Appendix 1
 
How to Make a Carved Wooden Base

A custom-made base, or dai, can substantially enhance the beauty and value of a suiseki (Fig. 148). A suiseki does not have to be a museum piece to warrant a dai. If the shape, texture, and color of the stone are pleasing, the time involved in making a dai will be well worth the effort.

An absolute beginner, with only a minimum of tools and woodworking skills, can carve a simple yet satisfactory dai for a suiseki in a surprisingly short period of time.

Several factors need to be considered before work begins, including the type of wood, the tools to be used, the design of the dai, and an appropriate finish.

 

Wood

Many different types and grades of wood are available, and selecting the right one can prevent mishaps. All wood is classified by lumber specialists as either hardwood or softwood. Hardwood is the product of trees that lose their leaves in winter, such as walnut, oak, birch, and maple; softwood is the product of trees that have needles and cones, such as pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock. Unfortunately, this classification sometimes leads to confusion, since some types of hardwood are softer than some types of softwood. However, in the vast majority of cases the terms “hardwood” and “softwood” correctly describe the physical properties of the wood.

Some dai are made of softwood, such as red pine; however, carvers have traditionally preferred those made of hardwood, especially walnut, mahogany, teak, black sandlewood, and rosewood. Dai are also sometimes made of cherry, zelkova, maple, oak, and Chinese quince. Camphor wood is occasionally used, but rarely outside Japan. Although hardwood is often more expensive and more difficult to carve than softwood, a dai made of hardwood is generally less likely to dent, warp, split, or break. Moreover, chisel cuts made in the wood tend to be cleaner, and hardwood often requires little or no surface treatment, the grain of the wood being sufficiently beautiful in its own right.

Since shrinkage and warping can create serious problems, most carvers buy the best grades of well-seasoned wood. If the wood is purchased from a commercial yard, it should be bought well in advance and allowed to season further. There is also an advantage in buying the widest board available, since the wood in wide boards tends to be higher in quality than the wood in narrow boards (wide boards are cut across the trunk, while smaller sections are sawed from various parts of the tree, including sapwood and branches).

As hardwood can be quite expensive, especially when bought by the board, costs can be reduced by buying or salvaging pieces of wood from a local cabinetmaker or furniture factory. Alternatively, pieces of wood can be salvaged from broken furniture. Occasionally wood suppliers accumulate short ends, and it may be possible to purchase these pieces at a reduced price.

 

Tools

In recent years power tools have become popular among dai carvers and can take much of the drudgery out of woodworking. Hand tools, however, are generally cheaper and give the carver a better feeling for the properties of the wood. Some carvers also feel that a dai made with hand tools is more personally satisfying. The tools should be of the best quality. It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to carve a good dai with hand tools that are poorly constructed, out of balance, or difficult to keep sharp.

 

SAW: A basic item in a dai-carver’s tool kit is a saw. Most straight cuts can be done with a fine-toothed backsaw, or tenon saw, approximately 12 inches long with 16 teeth per inch. For larger cutting jobs, a 24-inch handsaw with 10 teeth per inch is also useful. Curves are best cut with a compass saw, which has a blade that tapers from the handle, and with a coping saw, which has a very narrow blade held in place by adjustable screws. Although more specialized saws are available, most sawing jobs can be accomplished with these items.

 

Fig. 148. Dry waterfall stone set deep in a dai. The depth of the dai complements the verticality and heaviness of the stone. Place of origin: United States (California).

 

CHISELS, GOUGES: Several sizes of chisels and gouges will also be needed. Chisels have a straight cutting edge, and gouges have a curved cutting edge. Chisel and gouge widths start at 1⁄8 inch and increase by 1⁄8-inch steps up to 2 inches. Dai carvers use a large variety of chisels and gouges; a professional carver may have well over a hundred in all different shapes and sizes. Clearly, a beginner does not need such a large range of tools. A few chisels and gouges in the popular widths—¼, ½, ¾ and 1 inch—will be adequate for all but the most difficult jobs. Other tools can be added as the need arises.

SHARPENING STONE: Because cutting tools have to be kept sharp, a sharpening stone will be needed. A double-sided stone with fine and coarse surfaces, about 8 inches by 2 inches by 1 inch, is the best choice. For wetting the stone, thin lubricating oil is commonly used.

