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Ornaments for carving on chicken eggs. Eggshell carving: fragile magic

I do not want to offend Alexander in any way, but I would rather register it not in Germany, where Alexander lives, but in Odessa, moreover, from the time of "The Elusive Avengers" and Buba Kastorsky - this is exactly the type that suggests itself in my subconscious.

Nevertheless, despite all the mischief and humor of the image, Alexander works wonders. And for example, today we will look at the process of making such a carved egg:

And all further text belongs to the pen (keyboard) of the master.

I'll start with this picture:

I make the size of the picture approximately in the original size:

With a simple sharpened pencil, transfer the drawing to the egg

In red, I marked the places that we will delete in the first place.

A magnifying glass is a useful and important thing. Firstly, it is seen better, and secondly, it protects the eyes.

I advise you to cover the table with something soft, like foam rubber. You can forget an egg accidentally dropped on a hard surface right away. Even if you don't see any cracks, believe me - they are, and during further work they will only grow.

I will use Diamant cutters for high speed, so called FG (friction grip)

These five types of cutters are essential for this and most other jobs.

"KaVo Super Torque 625" This turbine can operate up to 350-400. 000 rpm, water cooled drill.

With a round head (0.5-0.7mm), carefully drill holes in the "red" places

Slightly go through all the contours of our Masks. A prepared and washed egg looks like this.

It was the turn of the inverted cone. The photo shows how you can create the initial volume.

Change the inverted cone to a sharp cone. Carefully! One of the most dangerous moments is removing the “red” spots inside the mask!

First outer circle:

Here is such an interesting master class from Alexander Volk, a man who is ready to share not only the beauty of his products, but also his knowledge and skills, which is not so often seen today among professional craftsmen.
We thank Alexander, and I invite all visitors to visit the master's website at

Almost everyone has known Easter since childhood. Everyone is happy to prepare for this day, paint eggs, decorate baskets and Easter dishes. Today, egg decor is popular not only for Easter. Craftsmen have created and mastered a new, magical art - carving on eggshell.

Preparation for work

For work, they use both chicken eggs and ostrich, goose eggs, and some craftsmen even use the shell of a quail egg. Eggshell carving is a delicate and painstaking process, but at the same time it is interesting and varied. Try yourself in this fragile art!

Eggshell carving can be learned at home with a limited number of tools, as well as doing it for the soul or business. You just need to be prepared for the fact that the first time nothing will work out - after all, the eggshell is very thin and fragile, so it takes some time to adapt to such work, and get the necessary experience in the process of creating your egg masterpieces.

The technology for making eggshell carving is described below. The advantage of this art form is that all the tools and materials are quite accessible to everyone.

If you decide to test your capabilities in creating masterpieces from eggshells at home, then you will need:

chicken egg (raw);
simple pencil;
template (you can do it yourself);
electric cutter or miniature drill;
small sharp knife or scalpel;
paints for additional painting of the product or varnish for the topcoat;
soft cloth to place on the table;
spray varnish, acrylic varnish (transparent nail varnish can be used);
magnifier (optional);
respirator or safety glasses (for sensitive eyes).

Let's start carving

First you need to free the egg shell from the contents. To do this, we make holes at the top and bottom of the washed and dried egg with the sharp end of a knife or a thick needle. After that, you need to blow out the contents of the egg with a syringe. Then we collect soapy or clean water into the egg using the same syringe or syringe and blow it out again. The procedure must be repeated several times. Dry the egg. The shell is ready to go.

For beginners in this business, it is advisable to strengthen the eggshell so that it is difficult to spoil it during work. To do this, cover half of the egg with varnish, dry it and turn it over, then varnish the second part.

We start with a drawing - we make a blank. We take a pencil to delicately draw the chosen design onto the shell by hand. Ideas can be viewed in books, in photos on the Internet, or come up with yourself;

Next, we transfer it to the egg. You can sketch with a pencil or use carbon paper. For convenience, we attach the carbon copy with a stapler with a non-carbon part to the paper with the image, put all this on the egg and, in order not to paint the egg with a carbon copy, we work extremely carefully.

It is convenient to mark in red the places that we will cut out first.

To protect your eyes and better visibility while working, a magnifying glass will be the best assistant for you.

