Pine is a worthwhile wood for carving: It's readily available in a variety of species; many times, it will be the economical choice of wood, and with sharp tools can yield a rewarding carving experience.
What you don’t know about – Pine
Hard to do!
You've all heard the saying that you should keep it simple, stupid? Well, simple is hard to do. There is an urge to complicate. To add details and complexity. "oooh! Look, you can see the little man inside the truck, and he has his hand on the shift! and it's only half an inch long!" …
Hey! Listen up!
Slow down. Listen to that inner voice while working.
The Cost of Admission
What the hell was I thinking? If I had a dime for every time I said that, I would have a handful of dimes. Well, OK, I'd have a large sack to take to the bank.
Shop time
Friday is now a day off, and I'm having some issues adjusting to three-day weekends. I know, some would love to have that problem. But today, I used about half of that time productively in the shop. I am beginning to adapt! I had batched out a bunch of blanks for cherry spoons, forks, and …
Shake, Rattle and Roll
It's springtime clean-up in the shop. Yes, that time of year when I relocate stuff, vacuum all the accumulated bandsaw dust, and find stuff that I looked for in August, but lost in June. In other words the shop get a good shake up. I have described my shop as ten pounds in a five …
Judy’s Number Game – #59
And the number is, 180: a bunch of hand carved sloops and a schooner A hand carved letter opener Baby Jesus from Louis Charpentier's Nativity scene Boarding plank carving on the USS Constitution. Fantasy ship Wooden flowers All carvings this time around, but not only mine: 1.) The first one is mine. Periodically, I'll carve …
Kingfisher
This is one of my first ship portraits. Like many firsts, there are some things to like and others to hate. Let's start with a descrcripion of what is going on in the carving: The hull and background are on a piece of scrap white pine. The sails and cabinwork are cherry. And the spars …
Flashback Friday – January 3, 2021
Opportunity The term leftover takes a bad rap in our society. But that's because we have options to disparage valuable used materials in favor of new. With fewer options, you make other choices.While running a Folklife program for a federal agency, one of my staffers gave me a gift made by an Indonesian youth. It …
Doing Better With Less
It's true. Sometimes, less is more, or less allows you to develop more in new directions. My shop output has dropped dramatically from a year ago. Most of the decrease is in small items like treen ( wooden kitchenware). Why? I decided to stop doing craft shows. And I discovered that it improved my life …
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