MALLET: Another item in the basic kit is a mallet. Most dai-carvers own a carpenter’s mallet, but some prefer a round-headed stonemason’s mallet. Hammers, because they have small faces and are made of steel, are unsuitable for striking a chisel with a wooden end. Chisels with resilient plastic handles may be used with a steel hammer; however, the small face of the hammer area may make hitting the end of the handle difficult, especially when attention is concentrated on what is happening at the cutting end of the chisel.

OTHER BASIC TOOLS: A list of miscellaneous tools that may also be useful would be almost endless, but some basic items worth including are a good knife, a rule, a square, screw clamps or a bench vise, a plane, an assortment of rasps and files, a cabinet scraper, a scratching awl, sandpaper, emery cloth, and paintbrushes. The basic tool kit can be supplemented with several power tools. Some of the most useful power tools are a band saw, for cutting curves; a router, for cutting a predetermined depth into the wood and for making a smooth-bottomed recess; and an electric drill with sanding-disk and drum-sander attachments. An electric drill can be made considerably more useful and precise by attaching it to a drill press.

 

Design and procedures

Before carving begins, a rough sketch should be made of the suiseki in its proposed dai. A dai is traditionally kept as simple and unobtrusive as possible, never competing with the suiseki for attention. An elaborate dai with intricately carved legs and several walls (discussed below) would be appropriate only for a heavy, rough, or complex stone.

PREPARATORY STEPS: The first step is to choose an appropriately sized piece of wood. The board should initially be several inches longer and wider than the suiseki. The thickness of the board should also be proportional to the height of the suiseki, since without glued-on additions, the height of the finished dai can be no greater than the height of the board. In general, the ratio of the height of the dai to the height of the suiseki ranges between 1:4 and 1:9. The average ratio is between 1:5 and 1:6, meaning that a 1-inch-deep dai might be made for a suiseki that is 5 or 6 inches high. For flat or delicate stones the ratio of dai to stone is slightly less, while for tall stones the ratio is slightly greater. In general, a dai for a flat or delicate stone will be shallower than a dai for a tall, vertical, and more massive stone (see Fig. 148).

Working on a flat table or on a workbench, the board should be planed until it is as smooth as possible. For this step and all other carving procedures, the board should be clamped to the table or work bench, thus allowing both hands to be used for better control and safety.

The suiseki is then placed on the board and, with a pencil, the exact outline of the base of the stone is traced. This can prove difficult if the bottom of the stone is not flat. Some carvers deal with the problem by shining a flashlight on the stone from directly overhead and by tracing along the outline made by the shadow of the stone. Alternatively, some carvers cast a flat-bottomed model of the suiseki using clay, putty, papier-mâché, or other materials, and then transfer a tracing of the cast to the board. Dividers and calipers are useful for checking the measurements of the model against the measurements of the stone.

WALLS AND INNER HOLLOW: If the dai is to have only one wall (Fig. 149), the carver traces a second line on the board outside the original pencil line outlining the stone’s base. A uniform distance should be kept between the two lines. The distance between the lines is determined by the desired width of the wall. There is no set rule on how wide to make the wall; however, a dai for a 10- to 12-inch-long Mountain stone will typically have a wall that is 1⁄8 to ¼ inch wide. A dai with only one wall is generally appropriate for very simple suiseki.

If the dai is to have two walls (Fig. 150), the carver traces a third line outside the second line, again keeping a uniform distance between the lines (Fig. 151). The distance between the second and third lines (the width of the outer wall) is typically the same or two to three times the distance between the first and second lines (the width of the inner wall). To illustrate, if the distance between the first and second lines is 1⁄8 inch, the distance between the second and third lines might be 1⁄8, ¼, or 3⁄8 inch. The exact proportions are determined by the aesthetic judgment of the carver.

As can be seen in Figure 152, the walls of the dai are carved to resemble steps or terraces, the inner wall being higher than the outer wall. Not counting the height of the dai’s legs, the inner wall is typically one-fifth to one-third the height of the outer wall.

The ratios for the two-wall design also hold for a three-wall design; that is, the height of the innermost wall would be one-fifth to one-third the height of the middle wall, which, in turn, would be one-fifth to one-third the height of the outermost wall. A dai will rarely have more than three walls, since such a dai would almost certainly overpower the suiseki.

At this stage some carvers prefer to cut out the outline of the dai using a saw; however, other carvers prefer to saw the outline at a later stage in the process, arguing that this allows greater room for change.

