"Winnie The Pooh"

"Winnie" is another Disney character who is well liked by a fellow Disney Cast Member. My carving gifts are given in appreciation for being good friends to my wife and I. One of the best things about giving a caving to someone is to find just the right subject to carve. Cast Members always have a favorite Disney character.

This "rolly-polly" character made for a fun carving.

Some coping here...

and a little more there.

Then its time to put the Dremel to work.

With the bulk removed and most of "Winnie" shaped its time to define him.

Some finish sanding and now its time for color.

Finally we can clear coat "Winnie" to bring out his true color.

"Dory"

The little blue fish, forgetful but loyal. Carving "Dory" was my wife's idea as a gift to her very close friend, Darlene. Of late we've noticed that Darlene has become a tad forgetful and my wife has lovingly "tagged" Darlene as "Dory." ..... and so we begin the "story" of "Dory."

"Dory" started out as usual, a block of wood. But, how was I to pose the little blue fish?

Oh well, I'll figure that out when I get there.

As she begins her transformation I plan to simply set her on a small pedestal.

Being my first "fish" carving I plan to keep her fins close to her body to reduce the chances of breaking them.

Above all I struggle with her eyes and mouth as those two features give her personality.

Decision time! I cut off her tiny pedestal and opt to give her a "sea bottom" scene.

(This too was my wife's idea.)

Once the sea plants were glued in most of the paint would need to be applied before I glued "Dory" in position.

I used a mixture of saw dust and wood glue as a filler for the transition between all three figures.

I inlay a short sea plant, a larger one and "Dory" in the roughed out "ocean floor."

The now thinned area where "Dory" is glued onto the base can easily break. "Dory" needed another contact point for additional strength.

The plan was to strengthen "Dory" with another glue point on her left side. Her left fin is "fitted" to the tall sea plant and glued.

... and voila!

Now that does it! But something just isn't right. I take a minute out to contemplate what to change and it dawns on me, its her smile (or lack of one).

I took a fine burr to her jaw to add more shape and what a difference.

Here's the finished "Dory."

Shillelagh and Mindy

"The Girls" as  their owner, Pam likes to call them. Mindy is the "instigator." Mindy, the pint-sized, tenacious and "Braveheart" of all dogs weighing in under five pounds seems no match for her 80+ pounds "sister." Yet, together the two of them compliment each other and are the love of their two owners, Pam and Lee.

Mindy routinely loves to antagonize Shillelagh. Looking at them you'd think they're the picture of peace and quiet. Well, you'd be wrong! Mindy thrives on "roughing" up Shillelagh by speeding around her and picking at her and taking advantage of size... until Shillelagh has had enough.

Lee says, when Shillelagh has had enough of Mindy's shenanigans Shillelagh bellows out a couple of warnings then grabs Mindy by the head and neck and with just enough squeeze, lets Mindy know... that's enough!

These two opposites are also uniquely inseparable.

This relief carving is in appreciation to Lee and Pam for all their kindness and friendship to us.

As the plaque progresses, I notice Mindy may be somewhat tougher to carve out due to her thin and fluffy hair around her face and ears.

I try to keep in mind relief carving is quite unlike three-dimensional carving in that working with a shallow piece of wood, the image is "fore-shortened." Basically, if you cut too deep too soon you quickly change the image aspect and you "flatten" the object.

The closer I got to the finish the more the wood grain frustrated me. The darker grain visually altered the depth and appearance in relation to the photos.

It was time to "put their faces on."

With a few more "touch-ups" it was time to seal them with clear finish and get them ready to be shipped to their new owners in time for Christmas!

Merry Christmas Pam and Lee and thank you for all you've done for us!

"Goofy"

My latest carving is Walt Disney's "Goofy." As with any piece it all starts with a block of wood, a photo or template and some skecthing.

With center lines drawn and the front view I can transfer reference points onto the rear and left and right sides for the coping stage.

I tend to begin all my projects with the frontal view. That's great for coping left and right sides but (not being an artist) when working with a flat image I tend to get somewhat "off-track" when coping the front and rear of the subject. This time I took more time to pay attention to the rear and side reference points of "Goofy"

...and that really helped.

Once the roughing-out is close to the shape you need, "Goofy" begins to stand out.

Now it's just a matter of patience and time working with the rotary tool and carving knives.

Above, "Goofy" is finished into shape and "sanded."

Now, he's ready for sealing...

Now for the finishing touch, color!

Colors, and three lengths of thin stranded copper wire (for his tuft of hair on his head), "Goofy" is ready to be clear coated. The final clear coat brings out the colors, adds depth and protects "Goofy" as he takes his place on the shelve of another friends bookcase for many years as a "One of a Kind Woodcarving."

"Gawsh!"

