Four Triangles

Four Triangles was carved from a 2 inch square block of basswood. You begin carving off the corners to make a 14 sided shape. Then begin to carve out the square and triangle spaces. I used a knife the first time to release the triangles. It was to rough so the next one I carved I used a scroll saw blade to release the triangles. It was easier to clean up the cuts. I used the book Woodcarving Magic to help carving this. For me it was very challenging.

Friendly Carving

Last weekend I was carving at a Rendezvous in West Glacier. I enjoy the time up there talking and carving with people of all skill levels. If you are a beginner it is a good place to go and pick up some skills. Most of the classes are 3 hours and a few are 6 hours. The Montana carvers do this every year in August. This is what I carved during the three days and I painted them when I got home. I came home with good memories and new friends. There was a group of young ladies from Mongolia who were working at the campground and one lady was interested in the carving. I gave her an owl ornament that I was teaching. The next day she said she was interested in carving something. So that afternoon she brought a friend and they carved a tree out of cotton wood bark. They did a great job on their first carving.

Rendezvous

I attended a Rendezvous in Kennewick,WA. It was a great time visiting with the people and carving. I always like carving characters so I had to try the small guy. He is a three inch tall cut out.  I carved the bird on both sides of the pine cone. She had a simple way of laying out the lines.  The flute was a kit where we had to round the flute and carve the block, which my choice was a fish. My wife made a bag to protect the flute. I am having fun learning to play music on it.

Mushroom

This was in a class where the bottom was turned on a lathe and the top was cut on a band saw. It is a 2 inch block, three inches tall. The bottom is slanted up and carved with a v gouge. The face is cut at a corner so it can have a large nose it you want. I added a tie just to put some color in it.  

Simple Sculpture

This is from a pattern in the Carving magazine. It is carved from a piece of butternut. The base is separate. It is 1 inch thick, 7 inches tall and 5 inches wide.The finish is Tru oil which is a gun stock oil. I used a pre-stain first before using the Tru oil in spray form. Using the pre-stain the oil finish comes out quicker.

Think Snow

Let it snow, let it snow. That's the way snowmen think. These snowmen are 3 inches tall. They are carved form a Birch branch. The wood was green so it carved good with just a knife. I left the brim of the hat a little thick because I thought it might crack. The face is the color of the wood. The mouth, around the eyes and the snow flakes are done with a Gel pen. The ink from the pens doesn't dry as quick, so it's easy to smear the ink.

Happy Halloween

The pumpkins are about 11 inches tall. This is the first time I carved faces in a pumpkin.  I used my regular carving tools. I found out to show the shadow lines you need to make deep cuts. I hope the kids enjoy them when trick or treating.

P-51D Mustang

This is my last project from West Glacier. Ernie takes a pattern from the internet and cuts out the parts of the plane. This is a P-51D that was flown doing World War 2 and the Korean War. The wings are out of pine and the body and wheels are out of basswood. The plane is about 7 inches long. There isn't a lot of carving to it, but it was fun to do.  The paint job was from the Flying Dutchman. I glued the exhaust  a little low so there wasn't room to paint the name. 

Pine Knots

Last week we went camping. We fished in the morning and went 4-wheeling in the afternoon. There was a lot of pine knots lying around, so I carved a couple of faces in them. The knots are hard and there was some rotted wood so I just let the wood decide what it would be. I added hair but it doesn't show in the picture. I left them on the picnic table. Hopefully some kid will find them. I carve ornaments while camping so I won't be swamped doing the Christmas holidays.

Borromean Rings

Borromean  rings consists of three rings, linked so they can't be pulled apart. But no individual ring links with any other ring. Removing any one ring results in unlinked rings. Starting out you saw out the shape. I used a 1 3/4 inch square block. the ring shapes are 1/4 inch. The next step is to carve out the little squares. Then use a small drill and drill the inside corners in all directions. Start rounding the outside rings. Then use a small knife, gouge to separate the rings and finish rounding.  

