid lines.

Cut out blocks of fish

TIP. Do not cut individual fish shapes at this stage. Try and keep at least two fish in a line as this will be easier to grip when shaping individual fish.

Continue to refine the fish shapes using a coping saw to remove as much waste as possible.
Turn the fish shapes through 90 degrees (so that you are looking down on them) and continue to shape them from above using a sharp knife.     The knife does not have to be special – Stanley type or any sharp craft knife will do.

Shaping and separating the fish with coping saw and knife

TIP  For safety keep all of you behind the sharp blade including the hand that is holding the wood.

TIP Again, by introducing a curve, as you look down, will create more movement in the finished article.
TIP Try and keep your guidelines in place as you continue.

Start to carve the curves into the fish’s body, and try not to remove the dorsal fin on the fish’s back.

TIP The dorsal fin and tail area needs to be as thin as you can make it without breaking it off.

Once most of the curves are in place it is time to separate the fish into individual pieces.     Using the centre lines as guides, continue carving the curves to the top and bottom of the fish. When you are happy with the carved shapes you have the option of sanding them down to form a sleek fish like shine or retaining the chip carved finish. It’s up to you..

STAGE TWO – CARVING THE TIN CAN,

You will require a piece of timber 5/8” to 1”, (18 – 25mm) thick, minimum 21/2” (60mm) wide by approx. 6” (150mm) long overall. (This piece of timber forms both the can and the lid). The can needs to be around 4” (100mm) long, leaving 2”(50mm) for the lid to be used later.   I find the can to be the trickiest part of the project but if you follow the next steps it may become easier.

Saw off the 2” (50mm) offcut but DO NOT throw it away as it will be used for the can lid.
Draw out the can shape onto your piece of wood.    I have found it best to use an actual sardine can as a template.
Don’t forget to include the step arrangement at one end on the inside of can. This is required to support the can lid which we will get to later

Mark out the centre points of the corner holes roughly 1/4” (5mm) from the inner corners of the can and at one end two further holes to the inside of the step. The outer holes B need to be only about. 1/4” (5 mm) deep (to form the step to support for the lid).    The inner holes A will need to be about ½” (10 – 12 mm ) deep.I use a 10 mm diameter drill bit for the corner holes.  Carefully drill out the six corner holes.

TIP To obtain the correct depth of hole, measure up the drill bit and wrap a strip of tape around bit at the required length. When the tape hits the wood being drilled you have reached the required depth.

With a chisel tap down to make stop cuts (shown in red).  These and the corner holes will assist you removing any waste wood from the inside of the can and they will help reduce enthusiastic follow throughs taking out parts of the walls of the can.  Remove the waste wood with a gouge or a V tool.   As you get deeper into the removal of the waste wood, you need to redo the stop cuts.  Try to maintain a reasonable thickness to the can wall, say 1/4” (5mm) as this may be thinned down later. Remember it is impossible to put wood back when you have removed too much.

TIP. Always cut out waste by following the grain of the wood. Cutting with the grain will be easier and smoother and your tool will slide easily through. Cutting against the grain will be harder and your chisel will dig into the wood, be a little more bouncy and leave a rougher cut.   Sometimes it will be impossible to cut along the grain. In this case try cutting across the grain which will give you a better cut than against the grain.

TIP. Do not try to take out large lumps of wood whilst removing waste. Small is beautiful and it will save time and effort eventually.

When you have removed the bulk of the the interior wood, pare down inner sides of the can to about 1/8 in thick using a gouge first and then a chisel to smooth the sides.

Using a chisel, cut off the square outside corners down to the outside shape of the tin.    Keep the cuts vertical, a pencil line as C in picture above helps to keep the cuts on line

I find it really helpful if you draw the required curve to the top and underside of the can and carve from both sides (top and bottom) to achieve a consistent curve.   XXXXX

STAGE THREE    CARVING THE CAN LID

Using the 2” (50mm) offcut from the end of the can body, draw a “L” shape with a thick foot which includes a ½” (10mm) diameter circle ( to form the key hole) and ¼” (5mm) thick wall around it.  Ensure the grain of timber runs along the longer leg of the L shape, otherwise if it runs across the thickened foot, it will have a tendency to split.

Cut out the waste wood to form the L shape.   Drill out the ½” (10mm) hole.

TIP You will find life easier if you drill from both sides as the hole does not necessarily have to meet in the middle.

Trim off the outer waste around the hole to now form a P shape

.FITTING THE LID TO THE CAN

The can will need to be finished, ie the walls formed as thin as possible, and as smooth as possible. Once you have achieved this and you are happy with the finished result it will be possible to finish off the lid.   I use a piece of tracing paper held tightly over the stepped end of the can and use a brass rubbing technique to obtain the shape of the inside face of the can to ensure a very tight fit of lid to can.

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Transfer the brass rubbing shape onto the leg of the P shaped lid.

TIP Ensure the orientation of the brass rubbing and can lid are the right way round, ie, the lid fits exactly into the can body and is not fitted upside down!!!    It may be necessary to trim the thickness of the lid to fit onto the shelf that was created when you made the can body. In particular the outside face of the lid needs to fit slightly below the top of the can rim, as an original sardine can does.

STAGE FOUR    CARVING THE KEY

Cut a 2” (50mm) long by 3/4” (20mm) wide strip approx. ¼” (5mm) thick, from a piece of straight, tight grained wood eg. Oak.  The timber grain must run along the length of the key.    Draw on the key shape and cut out the centre waste from the handle end of the key using a small gouge.Form a centre prong from the handle end to form the shaft of the key and trim off the side waste. Carefully round off all the sharp edges to the key using a sharp knife and sand down until you are happy with the finish.

STAGE FIVE      ASSEMBLY

You should now have all the pieces to hand ready fit the final assembly.  Consider is what finish do you want on the fish, a polished, sanded, natural, timber finish, exposed chip carved finish, stained, painted, varnished, waxed, the list is endless but whatever you choose, remember there is no right or wrong. Its whatever you want.  Before you start to glue, you need to consider the shape you would like for the finished sculpture, ie, a long line of fish fixed end to end, a fan shaped spread, a random burst, the choice is yours but consider the balance. It is very easy to fit piece upon piece and find the end result is unbalanced and falls over (as I did on my first attempt). Just try and consider the end result.

Starting the fish from the can needs thought.     I use a damaged fish shape, cut off across the body to form a half fish and glue and screw it  to the can. The other fish are just glued together.

TIP. Do not forget to countersink the screws to the underside of the can or the finished result will not stand level.

Connecting the fish together may be daunting as gluing the convex shape of the fish bodies to its adjacent partner leads to a very poor joint.    I trim one fish to form a concave surface where it meets the next fish and glue that to the convex surface of its mate which gives a greater surface area for the glue to work. Also, if possible, I fit a short dowel into both fish where they meet which helps to stop them from sliding apart as the glue takes.

TIP. A dowel can be made from any handy bits, a cocktail stick, a match, bit of wire, etc.

And remember this; Speed is irrelevant, take your time and enjoy the process, just do your best and ENJOY.

You can see more of Mick’s work, including some spectacular sardine sculptures by going to Members carvings   and clicking on Mick Illsley