Marker or pencil.

[Guest Bug2ooth]

Hey,

I have a question regarding carving, I have been marking my measurements on the soap with a marker. However I am finding it very messy. The marker keeps running out every couple of seconds, as well as the lines are so thick. Don't we have to be within 1 mm?

 

Do you recommend me to use a pencil instead? Also do we get marks deducted if we use pencil.

 

Thank u

 

bug2ooth

[Guest johnwoo19]

I would recommend using pencil. There are no penalties if there are excess pencil marks on the soap.

[Guest uofmpredent]

Anyone know what type of pencil they supply you with?

[Guest johnwoo19]

The regular kind that you sharpen; not mechanical pencil

[Guest OhB1]

During my practice carvings I used both, and personally preferred the marker. One thing to note is that if you press hard enough the pencil can make "permanent" marks which you will be penalized for.....

[Guest johnwoo19]

OhB1, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that if pencil marks were on the soap, you wouldn't be penalized for it.

[Guest Qwigley]

I think that johnwoo19 is correct; No penalties for making lines with your pencil. I was also under the impression that none of the uncarved surfaces are graded.

[Guest Bug2ooth]

i tried it with pencil....! with the marker i m just worried that it'll throw my measurements off

[Guest Bug2ooth]

oh k so now i m stressing!!!! my problem is not carving itself... its laying out the measurements... it takes me way tooo long..... has anyone had a similar problem.......what should i do....???

[Guest OhB1]

johnwoo19,

 

To clarify, as I understand, you are not penalized for having pencil marks on the soap per se, however, if you put enough pressure on the soap with the pencil, you run the risk of creating "permanent" marks on the soap...basically you are creating grooves in the soap with the pencil tip. You will lose points for this.

 

At the end of the day, choose whatever method you are comfortable with, Im sure people have done equally well using either method....my personal preference is the sharpie marker.

[Guest qw1222]

-accually i spent 8-10 mins on measurement on test day. measurement is one of the most important part...17 min carving and 3-5 min "fine tuning".

 

-use marker, and gently rub on a paper towel at the tip (make a strike of lines)..it becomes good as new.

[Guest Kevthedent]

Bug2ooth

 

just keep practicing!

after 20+ soaps i am sure u will have no problems with carving.

 

i used pencil to label my soap.. i felt that its more accurate than the marker

[Guest Bug2ooth]

thanx for your opinion!!!! thats what i m going to do.. keep practising... but its frusterating... i am so slow!!! =( hopefully i'll get better....

[Guest Kevthedent]

dun worry!

 

i did 10+ soaps the day before the Nov exam..

ya, i was stressed out

 

 

but seriously, the more u do, the better u get

 

good luck on ur DAT

[Guest amitch]

Maybe this is a silly question... but rather than keep worrying about it I'll just ask. The two existing lines on the soap- does it matter which side these end up on for the final product (i.e. should the lines be at the 'top' and 'bottom' of the soap or should they be on left and right sides? Sorry if this is a dumb question- I've done the DAT once before and did poorly on the carving, I wonder if I misunderstood some aspect of the soap layout???

[Guest Dent08]

You're free to orient the soap however you want, but if you place those lines top/bottom or side/side you can use them as a guide for measurements and keeping your planes perfectly flat.

 

I always caved with the lines top/bottom.

[Guest amitch]

Thanks for the response! I carved with them on the sides, and worried that maybe I had missed some instructions along the way- but now I will just continue to do it the way I prefer

[Guest slysniper]

I dont know if I should be telling you guys this, but have you thought of using your blade to mark?

Well, when I took the prep DAT course with UofA students, one of the guys told me he used the blade to mark his soap (he got 30 on carving). Well, I listened to his advice and I used the blade too. I managed to get 30 on my carving as well.

Ok, this is not to say everyone who uses blade for marking gets 30, but blade has many advantages. First, gives a very accurate, yet thin marking. It saves you time especially if you use the blade to mark too. It also gives you a straight line guranteed. This requires a lot of practicing. But, once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy.

However, keep in mind if you mess up, well, lets just say your soap will be pretty chopped up. It actaully happened to my soap on DAT (thank god it was outside the marking range).

Hope that helps,

[Guest uoft2005]

slysniper has a good point.

 

But only disclaimer is that you need to practice like mad before u attempt doing this.

[Guest Bug2ooth]

hey slysniper, i just wanted to know how you drew the circular lines (circumference) on the soap? Did you use a ruler or did u do it free hand!

 

thanx!

[Guest slysniper]

I used the ruler and drew it. Word of advice, my master told me (LOL) do NOT draw lines that you dont need. So, here is what it means if there is a mid notch you dont have to draw a cicular lines all the way around it. Same goes for longitudinal. You see, you wouldnt have notches that would be all say 5 mm deep, some could be 4 or 6 mm (just like the ones they gave us on Nov. DAT). So, keep that in mind.

 

I have to tell ya somethg else, make sure you take a candy right before carving starts. I gotta tell ya, my hands were shaking so bad that I could not even hold the soap, I mean it. I had to wait 3 min before adrenaline kicked in, activated phosphorlylse-a and rleased glucose in my blood (LOL, too much Bchem for me). But, seriously take something sweet before it starts.

 

Let me know if that helps guys and feel free to send me a pm if you have a question. After all we are all going to be dentists soon and have to watch out for each other.

:smokin

[Guest Nick1983]

Hi,

 

Should I invest in buying the IQ Pub. carving book? Right now the only materials I have for carving is the CDA sent me. I was just wondering could somebody explain to me exactly what a fluted triangle and a fluted square looks like?

 

Thanks,

Nick

[Guest qw1222]

Yes invest the money. They are avaliable at the UofT library.

 

www.uoftbookstore.com/onl...670&step=4

 

its only 40 bucks