Ron Wiener writes this about the most important part of the method used in carving the fan:
The most important consideration in carving an architectural element like the fan or a starburst or other geometrical element is the thickness of lines and how perfectly straight they can be made. One must use a ruler since it is not humanly possible to draw a straight line without one. In addition, the thickness of a pencil line is often too wide and has two sides to it, making it useless for anything other than a preliminary sketch.
To obtain the precise lines, a knife is drawn against, or a small gouge is pushed against a steel rule with gentle pressure. Curved lines are dictated by the sweep of the gouges used. That sets out the fine lines necessary for guiding further work. After the lines are established care must be taken to adhere to those lines when removing more stock. Finally, sanding with the paper wrapped around the proper sized dowels removes the tool facets.
Ron Wiener, of Jersey City, NJ is an accomplished profession carver,
primarily working in architectural carving. You may email Ron
at rwoodcarver@skyweb.net
or visit his website at http://www.rwoodcarver.com