The next step is to carve the dai wall and to hollow out the inner area in which the stone will be laid. Hand tools—such as a mallet, gouges, and chisels—or an electric router may be used. The shape of the wall is determined by the shape of the stone and by individual taste; the wall can be carved with either a flat or rounded top. All carving with gouges and chisels should be done with the grain of the wood. If the bottom of the stone has been sawn flat, the inner area should be carved to an even depth and should be as shallow as possible. Although a hollow 1⁄8 to ¼ inch deep will usually cover the edge of the stone, it may be necessary to carve deeper for a suiseki with a defective or unusual base. The hollow is carved by initially cutting a short distance inside the original contour line and then cutting toward the center of the board, removing waste wood bit by bit. When all the waste wood has been removed, the carver works back to the original contour line with chisels and gouges (Fig. 153). According to the shape of the stone, the sides of the inner area will be either straight or curved. When the carving is completed, there should be a snug fit between the suiseki and the dai. If the dai is well designed and carved, it will continue the line of the suiseki and will cover the bottom of the stone. Gaps that remain between the stone and the dai can sometimes be filled in with wooden insets or plugs that are glued to the dai and then finely sanded (see Fig. 13).

 

Fig. 149. One-wall dai.

 

Fig. 150. Two-wall dai.

 

Fig. 151. Gutting guidelines for a two-wall dai drawn on a wooden board prior to carving.

 

The inner area is more difficult to carve if the bottom of the suiseki is uneven. Carving must proceed with an appreciation of irregularities in the underside of the stone. The most common procedure is to press the suiseki onto a piece of carbon paper that has been placed carbon side down over the board. The carbon paper is then removed and areas marked with carbon are carefully dug out. The process is repeated until the stone is properly seated.

As a substitute for carbon paper, some carvers mark the bottom of the suiseki with india ink, chalk, or a felt-tip pen. Other carvers find it helpful to cast a model of the stone’s base, since this is easier to handle than the stone. Dimensions are then taken from the model and used to guide the carving.

If the fit between the stone and the dai is not snug, or if the stone tends to wobble, some carvers fill the hollow with a mixture of wood shavings and glue. The suiseki is then pressed into the mixture, but removed before the glue sets. With few exceptions, suiseki are never glued to the dai, since a stone is often removed for summer display in a suiban or for examination during competition.

 

Fig. 152. Cross section of a two-wall dai showing proportions of the walls. (a) Outer wall is typically between one and three times wider than inner wall (in this figure, two times wider). (b) Outer wall is typically between three and five times higher than inner wall (in this figure, three times higher). (c) Ratio of height of leg to total height of the two walls is typically 1:3.

 

Occasionally a hollow for the suiseki is not carved. If the stone has a naturally flat base, or if the base of the stone has deep indentations and arches, a hollow may be unnecessary, and the top surface of the dai can be left flat or only minimally carved (see Fig. 56).

LEGS: Since the legs of a dai are one of the first elements to be noticed, it is important that they be well designed and constructed. Several variables need to be taken into account, including the shape, height, width, thickness, number, and placement of the legs. As viewed from the front, the sides of the legs can either be straight or curved; from a side view, the legs can be straight, concave, convex, or a combination of forms. One of the most common designs is a wedge-shaped leg that is wider at the top than at the bottom; a more rounded design in which the top is narrower than the bottom is also popular (Fig. 154). Often, the front side of the leg is carved so that it curves slightly inward (see Fig. 152). The design that is finally chosen should be based on the shape of the suiseki. A delicate suiseki with soft, rounded contours might have a dai with short, simple legs that are also rounded and curved. A more rugged and massive stone might have a dai with taller, straighter, and more intricately carved legs.

 

Fig. 153. The hollow for the suiseki has been carved out and further attention is paid to shaping the inner wall.

 

Balance, stability, and aesthetics are primary considerations in determining the height, width, thickness, and placement of the legs. Most dai have four or more legs; dai for tall, vertical suiseki are an exception, since they often have only three legs. For stability, a dai carver will almost always place a leg at each end or comer of the dai; for added stability, one or more legs are also positioned directly below lateral extensions or projections of the stone (Fig. 155a). However, some suiseki do not have such projections. In these cases the legs are positioned below areas of visible weight or below major features of the stone (Fig. 155b).

 

Fig. 154. Front view of typical dai legs.

 

Since simplicity is the key to a successful design, the total number of legs should be kept to a bare minimum. To avoid symmetry, unequal amounts of space should be left between the legs. A leg should also not be placed in the exact center of the dai or under tunnels and gaps in the stone.

