The Cleaver

Here's my latest go at knife making.  I call it the Cleaver.

Many carvers out there are using the Stanley utility knife for their knife of choice and a few years ago I gave it a try.  I admit that I liked the utility blade shape with its wedge point and broad width, not to mention the thinness of the blade.  The only problem I had with the utility knife was the handle.  A cold, hard metal handle just wasn't comforatable so I gave up using it. 

Tip from the Stump: make sure when buying or using a knife that it fits your hand and is comfortable to use.  A poor fitting handle will cause blisters and greatly reduce the quality of your carving experience.

The thought occured to me recently that I could use the tool steel that I have been using for my custom knife work to fashion a blade with the same profile as a utility blade and mount it into a comfortable hardwood handle.  So, PRESTO!!!  The Cleaver was born.

I have been using this knife as my roughout knife of choice for my Pegasus (incidentally there are a few new progress pics on The Carving Bench page).  I am very pleased with its performance and I find myself using it for a lot of general carving and even some detail work as well.

The only problem with this blade shape is the width of the blade.  It just doesn't get into those tight or hard to reach places.

In summary I give this little feller a score of 8 out of 10:

Pros:

• Great for roughing out
• Crosses over into general carving and detail categories
• COMFORTABLE HANDLE!!!

Cons:

• Not good in tight or hard to reach places

If anyone would like to try one out, I would be happy to custom make one to your specifications.  Details are on the Knife Gallery page.

The Pegasus

Well, I haven't progressed very much on my nativity and I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I've kind of lost interest in the project for the moment.  So, instead of plodding on ahead I have decided to take a detour and work on something else for a while. 

Tip from the Stump: if you reach a point on a carving where you lose interest, do not push through to the end and finish it.  If you do, you will most likely end up with an unsatisfactory piece since you rushed too fast to get it done.  Take a break and work on something else for a while, and when your interest returns, get back to the project and finish it with the care and detail that it deserves.

My carving mentor Lynn Doughty has started working on a cowboy horse on his blog and it got me to thinking.  I've done quite a few horses in my short carving career but I'm wondering, what if I took off the saddle and bridal and put on a lovely set of wings?  That would be keeping with my medieval or fantasy series that I have been interested in as of late, so I decided to give it a try and see where it takes me.  Now don't worry, I'll get back to the nativity soon enough, before Christmas I hope, but in the meantime, I hope you will follow along on this little side trip with me.

Little Birdies

Holy Smokes!  Fall cleanup sure takes a lot of work around here.  I haven't had the energy at the end of the day to even pick up a knife.  I did, however find the time to carve these little guys out of some basswood eggs that I have lying around.  My sweet wife loves birdhouses so I thought that she would like to have a few little occupants to put with them.  They are patterned after Laura Dunkle's Whimsical Birds.  I'm leaving them up to my sweet wife to paint the way that she wants them.  She is much better at painting cute little eyes and stuff than I am.  It's kind of nice to carve something you can start and finish in less than a hour. 

Tip from the Stump:  if you do not have a lot of time to carve or if you are low on ambition and energy, instead of working on a large project take a short break from the norm and carve something that can be finished in one sitting.  The simple act of carving will energize you and help to motivate you the next time you pick up a knife.

Hope you like them and there are more photos on The Carving Bench page.

Sorry about the focus on these shots folks.  Boy, I really need to get a better camera, or maybe some photography lessons.

Woops!!!

Well, I have to offer a great big fat apology to you all.  I just received a message from a friend of mine that many of the pictures on my posts have broken links.  Chalk it up to being new at this, but the problem stems from loosing one of my picasa photo albums that contained those pictures.  I hope that you will all forgive me and don't go running away screaming to someone Else's blog.  I promise to get this whole mess repaired as soon as I can.

Tip from the Stump: never delete a picasa photo album that you link to from your Blog.  Hey, I'm a carver, not an I.T. wizard!

The Nativity

Well, with "Practical Jokes" all finished up, it's time to move on to something new.  My sweet wife has put in a request in for a new Nativity since last year the kids were a little rowdy and porcelain does not do well in the presence of rowdiness. 

This is a new adventure that I am embarking on since I'm a caricature carver trying to carve a reverent Nativity.  I assume that It will turn out somewhere in between a caricature and a realistic carving.  I'm also going to try something new with Mary and the baby Jesus and try carving them out of a solid block of wood.

 

I have looked at the pose that I want accomplish and I just don't see it happening except it come from a single block, so you will have to hang in there with me as I stumble along.  I will post periodic updates (whenever I get enough done to see progress) on The Carving Bench page.  I hope you will follow along with me as I tackle this new challenge.  Hopefully it will turn out to be something special.

Practical Joke

FINISHED!!!!!!  Wow, it seems like I worked on this piece all summer.  In reality it only took about three weeks but with all the breaks in between, it felt like much longer.  Anyway, even though it took awhile to finish, I am really pleased with the outcome. 

It looks like that young Arthur Pendragon kid has been up to his antics again and poor old Sir Robert fell prey to the oldest trick in the book.  You can just picture that little brat hiding behind a bush somewhere laughing his head off.  This sure was a fun piece to create and that expression on Sir Robert’s face turned out perfect. 

Tip from the Stump:  carving is supposed to be fun!  If you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong.  Step back, decide why you are not enjoying yourself, and make the change.  Use the right tool for the right job, keep your tools sharp, and wear a carving glove and thumb guard and you are on your way to a lifetime of carving bliss.

I hope you enjoy him as much as I did.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Lots more pics in the Picture Gallery.

Almost There

This is just a quick post to show the progress on my latest carving.  I call it “Practical Jokes.”  When the piece is all assembled, you will get the meaning behind the title I hope.  He’s carved, burned, sanded and ready for some paint. 

Tip from the Stump:  always take a lot of photographs of your carvings during the whole carving process.  The pictures of your progress will be a valuable reference tool and help to jog your memory when you are trying to recreate a process on a future carving.  The pictures of your final projects will allow you to remember your carvings and the journeys they took you on long after they have been sold or given away.  Snap away!!!

The scenery is finished and ready for a finish coat of varnish and for Sir Robert to be attached to it. 

 

This has been a fun piece and assuming that I don’t really botch up the paint job, he should look really cool.  I hope to have him finished by this weekend, so check back soon for the final unveiling.  More pics are posted on The Carving Bench page.