"Swoop"

If you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan you'll know who "Swoop" is. This piece is for a die-hard Eagles fan. First we start out with a 4"x4"x12" piece of basswood.

Sketch out the image...

 

 ...and begin coping.

 

 (Below) Notice the diagonal burr marks that run from left down to the right on the head?

On three occasions the roughing burr that I was using dug into the piece pulling it out of my hand and the burr came in contact with my hand.

The First time, it simply let me know I had to hold on tighter to the wood!

The Second time, it was telling me I wasn't holding on as tight as I should!

The third time it meant business! Through the nail! That's when I said I think I'll stop for the night!

 

 

Of course, as you begin to carve the piece you loose your guidelines.

 I'm continuously adding guidelines as I cut deeper into the piece.

At some point you can begin to "see" the piece and the fun of bringing out the details can begin.

 You can see the texture left by the burrs.

 As you get to the point where the details require more attention the need for patience begins.

 

 Burrs tends to "fluff up" basswood. That means that the "smoothing" stage will be most important. 

 Even after the "smoothing" stage you never seem to have done enough of it.

 After sealing (above), the piece is painted.

 

After this piece I ran out and got some gloves with leather finger tips!

 

"Rudy"

"Rudy" is a "Yorkie" owned by a fellow Cast Member. "Rudy" is getting up in age and has had his share of "bumps and bruises" as his owner, Teri says. "Rudy" is a part of the family and will always be a special part of Teri and her family's lives. I hope this carving will act as a reminder of "Rudy's" love, loyalty and companionship for years to come.

 First, the rough sketch.

 

Then, some time on the band saw to save time.

 

The fun begins! Trying to leave all the "hair" on the piece that "sticks" out.

 

 "Rudy" is carved out of basswood.

As "Rudy" begins to shape up, I notice I've made his nose too short. I used two photos of "Rudy" taken from Teri's desk. I also used "Lilly's photos (our own Yorkie) to help me with side and rear views.

"Rudy" is sealed for painting.

"Rudy" taught me more than a few lessons. First, to leave more wood in areas to create longer hair. Second, I've got a lot to learn about mixing and applying color!

 



 The name "Rudy" was my Wife Pat's idea. The name was added last. It was carved out, pegged and glued to the base.

 

I like to add screws and glue to the piece to hold it to the base.

 

"Rudy" and other caricatures with lengthy hair tend to be quite frustrating for this carver. "Rudy" sat idle on my carving bench more than a few days as I wrestled with many of my frustrations of carving too much off here or there as well as trying to get his color acceptable.

In all, I'm pleased with the end results... thanks to lots of suggestions and approval from my wife!

 

The real "Rudy!"

 

I'd like to think I made "Rudy" look younger!

 

"The American Idol Experience, Lego Mickey and a Broadway Song"

The title sure is a "mouthful!" But, it works. Thanks to the ideas from a friend of the recipient, there is no other way to cover the uniqueness of the piece than to carve what Jeff likes. Jeff, the recipient, loves Broadway musicals, Legos and worked as the manager for "The American Idol Experience" in Hollywood Studios, Disney World. While focusing in on what to carve it made sense to incorporate all three of Jeff's passions.

Here's how it all started... with a 4"X4"X12" block of basswood. Because of the "layers" of this piece it was necessary to draw all sides of the piece. Normally, I can get away with a front view followed by "guide marks" on the rest of the sides. Below is the left corner of the front and left sides.

 Front view

 

 Left side

 

With all the sides marked the reduction begins. Mickey will be carved to appear to be made of Legos. That provided a little comfort knowing I could be a bit "rougher" on Mickey.

 

The reduction of the sides to make the Marquee was more than a little frustrating. Basswood doesn't carve well with burrs. It "fuzzes" terribly.

 

Below, you can see just how badly the grain is "roughed " by the burrs.

 

 Working the "layers" of this piece was quite different from what I'm used to carving. It was also quite tricky to keep track of the three "layers" of the Marquee as it is reduced to size. To complicate things even more the left and right sides needed to be the same.

 This is a mere sampling of the "fluff" that covered my carving bench.

 

 Here you can see just how much "flattening" and smoothing is ahead of me.

Now to add the lettering!

 Trying to make each piece out of a single piece of wood becomes more than a little challenging.

This view is the right side. I carved the words "EXPERIENCE" on the left side with little problems. However, the right side was a different story. I ended up removing the entire word and adding a flat piece of wood to re-do the word on the right side.

Below, wood is added to redo the vertical word. The new piece is on the right side (bottom of photo). the left side is protected with a tongue depressor.

(I know, I've got to purchase a couple of light weight wood clamps!)

 

 At last! The effort was worth it. Now for details.

 Mickey worked up quickly and was fitted into place. When gluing one piece onto another piece I prefer to leave wood on the bottom of the piece that can be traced and routed out. That gives me surface area for glue and/or a screw.

 The pieces are treated with #209 stain to help hold the grain raising to a minimum.

The piece is ready for color!

Including the base, the piece stands just under 10" tall.

"The American Idol Experience, Lego Mickey and a Broadway Song" marks a bit of a milestone in my carving. It is my 50th piece since 2009.