"Sir Winston" a relief carving

It feels really great to get back to carving. This piece is carved for a very good friend of my wife and I. When diagnosed with cancer some years back she found solace in her pet Schnauzer, "Sir Winston." Through out Darlene's ordeal "Winston" has been there for her. "Winston" is a very special pet. He's smart and very "handsome."

As all pet lovers know there is something deeply emotional about the bond between a pet and its master, especially in times of trauma and/or illness. I hope this carving, in some small way will honor the love and adoration between Darlene and "Sir Winston."  This carving is a gift to Darlene.

It all starts with a photo...

Then the sketch...

....and away we go.

(Interestingly, taking a photo of a relief carving straight-on gives the appearance of a developed negative film.)

I've only carved two other relief carvings way back in the '70's. Both were names of someone or something and I carved them with an X-Acto knife. Now, after all these years I'm trying my hand at a figure with a rotary tool.

The soft pine carves well but care needs to be taken when cutting across the grain. It's too easy to "dig" into the softer grain and make a nasty mistake.

The carving moved along quicker than I expected and mistakes were kept to a minimum.

With the carving completed, its time to let the paint do its job.

A simple piece of wood begins to take "character."

"Sir Winston"

A little project before I get back to carving!

Last year flew by and no carvings to show! Carving outside our motorhome was too handy. Open a bay door, pull out a chair and carving kit and I was good to go. I never thought much about dust and wood chips. About 95 percent of my carving is with a rotary tool. Power carving creates mostly dust rather than chips which is fine when you're outside. However, now that we've moved into our new (to us) home, I just can't carve without giving some thought to all the dust I create. Well, thanks to Kirsten and Ed Walicki www.fishcarver.com carving indoors will be a pleasure. I just had to come up with a vacuum system that didn't cost a fortune or sound like a 747 on take-off. While surfing the http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/ website I happened upon Ed's outstandingly informative website. (I urge you to check out their website. You'll see some incredible fish carvings.) Ed posted a link to, The Silent Dust Collector Plans: ttp://www.fishcarver.com/making_a_dust_collector.htm All last year I studied his website and began my hunt to put together the parts that Ed listed.

We visited with friends, Darlene and Buzz in Indiana and "Buzz" introduced me to the local appliance repair company but with no luck. Ed's plans suggested finding a discarded clothes dryer motor, only finding the right configuration for the plan turned out to be frustrating. The motors were good but the sheet metal design is typically configured to mate to other parts, so that didn't pan out. I decided to go for a new motor at Granger's.

Naturally, Granger's replaced the Dayton 4C444 motor Ed suggested with the Dayton 1TDR7 which just so happened to be higher priced than the motor Ed suggested. However, it is worth it and Ed is right, "these motors are truly silent in their operation."

This past summer I was on a mission! The Granger's store in Manchester, NH was my first stop. We stored the Dayton blower in our motorhome, enjoyed our company and travels and I began to plan out the rest of my "Silent Vacuum System plans."

Arriving home I couldn't wait to hit the local Lowe's store for the wood, hose and hardware to put this baby together. Here's how it started...

The lapboard and two of the three flange attachments.

I could have used less rugged 4" PVC flanges (they're toilet flanges) but the Dayton blower had a much larger intake than the one Ed listed.

I've got to confess, I had to redo a few of the wooden pieces due to mistakes (grrrrrr).

The most frustrating part of the system to find was the 4" duct hose. Ed listed a dryer hose which is just what I wanted. However, no one sells them  anymore due to the fire hazard resulting from lint. I "bit the bullet" and headed to the nearest WoodCraft store for their heavy duty dust hose. It's excellent, but its also very expensive. $33.00 to be exact. It comes in a 10' length. Ed suggested a six foot hose. I cut it at five feet and that'll do just fine for the way I've set this system up. To boot, I now have a spare five foot duct hose.

As the system came together I added a couple of ideas that helps make the unit more portable.

....and here's what I ended up with.......

The blower, mounted on 3/4" plywood with its wooden attachments and intake and exhaust flanges and wired for business.

The blower on its base is mounted to a wooden stool. The lapboard is mounted on the legs and held in place with twist locks for storage.

Above is the finished project. The bag is a laundry bag. When carving, I typically sit in a chair. This set up allows me to sit a few feet from the dust collector in easy reach of the on/off switch. And, it really is quiet.

I spent more than I thought but the two big items were the Dayton blower and the hose.

Motor:          $159.00

Hose:            $  33.00

Wood:           $   6.00 (mistakes cost me another $6.00)

Hardware:    $  30.00 (screws, Elec. box, wire, etc.)

3-4" flanges: $  15.00

Bag:                   0.00 ("stolen" from the guest bedroom)

Stool:           $  20.00

Time and fun: Priceless!

Total:           $263.00

Here's what it looks like while running....

Now its time to get carving!