We cover the table with something soft (for example, a cloth or foam rubber). This will protect the shell from small cracks if an egg falls onto a hard table surface.

For eggshell carving, we use high speed cutters. A photo of the five types of main cutters is presented below:

Holes are drilled in the "red" places. First you need to cut out the marks - grooves along the contours of the pattern, while not deepening the nozzle too deeply. After that, drill the holes, which are marked in red, completely. Remember that shell carving is a very fragile art. Therefore, it is better to play it safe and leave the partitions thicker so as not to spoil the product.

After that, we cut out an openwork pattern that diverges in circles from the main pattern. We pass all the egg. This is one of the most difficult and painstaking moments in eggshell carving!

At the end, it is worth removing all irregularities with a polishing stone or a sharp knife. And now your masterpiece is ready! For a beautiful play of light and shadow, as well as for a beautiful lace pattern to be better seen, you can place a backlight behind the egg or inside.

Every Russian person is familiar with Easter from childhood. Everyone is used to helping mothers get ready for this day and paint eggs, decorate Easter dishes and baskets. However, egg decor is now popular not only for Easter, but also all year round... Some Russian and foreign craftsmen have created and mastered a new art - carving on specially prepared eggshells. They use both chicken eggs and goose, ostrich eggs, and some especially sophisticated craftsmen manage to cut even quail eggs in the shell. Carving is an interesting and varied occupation, you just have to try yourself in this art!

Looking at a carved egg, it's hard to believe that anyone can do it all, even without professional tools and artistic skills. How to carve a prepared eggshell at home, we will tell you in our master class for beginners.

Learn to carve eggshells in a simple master class

Tools and materials for work:

Raw chicken egg
Clear nail polish or acrylic polish, spray polish
Children's pear syringe or aspirator (you can do without them)
Simple pencil
Template (you can do it yourself)
Electric cutter, miniature drill or electric manicure set - what is
scalpel or small sharp knife
soft cloth or sponge to place on the table
magnifier (optional)
safety glasses and a respirator - for sensitive eyes and noses

All tools and materials are fairly affordable, this is one of the advantages of this art form.

Start. Let's start carving on eggshells:

To get started, you need to free the shell from the contents. The standard way, of course, will not work. To correctly make the workpiece, you need to make holes with the sharp end of a knife or a thick needle on the top and bottom of the washed and dried egg, then blow out the contents with a syringe or an aspirator, or you can just put your lips to the smaller hole and blow hard. After that, pour soapy or clean water into the egg using the same syringe or syringe, then blow it out in the same way, repeat the procedure several times. Dry the egg. The shell is ready for further work.
For beginners, the next step is to coat half of the egg with the varnish of your choice, dry it and turn it over, then varnish the second part as well. Thus, the shell is strengthened, it will be more difficult to spoil it during work. But experienced craftsmen omit this step, because in their experienced hands the shell does not crack.
The last step in preparing for carving is to place a sponge or soft tissue... If an egg accidentally falls on a hard surface, it can break, and the mat will prevent this.

We disassemble the egg shell carving technology

Select the required template. You can spy on ideas in books, in a photo on the Internet, or come up with yourself. Next, you need to transfer it to the egg. You can use carbon paper, trace around the cut shape, or just sketch with a pencil.

It is worth starting with smaller parts and holes. For convenience, they are painted in a contrasting color, for example, red, as in the photo.

Holes are drilled in the places painted in red.

Saw out the marks - grooves along the contours of the pattern, without deepening the bit too much. The drawing should not fall out entirely.

After that, drill the holes, marked in red, completely.

Next, start cutting through the outline of the drawing. If you cut it out entirely, it will simply fall out, so you need to leave the partitions for which it holds in the shell. It is important to remember that shell carving is a fragile art, and it is better for a beginner to play it safe and leave the partitions thicker so as not to spoil the product.

After that, an openwork pattern is cut out, diverging in circles from the main pattern. You can pre-line it on the egg with a pencil or give free rein to your imagination.

At the end, it is worth grinding off all the irregularities with a scalpel or a sharp knife, brushing off the dust with a brush or blowing it off, after which the egg must be varnished.

How long can carved shells be stored?

The shell, despite its fragility, is a very durable material. When stored properly, it can last for a very long time. To do this, it must be strengthened with varnish, as described above, and it is better to keep it under glass and on a stand. In addition, hanging eggs look great when they are tied by a ribbon or string.

