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Monday, July 15, 2013

Gremlin in my pocket


Not the greatest pic, but he keeps moving....

This little guy was trapped in a 1x1x1.5 inch block of basswood, the design in not my own- Wood Carving Illustrated mag had a step-by-step in the summer 2013 issue, I had to give it a try.  he was a lot of fun; the top of the helmet and the top inside of the ears presented some challenges- lot of end grain in there.  Nifty tip in the mag, cut a blank that will let you make at least two- carve the first then turn him upside down and use him as a handle to carve the second.  Think I'll put a saw kerf in between the ears and hat on the next to help myself out a little there.

That's a clothes pin he's sitting on, though technically he has no butt to sit on (or arms, legs, eyes...)
He's just come out of a 15+ minute bath in tung oil, I'll give him a day to cure then a coat of beeswax. 

Whittle on- BfloBif


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Something New, at least for me-



Found this little project on the forum at WoodcarvingIllustrated.com, it was cute it was small and I get to use some scraps- I love recycling.  I have stayed away from faces in the past, so I got some practice on facial features.  One factor that appealed to me is he only has half a face (one of these times I'll try the other side!)  Since I've done a few, I also get to compare finishes.  One is shellac, one is urethane, two are tung oil.  All have a beeswax topcoat.  Shellac is a little light in color, does not add as much to the carved areas as urethane and tung oil do.  Tung oil enhances the grain better than urethane- you can see that in the pic, poor though it may be.  Urethane also left some shiny spots which I had to remove before applying wax.  My choice- I like the tung oil finish.  These are fridge magnets, they could be little hanging items, just decorative- not gonna get much wear and tear, oil and wax will make a suitable finish I think.  I'd rethink the finish if it was subject to higher wear, or even abuse, like a bottle stopper.

Being fridge magnets, I got to experiment with different glues, too.  I tried epoxy, Gorilla glue, and hot glue gun.  Gorilla had to be cleaned up after drying, no fun there.  Tung oil dissolved hot glue-Oops.  I'll try hot glue gun again AFTER oil has dried, we'll see how that goes.  So far the epoxy is winning, though mixing and dry time are not ideal.

Carve Diem- BfloBif