Old Spot

This little fella' has been sitting around my house for months now, just waiting for some paint.  I finally got around to finishing him up, and I have to say, I am very please with the outcome.  I have carved several "Doughty-Style" horses now, and I have fun every time I try.  Old Spot was no exception.

There are a lot more pictures of this little guy in the Picture Gallery.  Hope you like him.

The Study Stick Tutorial Part One - The Nose

The long awaited Study Stick Tutorial is now underway.  Part one of the tutorial "The Nose" is now available for download.  It takes you step by step through the process of carving a basic nose that can be used for caricature carvings or even semi-realistic pieces.  It is intended to give beginning carvers an easy-to-follow approach for carving a simple, yet highly detailed, nose.  I believe it will also be beneficial to more seasoned carvers by offering some new insights and techniques.  I will also keep things simple by using only a knife and a single 1/4" #9 palm gouge to do all of the carving.  This way, you won't have to run out and buy up a bunch of tools.  Unless of course you want a beautiful new knife manufactured by yours truly that is, wink wink!!!

Future additions to this tutorial will take you all the way from the nose to a finished face.  If you will carve along with me, you will end up with a step-by-step guide of how to carve a caricature face right there in your own possession, carved by your very own hand.  Pretty cool I think. 

Here's a peak at what we will be doing:

I hope you find this tutorial useful and enjoy carving along with me.  Get your knife sharp, your glove one, and follow the link below to get started.

The Study Stick Tutorial Part One - The Nose

Thought I'd Give it a Try

I've been making a lot of knives and I got a wild hare.  What would happen if I tried forging my own palm gouge.  So, I got myself a nice piece of tool steel, heated it up, banged on it with a hammer, and ground it down to shape.  Here's what I came up with:

It's all hardened, polished, and sharp.  I haven't had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I did try it out on some end grain.  Sliced through it like hot butter and left a shiny burnished cut.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  I think I'll have to make a few more.

I haven't forgotten about the Study Stick Tutorial.  I'm working away at it and the first part should be posted sometime next week, so look for it.  Thanks for stopping in and having a look.

More Time in the Shop

I sure love to spend time in my shop and one of my most favorite things to do is make knives.  It's truly satisfying making something beautiful and useful at the same time.  I find it therapeutic and no matter how bad my day may have gone, when a knife turns out as beautiful as the ones in this picture, it just puts the world back into perspective.

The top knife has a 2" Rough-Out Katana blade and a stubby handle made out of apricot.  The grain in that apricot is simply beautiful.  The middle knife is a 1-1/2" All-Purpose Katana blade with a peach handle.  I like the clean look of the natural finish on peach and the wood smells fantastic.  The bottom knife has a 1-1/4" All-Purpose Cleaver blade and a peach handle.  The Cleaver Style blade is a favorite of those who like the shape of the Stanley utility knife, but want a permanent, more comfortable handle.  It's a nice assortment and I sure had fun making them.

You can take a closer look at these knives and many others in the Knife Gallery Page.  Thanks for taking a look.