A Flashback Friday Presntation from March 2020:
Have little space, no time, and just a few tools? Try miniature work.
When I started woodcarving, I had just a few tools and almost no wood. I carved the little box from scraps of cherry and walnut. The tool kit for making the small sloop was minimum: a few small gouges, V-tool, and a riffler file. For work in this dimension, my bench was a handicap; I did most of it on a carver’s hook with some anti-slip fabric to hold the piece in place ( you can use woven shelf liner material or carpet underlayment). I did finish the piece in varnish, but you could do as many European carvers have done for centuries and rub the carving down with a bit of beeswax candle. The beeswax gives a beautifully mellow, soft look to the carving.
Access to a bandsaw made it possible for me to create a small box with the boat carving as a lid. But I created similar pieces for small glued-up business card holders and refrigerator magnets. This little boat has an LOA (lenght over all) of less than an inch and a half.
Work in small dimensions doesn’t seem to be as impressive as more substantial work, but it requires thoughtful attention to detail and forces us to focus our skills. Doing small versions can also be a way of working out design elements for later work when you scale up your design.
Discover more from Louis N. Carreras, Woodcarver
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The big pieces always caught my eye, but it was the smaller pieces that I usually came home with. They were always ‘too cute’ to pass up.
And we plan it that way, Lois!
ha! And I fall for it every time!
That would also make a good button. Quite a lovely piece Lou
Thanks, this was a progress photo; it still required work, but the boat was pretty much all done. I also used to make refrigerator magnets like this.
I did the same when I started painting after many years — 5 x 7 but I also like doing paintings that size so I still do them!
And I love this little boat!!!
Thank you! It’s a tiny Town Class Sloop. My friend makes the full-size ones!
That leads me to question I’ve been thinking about. Are you going to do another calendar this year?
I have no idea. I haven’t done any paintings, but that might not be a big deal. I had to accept more books to judge so I could make the $$ to hire someone to take the trees out of the hedge. I have a couple of ideas…