At exhibitions, lights are placed behind the eggs or inside to make the lace pattern better visible, as well as for a beautiful play of light and shadow.

Be that as it may, a carved shell is an amazingly beautiful and effective gift that everyone will like. But it is better to remember that such a present can only be given to an adult, or the result of several hours of work will become unusable in a matter of seconds.

A selection of videos on the topic of the article

Good afternoon, residents and guests of the Land of Masters.
Once, answering one of the questions about cutting out large and small holes in an eggshell, I said that there are several ways. One of them was described earlier. Today I will try to show three more.

I want to warn you right away that this is not a dogma or an unshakable postulate. It is not necessary to repeat exactly as it is written. YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEARCH YOUR OWN WAYS TO ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE. And the more you find them, the better.

So, we have an eggshell, on which we need to cut out two large enough, in relation to the shell itself, holes of irregular shape. Chicken shell.

All the previous remnants of the drawing from the shell were erased with a regular clerical rubber band, so as not to distract from the work ahead and so as not to smear on the shell. I advise you to do this more often, after each completed stage in the work. Why? If this is not done, then by the end of the work the white shell will turn dark gray from smeared graphite. And at the final stage of the work, it will be quite problematic to clean it, since the fragile eggshell from a large number of cut holes of different sizes and shapes becomes even more fragile, and one wrong movement can lead to ... Just imagine ...

With a simple pencil, draw a line by hand, along which we will cut. Be sure to leave a stock for roughing and finishing, as the tailors say, with an allowance for seams.

We make one or more through holes next to the line. They can be made with any drill or bur, for example, a spherical shape. The diameter is not very important, if necessary, the hole can be increased to the required size.

Carefully cut a hole along the line.
Someone will say that this is a repetition of the previous method and will be mistaken. At first glance, they are similar. But there are fundamental differences.
1. Think about "seam allowances". In this case, the shell is cut into a rough cut, and the main study of the contour of the hole is still ahead.
2. With this method, you can use a bur of any shape, except, perhaps, a ball, and any diameter.
Both of these differences greatly simplify the cutting of holes, regardless of their shape and size.
Using this method, you can cut the shell in the hole in one piece or in parts, separating "pieces" of different sizes and shapes. For which several small holes are made.
This is one way.

The next way is to turn eggshells into dust, in the truest sense of the word. If someone has ever worked with a file, a file or any emery tool, then he will understand what is at stake.
The essence of this method is that the eggshell is not cut out in pieces, but is ground with a bur (s), as a result of which the required hole is obtained.
To do this, it is enough to make one hole approximately in the middle of the part to be removed. And, gradually increasing it, cut the desired hole.
As with the first method, you can use burs different shapes and size.
You don't have to start in the middle. You can make a hole in any corner or near any side. But then you will have to cut not in a spiral, but go "in a wide front", without leaving protrusions and depressions in the cutting lines, when leveling them, chips, shell breaks and cracks are inevitable.

Like this, step by step,

gradually, slowly,

enlarge the hole.
With this method, you can also remove the shell in parts. To do this, you just need to make more than one hole in the removed part, but several. And in the same way, gradually increasing each of them, connect them at the end of the work.

It remains only to bring the plan to the end and align the resulting hole along the line.
Then erase the remaining pattern with an eraser.
One hole is ready.

Using the third method, we will cut out the shell in the hole in one piece. Although, you can do it in parts, as in the first two methods.
To do this, as before, first mark the future hole with a pencil, not forgetting to leave stocks.
Having marked the hole, we make a small groove along the line with a scoring bur.

Then we erase the remnants of the line with an elastic band. We wash our hands and once again "go through" with an elastic band, now over the entire surface of the shell.
Everything. Enough. We don’t take a pencil anymore.
We have a thin groove left on the shell. Now, with very light movements, barely touching, we "pass" it several times, gradually deepening it, avoiding strong pressure and uneven cutting. Do not try to cut through the shell in one or two "passes". The slower you go deeper, the less chances that the shell will crack in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
SHELL CRACKS MUST BE CONTROLLED AND MANAGED!

Eggs of different sizes and shades are suitable for carving.

Eggshell carving- an unusual modern hobby and traditional craft, which consists in carving on an empty egg shell.