A typical ratio between the height of the legs and the total height of the walls of the dai is 1:3 (see Fig. 152c). It should be kept in mind, however, that rarely is more than a ½ inch of space left between the bottom of the dai’s base and the ground. If too much space is left here, the excess space will create a feeling of emptiness and instability. Conversely, if too little space is allowed, the dai will appear too squat.

There is no general rule governing the width of the leg. Most dai carvers cut the outer part wider than the inner part, making the leg stable and better able to bear the weight of the suiseki (Fig. 156).

UNDERSIDE: The underside of the dai is often carved in a slightly convex shape. Especially near the center, the wood is kept as thick as possible, since a dai with a thick center is less likely to crack under the weight of the suiseki. Some traditional carvers complete the work by cutting a design, such as a flower pattern, on the underside of the dai.

 

Finish

Because wood is porous, a finish is often applied to protect the wood from dust, grime, and rot. A finish can also be applied to improve the appearance of the wood. Some woods, such as teak, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, and other hardwoods have a beautiful natural grain, a pleasing color, and natural properties that sufficiently protect the wood. Most other woods need some form of treatment.

 

Fig. 155. Placement of dai legs. Legs are carved (a) at each end of dai and below projections, and (b) below areas of visible weight.

 

PREPARATORY STEPS AND SANDING: Before any finishing material is applied, the surface of the dai should be smoothed to a fine, silky condition. The smoothing of the surface is done with sandpaper, starting with relatively coarse paper and proceeding by steps to sandpaper with a finer grain. Occasionally emery cloth, files, and cabinet scrapers are used to prepare the wood; steel wool is often used for the final smoothing. Sanding is one of the most important processes in the making of a dai and must always be done with great care, regardless of whether it is done by hand or with a power sander. If care is not exercised, the surface will be a mass of scratches.

 

Fig. 156. The underside of a typical dai, showing the shape of the legs.

 

Sanding should always be done following the grain of the wood—never across the grain. It is also important that sanding be done using straight strokes and even pressure. Twisting or circular motions should be avoided. Some carvers wipe the dai with a damp cloth and let it dry after the final sanding. This raises any bent fibers, which can be rubbed off by a light final sanding with a very fine or extra-fine grade of sandpaper. Inwardly curved surfaces can be sanded by wrapping sandpaper around a short length of wooden dowel (the diameter depending on the depth of the curve). After sanding, all dust should be carefully removed, first with a brush and then with a cloth.

BLEACHING: Bleaching is necessary only when the color of the wood needs to be lightened, or when it is necessary to remove any dark spots or other discolorations in the wood. Some carvers feel, however, that such marks add to the charm of the finished piece and prefer to leave them when they are not intrusive.

STAINING: Stains are used to bring out the full beauty of the grain or to deepen the color of the wood. Stains are usually not used on a dai that has beautiful grain or rich color, such as a dai made of rosewood, mahogany, or teak. The surface of such a dai needs only to be polished with sandpaper and rubbed briskly with a cloth. A stain may be applied to add color and darken a wood that has little natural beauty of its own. It will not obscure grain and will only change the color of the wood at its surface. Consequently, a finishing coat of shellac, varnish, or lacquer must be applied over the stain in order to protect it from unsightly scratches.

OIL AND WAX POLISHING: Oil or wax polishing can produce a beautiful finish. The application process is, however, extremely time-consuming, since the oil or wax must be applied numerous times. As a result, oil and wax finishes are rarely employed.

SHELLAC, VARNISH, AND LACQUER: For years shellac was a favored finish because it was quick-drying and easy to apply. Varnishes were also used, but they had several drawbacks, including a lengthy setting time. In recent years, many dai carvers have come to prefer fast-drying, black or dark brown brushing lacquer because it is hard, durable, and waterproof. Upon drying, a lacquered or shellacked surface will be smooth and glossy. Most carvers reduce this gloss to a soft, satiny finish by rubbing down the completely dried final coat (usually there are four or five coats) of lacquer or shellac with extrafine sandpaper and steel wool until the desired sheen is achieved. It is customary to cover the final lacquer or shellac finish with two coats of wax.

PAINTING: Paint obscures the grain of the wood, and is often used to cover a dai that lacks beauty of color and grain. Both an undercoat and topcoat of paint will be needed. The undercoat—which may be labeled undercoat, flat, or primer, depending on the brand—should have no gloss. The topcoat, which is nearly always glossy and frequently black in color, may be a high-gloss, semigloss, or satin enamel. After several thin coats of enamel have been applied, with light sanding between each coat, a beautiful final surface can be obtained by rubbing the last coat to a fine, soft polish with pumice powder and lightweight oil.