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
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