So much to do, so little time.

I took these pictures over a week ago. All of these items went to the action block at work to help raise money for the Holiday Party. It was fun carving them and it was also a fun to see joy on the buyers faces.


These are all larger than I usually post. Also, I don't think the shots are as good. I was in too much of a hurry getting the pictures to bring out the picture box. We left right after the last picture was taken.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Ready for paint

Here are 4 Santas I carved, using the blocks as described on Oct. 12. One of these you've seen before, but here are 3 more, getting ready for paint, hopefully today. So much to do, so little time. I need to go up on the roof and replace fuses in one of the strings, then move the main power to a new location to lighten the load a little.



Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Hey its 2 in a row

Here is an in-progress shot of a Santa Clause I am carving. Its not supposed to realistic, more of a rustic or Americana style, though neither word may be right. Any way it is 12" tall. More shots to come.



Enjoy, but be careful of the splinters.

A Gift for a Retired Co-Worker

It's not like I haven't been doing any work. I've just haven't posted samples of it as I needed to. The box I'm showing here is one I've worked on since early October. I didn't get it done in time for the retirement, but I'll see the co-worker at the Annual Holiday party. These pictures are taken without the flash, as the color seems to change due to the intense white light.

The wood is Myrtle Wood and Black Cherry. The sides are 1/2" thick. I built the box, top and bottom as one, then cut through the sides after the glue was dry. Makes for a perfect fit. The handle was attached with a small biscuit (if you don't know, don't ask). There were no major problems this time, other than time and making a jig to cut slots in the corners for the wedges. It all worked fine. I used Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) for the finish, then waxed the box with a liquid wax from Watco.




Enjoy, but be careful of the splinters.

Frankie

I finished painting this one last week, but it took a while to get it posted. I must apologize to my readers for holding it back, knowing how you all desire to see a constantly changing world and needing immediate gratification by viewing the activities of others. Ok, so I'm a little sarcastic, but get a life. This is the guy I carved while down in Silverton during a Carver's Retreat. The bolts are real. I used acrylic paints on this carving. The vest was not part of the original design, but I added it when I was cleaning up the carving to prepare it for painting. The pants are charcoal, the shoes are black, the vest was purple. All basic colors. I added black for shading of the vest bottom, but lilac for the vest top. The face was painted leaf green. This was a great little carving and by changing only the head you can carve a bunch of different characters.


Enjoy, and be careful where the paint drips.

Not Quite Wood

It is almost Halloween and I needed to carve a pumpkin. My wife said I shouldn't have used myself as a model for the face. It didn't take long, but pumpkins are notorious for rotting quickly after carving. This one I needed for tonight. Note that I did not hollow this pumpkin out, just carved the face.

Enjoy, but be careful of spooky spirits.

Jigs for more Santa's

I carved another Santa last night, but instead of just showing you the Santa, I've included pictures of the jig I used for cutting the base shape. The initial design came from Wood Carving Illustrated magazine. I built a jig to cut a 12" 2x2 in half, corner to corner, on the bandsaw. As you can see from the picture I took a 2x4 and made 2-45 degree cuts to create a trough to set hold the board stable. I then attached the 2x4 onto a scrap piece of plywood. I feed this slowly into the bandsaw less than ½ of the way into the jig keeping to the center as best I could. With the jig still in place, I powered off the bandsaw and clamped the plywood to the table. After that I slid a 2x2 into the blade and the result is 2 pieces cut corner to corner.

I the cut one of the 12" diagonal pieces into 3 chunks and you can see one of the resulting Santas. Pretty cool.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.