Story

Eggshell carving is one of the earliest forms of arts and crafts. The shape of the egg attracts with its secret, some kind of inner meaning. Many early civilizations considered the egg a symbol of fertility, tried to decorate it and used it for ceremonies aimed at increasing the yield and fertility.

Modern man also appreciates the shape of the egg and the meaning inherent in it. Eggshell carving attracts with the contrast between such a fragile object and what can be done with it. Now there is a whole galaxy of artists who are engaged in egg carving, they exhibit their work at exhibitions and in museums. High-class craftsmen not only make carving on eggshells, but also embossing, that is, the carving goes not only through and through, but also only in the upper layer of the skrlup.

On the right is an egg from the Museum of China

The art of eggshell carving was highly developed in China. It is customary there to give a decorative egg for weddings, birthdays, births of children. At first, eggs were simply dyed red. But over time, the art of decoration reached heights, and carved eggs appeared. The museums of China have a large collection of such carved eggs from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. After cutting, the eggs were decorated with gold thread, diamonds, and beads.

Using carved eggs

Simplest designs for carved eggs

A carved shell can be a gift Easter egg, or a mini lamp shade for a light bulb. The carved shell can be adapted for a candle or candlestick. Another use is interior decor. You can create a whole composition or sculpture from several shells.

A carved shell as a gift to friends or family is a great reason to surprise the recipient of the gift, because egg carving is a rare hobby and fascinating.

Etsy sells handmade carved eggs. Cost from $ 35 to $ 250 apiece, depending on the complexity of the design.

Shell carving process

Shell preparation... Make a hole in the egg with a small drill or needle. You should hold the egg firmly, but do not squeeze it so that the shell does not crack. Pierce the contents of the egg so that the yolk bursts. Then the contents of the egg can be removed with a syringe, or blown out (this will require a second hole opposite the first). Dry the shell. Sometimes people are interested in disinfecting the inside of an egg in order to have a completely clean craft item. To do this, take boiled water into the syringe and inject water into the egg several times. Close the holes in the egg with your fingers and shake it. For extra cleanliness, it is advisable to treat the egg with a formalin solution.

To work, you need to remove the film that is present on the inner surface of the egg. The film interferes with work and creates messy debris on the inside, spoiling appearance finished model... For this purpose, an empty egg is immersed in a solution of water and Whiteness (in a 1: 1 ratio). The dissolution time of the inner film is from 30 minutes to 4 hours. The egg must be periodically checked for peeling of the film. At the end of processing, the remains of the film are removed from the egg through the drilled holes, and the egg itself is washed with water.

Soft graphite pencil (3M) draw a picture on the shell.
With a drill and a small bur you can start shell carving, choosing those areas that should work in the light. Requires a very light touch, no pressure.
After finishing work brush away the rest of the dust from the shell with a hard brush or steel brush. If a trace of the drawing remains in some places, then it should be removed with an eraser or sponge, but this should be done as carefully as possible so as not to lose the work done.
For shine you can rub the shell with oil or cover with a thin layer of varnish. Sometimes they are polished with felt.

Intricate designs for carved eggs

Start with a simple design. As soon as the first experience is acquired, you can move on to more complex options design.
The most difficult thing is to hold the egg firmly, but at the same time, without pressure on it. It comes with experience. Eggs are usually held with bare hands. Gloves can wrap around the drill, which is dangerous for beginners. Only vinyl are allowed.
- Egg. Eggs of chicken, turkey, duck, goose, ostrich (emu) are suitable for carving. Any color is suitable: white, brown, beige, green, black. It is more difficult to paint on a dark surface, for this you should use a white wax pencil or needle. It is believed that it is best to use eggs of an adult bird, the shell of such eggs is thicker and stronger.
- Needle for scratching a drawing, or pencils.
- Drill... It is a tool used by jewelers, dentists. Basically a small drill that is easy to hold in your hand, like a fountain pen. Powered by electricity. Modern cars are almost silent, have different operating modes (fast, slow).
- Hog set(drilled). Among them should be a puff (felt) for polishing the product. You can make a puff on your own by stringing a round felt plate onto a boron. Burs are a metal stick with a ball at the end.
Links
- All about hobbies, handicraft portal Hobbyportal.ru