"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!

"Boots"

Finally, I finished "Boots" way back in April but I held off posting it on the blog until I had given the piece to its next owner. Well, we finally took the drive north to hand "Boots" to Dawn.

"Boots" was actually started at the same time I started "Eeyore." The plan was to let Angela (Eeyore's owner & the previous carving in this Blog) to think I was working on "Boots" for Dawn (her daughter).

At the outset, "Boots" seemed fairly easy to "rough out" and get the basic shape.

The basic shape was coped out and I put the Dremel to work.The "Boots" took shape quickly, but as the saying goes, "the devil is in the details." Cowboy boots have stitching and seams. That's where I let the burrs "fool" your eyes.

The seams were easy.

The stitching was trickier! However, Dawn has a pair of "Antique cowgirl boots" to add to her western motif!

Oh bother!

My next piece, "Eeyore" was a bit more tricky to carve than I thought. "Eeyore" is Pat's Sister, Angela's favorite Disney character. The only catch with "Eeyore" was that he was a total surprise for Angela. I devised a plan to be carving another piece so that I'd be able to keep "Eeyore" a secret. (The next piece will be a surprise for someone else. Once I've given it to the person, I'll post the story on our blog.)

As always, "Eeyore" started out with a drawing and some rough cuts.

Then, more wood reduction and you begin to see him taking shape.

"Roughing" "Eeyore" was fast... until I needed to work toward his belly!

It was soon evident that I'd need to consider removing his "base" so I could shape the inner area of his legs and belly. You'll notice that "Eeyore's" tail is to be standing up and not supported by his backside. That meant I'd need to support his tail with a "bridge" to his backside or it would surely break.

Nearly finished, I mated him to his new base.

At last, "Eeyore" is ready to be "brought to life!"

I'm sure "Eeyore" will be safe and sound and right at home with his new owner, Angela!

"Megara"

Carving "Megara" was a new and exciting challenge for me. "Megara" is the frst human figure I would attempt to carve. "Megara's" sultry and slender shape would leave me scratching my head during more than a few carving sessons. "Roughing" her out was not all that difficult but her voluminous flowing hair, although tricky, turned out to be the "key" to make her look like herself.
"Megara" is gifted to a good friend and wonderful person I work with. It just so happens that her name is "Meg" as well. The fun part of giving a "One of a Kind" carving to someone is when you find just the right subject to make for them. However, the best reason to give a hand made piece is that you're giving something to someone that no one else has that may well be in their lives forever. In this case as in my last three carvings, each person had a Disney character they truly like and perhaps sees more than a little bit of themselves in each character.
"Megara" started out like every carving, a block of basswood. First a drawing is sketched out to give the carver a front and/or rear view to allow the carver to "rough cut" the bulk of wood.

Above, "Megara is drawn on the front and rear.

With a coping saw you can cut out large "slabs" to help reduce the bulk.

Here "Megara" is beginning to take shape. I leave the areas to be thinned (arms and sash) thick so she can be handled without worrying about breaking them off.

Now the fun begins. You start to reduce the shape and size and the figure begins to show it's own "personality."

But, what do you notice? For days, I pondered over her right arm while carving the rest of her. If you take a good look at "Megara's" right arm, her upper arm is considerably longer than the forearm. I finally deceided "surgery" was in order. I removed her "deformed" arm above the elbow and the wrist.

Boy, did I have a difficult time making that first cut! Using a toothpick, I made "dowels" to fit into the upper arm and the wrist at the hip. Then, with the help of "Elmer" (glue that is), her "new" arm was fitted into place.

In a way, her "new" arm resembles Roman wrist armour!

At last the surgery was a success and with a bit of carving "Megara" was ready for her final trimming and shaping prior to painting.

 

Above, "Megara" is finish sanded and given a delicate brushing to prep her for her transformation from a sanded piece of wood to a "One of a Kind Carving."

All but "Megara's" face and protective coat are complete.

Here is "Megara"...

Her "signature" hair and sultry stance belie her strength and determination. She is born of Ancient Gods and a story for all of time.

I began working on "Megara" months ago. I never count the hours I work on a piece. Instead, I plan out "stages" to complete each session of carving. By working a lengthy piece in "stages" I can "control" the patience needed to complete a carving. I must admit, getting to the point of final sanding and shaping gives me a huge boost psycologically. I see the end in sight and I can slow down to render the piece with color and "life"... and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Stitch

After a "carving free" summer, I finally made the time to finish Stitch. Stitch presented me with somewhat of a dilemma last spring. As with all projects, you start out with a sketch and proceed to reduce the bulk of the project so that you can begin to "see" the general project shape.

From there you begin to cut away anything that doesn't look like "Stitch!"

You can see my dilemma in the above photo. Stitch's left paw and foot were in serious trouble. I had cut too much away! Over the summer I dreaded trying to complete Stitch with such a mistake. (You might say I developed "carvers block!") I had to restore a large enough section of wood to the paw and foot area that would allow me to match his right paw and foot. "Surgery" was in order! I cut away the left paw and foot to make a 90' wedge that would allow me to glue a similar shaped "chunk" of wood into the area.

Ready for color, Stitch's left foot and paw "surgically" repaired put me back on track for finishing.

With mimimal mess, Stitch is just about ready. All that's needed is his "protective" coat.

Stitch made it through his "surgery" in great condition and was given to his new owner where he will have a special place of honor.

The next "One of a Kind Wood Carving" is ..."Megara"