Deer

 

  Yesterday, I made a deer for our yard.  Eva had talked about wanting something to add character to the otherwise dead winter yard.  We looked a a variety of things on the Net and as always I went my own way anyway.  I did closely examine several of the internet examples to get an idea of what sort of proportions  worked best.  The trick is to get the general size, shape and proportion so even something this rustic and non-representational  will be perceived as a deer.  It is also important to remember that your "art" may be better if it doesn't try to copy real life too closely.

  

  I had the good luck to pick up the cedar body on the side of the road a while ago and then get the head just the other day.  Dried cedar is very light and so spindly legs are plenty strong enough.  The neck needed to be thicker than the legs but I didn't have a natural branch available so I roughed up an aged 2 x 2.  The building process was not complicated, creating the design and gathering the materials together took the majority of my time.  I even made several sketches first.  All the angles are drilled free hand and set by eye, once the general plan was formed it was easy.  Making up my mind took the most time. 

   

  Rustic wood working might be a good place to start your wood working career since it doesn't really require any special or expensive tools.  I have the good fortune to have inherited two excellent draw knives but lower cost alternatives are out there if you look and can sharpen your tools properly. Any drill that will turn a large spade bit is adequate.  The saw I use for tough lumber is a cheap pull saw from the local hardware store.  I have two very good edge tools in the hatchet and bench knife, but again decent quality tools are readily available for a decent price. 

  I will keep my eye out for materials to make a fawn for the spring time.

 cheers ianw 

14 1/2 inch Spoon - three hours sanding

  I was looking for a smaller project and again one that was quiet.  Carving  wooden spoons verges on therapy , with the added bonus of ending up with something useful.

  Carving a spoon is fairly basic wood working and doesn't require many tools. It is something that I encourage everyone to try. 

  I begin by roughly drawing the shape of the spoon on the piece of wood, after smoothing the wood just to see if there are cracks or knots.  Once I draw out the shape I begin to hollow out the bowl of the spoon. It is my experience that it is easier to clamp the board and gouge out the general shape of the bowl before cutting the outside shape.  This time I used my band saw to rough out the shape and then my hatchet  to get close to the lines and get the basic roundness.

the spoon's overall shape is now set.

I prefer to come to the final shape with blades, knives, draw knives, hatchet etc rather than use the band saw.  When the final shape is arrived at with blades the grain plays a bigger part.  The band saw will cut anything you want were the blades are influenced by the wood grain, so I think the shape is stronger and more natural when the grain is considered in the shaping.

  I figure this spoon to be half way done. The bowl is in its final form and it only remains to shape the handle and do final sanding.  To shape the handle I use various knives, planes and the axe.

 I scraped and sanded this spoon by hand for three hours. I know it was three hours because I was listening to Ken Burns' Roosevelts  mini series on my tablet. It turns out that this stick was really hard wood, maple I think and so it was slow to work. Slow work but the result is silk smooth to the touch and strong as iron, it will mix soup and stew for a very long time.

  The weather is getting cooler and the yard work is winding down so I think I'll get back into the shop more seriously.

cheers, ianw

Projects for Friend's and Family.

  This week I have been working on my friends kneeling chair.  All that remains is buying the hardware and putting it together.  It is a slow process because we aren't in a hurry and like to drink coffee as much as work.

  Yesterday I dragged my planer, sander and grinder out to the back yard and smoothed out another of the elm rounds that I gathered up a couple of years ago.

approx.  16 inches in diameter.

  My wife is going to use the round as the base for a wedding cake.  I used my electric hand planer to knock down the really high spots and it give me a mostly smooth surface. Stage two was angle grinder with sanding disk.  I used a 40 grit disk to smooth down the ridges that the planer left and trim some of the bark.  To finish  I used my 3 x 21 in belt sander with a 120 grit belt.  My sander is a Craftsman that I have had since I was doing projects in my parent's driveway. ( in the 1970's)  One day the sander with quit but until then, I use it for dramatic material removal, it is effective but not subtle.  

   

    Eva wanted the big crack left alone. The cake is going to have icing to look like birch bark so the wood goes with the theme. Even with all the power I could ask for,  it still took almost an hour of bent-over time to finish smoothing the piece of wood.

  What else have a done?  I finished my latest spoon/spatula.

  This spoon is made from a piece of fire wood I picked up last June while on holiday. The shape is artistic (not so practical) but the wood grain is interesting and the finish is silky smooth. I am developing a real love for spoon making with hand tools.  I can see a collection of artistic spoons in a cool vase as an object d'art that was tactile, not for eye only. 

  I have begun the mate to the above spoon, split from the same piece of firewood.

  Since so much of this spoon is shaped with my hatchet and draw knife all I need is a basic outline of the shape.  As I work the wood, the grain will affect its lines and final shape.  In contrast if I were cutting the spoon out on my band saw I could impose my idea on the wood, of course the spoon would look like it had been made in a factory in China. That's not the look I am going for, need less to say.

  You can see the process a bit in the photograph. I have taken many small bites with the hatchet to form the handle. This is where the grain comes into play. Those feathers want to follow the grain when they peel off.

  Hollowing the bowl is also a tiny bites process. 

  I'm using a narrow gouge and a hooked spoon knife to shape the bowl.  I didn't make my hook knife, I bought it in Sweden from my favourite knife maker, Mora of Sweden. 

  These on going projects have kept me going at about the speed I can manage.  If I spend too much time in my shop I end up with serious back pain again.  I just can't work standing at a bench for more than an hour or two per day anymore.  Lucky this is a hobby and not my livelihood.  Things like spoons and small carvings are good because I can pick them up and work for a few minutes  or half an hour and can stop almost anytime.

  Oh yes, the olive tray.  It's one the bench waiting, again. I will finish it some day. When I do I will share the news with you. (I wanted to say y'all, but I had elementary English class flash backs).

  Cheers, Ianw

   

Three Tools to have always on hand.

  When I was making the tomato cages I used tools that are always available, often used and mostly unsung. I have a shop hatchet that I bought on a trip to Sweden a few years ago. This little hatchet has sharpened dozens of posts and pegs for the garden. In my shop it has been used to rough shape spindle for the lathe as well. I would be at a loss without it. It deals with things that are too big for a shop knife, and/or to awkward to shape on the band saw. If you aren't planning a trip to Sweden I suggest an Estwing hatchet, Estwing makes very good quality tools.

   The second tool are my scissors. I use the shears to cut everything from paper patterns to veneer and twine. Good heavy duty shears are a must for a shop.  Don't try and get along on crappy $ store scissors, take the plunge and get a decent tool. 

  The last thing is a lump of bee's wax.  I bought this lump at a local farmers market a couple of seasons ago. The wax gets used to lubricate blades and protect tools. I also use the wax to give a quick wax coating to string or twine. The bee's wax can be melted and used as a old style wood finish too. Tonnes of uses for cheap.

  All of these three tools are not necessary if you have a shop where you manage to do things.  I hate having to run upstairs to the kitchen junk drawer for scissors and we have a real axe in the garage but that is just too big for most jobs. I have found having the correct tool at hand makes everything less frustrating.

 cheers, ianw

Les Stroud and a Wetterlings of Sweden axe