Nooby carving try

[Andyjr1515]

Hi

Inspired by the breathtaking carves that @ScottR (seemingly) effortlessly kicks out, I've been toying with trying myself.

Like many of things in life, it is now that I appreciate just how skilled Scott is!

Anyway, for the record, my first attempt - done as much to understand the challenges than a real attempt at anything fancy. 

 

It's just a small objet d'art, starting with a 'feature' in a thick walnut beam a bit like this (you may recognise this from a couple of builds I did using slices of the same timber):

 

And an attempt to follow the flaw round WWI propeller-style:

  

 

Stands about 5" tall.

[ScottR]

My first attempts were pretty much just like this. I wanted to see what kind of grain patterns I cut across it at all different angles. And what those looked liked polished.The carve was mostly aimed at getting an interesting shape while learning about the grain patterns and learning to use the tools.

I discovered it was a lot of fun!

So, did you have any fun?

SR

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, ScottR said:

So, did you have any fun?

Yes - very tactile and I liked how the shape evolved to something that, to me, felt right.  

Found it very difficult to clamp, though (screw it onto a working base next time?) and also realised that my arthritic hands are getting worse.

Very satisfying, though and yes - the grain impact of these chisels were quite different in places to what I expected based on using more conventional guitar building hand tools.