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Key block carving ... continued
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Stage four - the broad 'soainomi' clearing chisel is used to clear away wide areas of unneeded wood around the edge of the design. When I was a less-experienced printmaker, I used smaller chisels for this job, wasting incredible amounts of time. This 27mm wide tool really sends the chips flying though, and the clearing job now takes only a few minutes per block. This chisel is also useful for leaving a relatively flat surface on the carved areas of wood - this helps avoid pigment build-up later during printing.