ws the best form of grounding tool;
_b_ is little or no use for this purpose, as it curves up too suddenly
for work on a flat ground. It is a good thing to have the handles of
tools made of different colored woods, as it assists the carver in
picking them out quickly from those lying ready for use.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

When in use, the tools should be laid out in front of the carver if
possible, and with their points toward him, in order that he may see the
shape and choose quickly the one he wants.

The tempering of tools is a very important factor in their efficiency.
It is only of too common occurrence to find many of the tools
manufactured of late years unfit for use on account of their softness of
metal. There is nothing more vexatious to a carver than working with a
tool which turns over its cutting edge, even in soft wood; such tools
should be returned to the agent who sold them.

With a selection from the above tools, acquired by degrees in the manner
described, almost any kind of work may be done. There is no need
whatever to have a tool for every curve of the design. These can readily
be made by using straight chisels in combination with such gouges as we
possess, or by sweeping the curves along their sides with a chisel used
knife fashion. No really beautiful curves can be made by merely
following the curves of gouges, however various their sweeps, as they
are all segments of circles.

Tools generally come from the manufacturer ground, but not sharpened. As
the student must in any case learn how to sharpen his tools, it will be
just as well to get them in that way rather than ready for use. As this
process of sharpening tools is a very important one, it must be reserved
for another place. Should tools be seriously blunted or broken they must
be reground. This can be done by the carver, either on a grindstone or a
piece of gritty York stone, care being taken to repeat the original
bevel; or they may be sent to a tool shop where they are in the habit
of grinding carving tools.

Catalogues of tools may be had from good makers; they will be found to
consist mainly in a large variety of the tools already mentioned. Those
which are very much bent or curved are intended for special application
to elaborate and difficult passages in carving, and need not concern the
student until he comes to find the actual want of such shapes; such, for
instance, as bent parting tools and back bent gouges.

In addition