 

Heart Family

My friend Jack shared a pattern of these hearts with our group of carvers. He had done one in cottonwood bark. I had a piece of butternut big enough to carve this. It is 6 1/4 by 5 inches. The hearts represents a mother, father and child. 

Business Card Holder

My granddaughter is starting a new business in September. She will be doing nails and wanted a card holder. She wanted a owl so I needed to design something simple for her cards. The card would be covering most of the carving. It is carved in butternut. I didn't sand it so it does have carve marks.

Gremlin Puppets

These puppets were carved after reading an article by Tom Borecki on pocket size Gremlins. These are 2 inches to 2 1/2 inches long. They are from scrap pieces of wood about 1 inch square. I drilled a hole in the bottom to fit a pencil before carving. The one is cottonwood bark and the others are basswood. 

Pencil Puppet

I have a lot of small scraps of wood left from cutting out carving blanks. I have carved pencils to give to kids during the year and I thought maybe I could carve some of these pieces of wood and fit them over the pencil for a puppet. I drilled a hole in the bottom and then carved the faces. I'll have to carve some kid friendly figures to give away as these two look to serious.  

Cochet Hook

My daughter is teaching my great granddaughter how to crochet. She needed a little larger crochet hook so it would be easier for Ayana. I used a number 9 mm hook for a pattern and carved one out of cherry wood. A friend had trimmed a cherry tree last spring and I used this wood. The wood is hard but it is mostly straight so it carves fast. The flat spot is important so the hook won't turn in the hand while crocheting. 

Library Display

This is my display of my carvings from the past year at the Plummer Library. It will be up for about 6 weeks. I write a few stories about the carvings to create interest in wood carving. They have a great showcase and the patrons enjoy having displays when visiting the library.

Village Tree's

Every year my wife sets up this village for the holidays.It was in desperate need of some trees. I carved these trees in cotton wood bark. I penciled out U's all the way down a cone shape and used a knife and a gouge to cut the branches. I painted the tree with a green wash and added some snow. It is a great addition to this village.

Carving Rendezvous

We had rather warm days during our stay at the West Glacier Rendezvous. It was a fun time carving and a surprise visit from a mom and her four daughters playing their fiddles after our barbeque. Saturday morning we had a group project carving a bear. There were several examples with different clothes. The blank was cut at 4 inches so you could get three out of a 12 inch block. We also carved on Thursday and Friday. Most are small projects for a three hour class.

The head is carved separate from the body of my turtle. When I glued the head on with Super Glue, the head stuck on at little more angle than I wanted.   

I never did chip caving before so I did a practice class and than an egg. He had us use a 1/4 inch square for the chip design. It took a lot of time to draw out the design so I carved it quicker than I would have liked. I like the design so I will try it again.

I taught a class on a Norwegian horse. I had carved in the saddle and reigns so it would be more of a challenge to the more experienced carvers. The highlight was with two ladies that haven't carved before. They were at the campground and saw us carving and wanted to try. The older lady wanted to know when it was next year so she could learn some more. The other lady was an eight year old girl. At that age she doesn't have enough strength to carve clean cuts. I was behind her and held onto the knife with her and carved the horse. She had a finished horse and I was able to go around and help the other carvers. Her brother took a different class that afternoon and was seen buying knives with his dad later.

  

Corian Clinging Cross

Corian is a brand made for a material for counter tops. The cross is cut out with a band saw and then shaped with a sander. I used a Dremel with a sanding disk and then hand sanded it to a smoother finish. The cross has a cool feel when holding it in your hand. Corian also makes good bases for carvings, hot pots, and coffee cups. 

Hearts for Valentines Day

I have three different hearts for this Valentines Day. The first one is a simple heart carved and painted with bright colors. The second picture is two hearts carved out of a lilac branch. It is cut at an angle to show the growth rings. It is also a hardwood. The last picture is two hearts that are linked, carved from one piece of basswood.