Time for a self challenge - new carving

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CroppyBoy1798

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Time to dive in at the deep end me thinks and have a go at a very detailed carving!! :shock:

Been a while since I did a 'proper' old skool carving, in fact just looked it up today and it would appear its been over 6 years since I did the piece below (bloody hell, where did that time go!!!!!). At the time this was the most advanced bit of carving I'd ever undertaken and since that I havent done all that much.

HandG.jpg

Its a scaled down, loose representation of the centre panel of the clock from the forward grand staircase of Titanic and Olympic, 'Honour and Glory Crowning Time' and is carved, as the original, from red oak. The characters, by right, should have been more three dimensional, but I was working with 1" stock so I didnt have much to play with, as well as that I wasnt up to speed with proper sharpening techniques (in fact, I reckon my chisels were probably far from adequate when I doing this!) and the grain of the oak didnt really suit a small scale, highly detailed carving. The clock measures 2' x 1.5' at the widest.


So, looking through a book recently on Georgian design I spot this marble fire surround and on each side were classical figures but it was the one on the right that caught my eye and I thought 'WOW! I have to try and carve her!!!'

classicalfigure.jpg


So, thats the challenge, I have the aquired skills I believe, the patience and a box of plasters :D and figured it'd be a nice little project for the evenings for no other reason than to get back into carving again. I've just come a little short with regard to which wood to use. I was thinking walnut perhaps, I like working with that and find it shapes easy. I plan to make this piece big, ie a foot and a half long by maybe eight inches wide and carve from 2" stock (still have to scale it up etc). Would anyone else have any suggestion with regard a nice, easily obtainible hardwood, ie oak, ash, teak, mahogany etc?

Cheers!
 
Hi

I'm in the same boat: haven't carved anything for about 8 years and I've got a pile of timber and sharpened chisels waiting 'till I can find the time and inspiration :(

looks an interesting project, love to see pics of wip.

My choice of timber in this order would be: Lime , Walnut, Oak witch will all take fine crisp detail cuts. Lime is first choice as it's bland and the grain won't obscure the figures' features. - rather like the original marble!

Mahogany and ash are too stringy to take very fine detail IMO and teak will really mess up your sharp chisels. (assuming you're using hand tools, not rotary burrs).
There are others such as basswood, tulipwood etc you could get in decent sizes.

Choice of wood is always very personal though so obviously my views are subjective and drawn from my experiences.

Pity you're over the water as I could have given you a lump of mahogany to try, as I aquired a quantity of largish offcuts some years ago from Riley the snooker table makers.

cheers

Bob
 
Hey Croppy,

Have you even given tutoring or thought about tutoring anyone in Carving ?

hint - Looking for somecarving guidance as a way to add embellishments to turned items. ( bowls platters etc )

ps - that clock is simply stunning


Regs

Loz
 
I've no easy source of lime I'm afraid and its one wood that I keep meaning to pick up at some stage as I've heard excellent reports as to its carving ability, some liking it to a bar of soap!!

Think I'll go with walnut, have a root around the local timberyard and see if I can pick up a nice, non fussy grain, lenght.


loz, I'm self taught and never really thought about teaching to be honest, but then I dont think I'd be much good at teaching as I tend to have my own way of doing things which are probably non conventional, I'd have health and safety down on me in a flash!!! :p


Actually while we're on the subject of Titanic (and woodwork, oddly enough :p) have any of you been watching 'Titanic: The Mission' on Channel 4. A group of 4 engineers/designers take on tasks such as building a section of titanics hull, recreating one of the anchors, rebuilding an oven and simulating the electrical layout of the ship and, next Monday they are recreating part of the gents first class dining saloon, so, plenty of old skool woodworking will be on show, defo one to watch!
 
Croppy I've done a little carving, but not tried relief yet. That clock is staggering, especially on 25mm stock. I have carved Lime and although not quite soap it is certainly very nice. There is no discernable difference between summer and winter growth, gouges just glide over the growth lines as if they were not there.

Looking forward to seeing the figure.

xy
 
CroppyBoy1798":28i5wzs8 said:
some liking it to a bar of soap!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: Not quite a bar of soap Croppy (would be a bloody hard bar) :)

Lime is beautiful stuff to carve though as it takes a really crisp finish and as long as your chisels are sharp and polished, the bevel will polish the cut as well.

I'd be surprised if there isn't a supplier in Ireland who could get decent kiln dried lime.

As an aside, I've always wanted to try my hand with other materials, especially soapstone and have been meaning for years to make a walking stick. I cut a couple of shafts a few years ago and have some ramshorn, buffalow and antler just waiting v- roll on retirement :)

cheers

Bob
 
I'm in NI and ended up buying Lime from Scotland, Paul Conroy, Scottish Hardwoods. I've bought a couple of times and each was good stuff, dry and sound.

Brendan.
 
Cheers for the help and info guys.

Eoin - I sent off an e-mail to the link provided, never been out with them and they're not 'that' far from me, must go have a look at these setup some day!

BMac - did you have to get the wood in person or did they ship to you?

Shall keep ye posted! :)
 
I got it shipped. I can't remember how much it was but, divided over many pieces carved it seemed reasonable. I think it cost about £70 for 30kg but I was able to specify sizes I wanted so that was useful as I don't have a bandsaw.

Here's an Ebay link to Paul Conroy. I just send him a message to see what he has. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/scottishhardwoods

Brendan.
 
I sent him off an email Brendan, he was pretty quick to reply, but unfortunately he has 'nothing' in stock :?:
 
What size of a piece do you need? I'll see if I have a lump that might do the job.

Brendan.
 
The biggest piece I have has, I estimate*, a usable area of 23 3/4" x 5 1/2" x 3 3/4". There is a bark inclusion on one side so, maybe you could get 6" on the other side instead of 5 1/2". If it's any use you can have it.

Brendan.

* The piece is about 7" wide at one end going to about 6 1/2" at the other.
 
Bmac that sounds ideal!! :eek: When you say its tapering from 7 to 6.5 is it a straight taper, it doesnt take a dive in mid way to 5 or 5.5 no? Just scaled the pic up and it seems I'll need it to be 5 3/4 wide and 18 3/4" long.

I havent got any word back from a local timber supplier with regards to whether they stock lime or not, so, I'll probably take you up on that offer if you'd be willing to post? Anyway, sure drop me a pm and if its ok with you I'll get a few bob up to you etc! :)
 
Hi,

The piece tapers on one side but the bark inclusion is half way up. However, I measured to where I reckoned the wood was sound so the first dimensions would be your workable area. If we could see inside wood it would be useful but, alas, there's always the possibility of a surprise. Saying that, I think it is sound.

I was thinking that if you scaled the piece down you would still have a sizable project so, hopefully, this will do the job.

Send me your address please and I'll fire this off to you on Monday.

Just thinking, if you could PM me your email I'll take a few photos so that you know what you are getting.

Best Wishes,
Brendan.
 
Ok, so, got this one started yesterday after recieving a hefty block of limewood thanks to the generousity of BMac, a gentleman! :)

First time working with limewood, not as 'soft' as I thought but really nice to work once you have the ol' chissers honed well. Still very much in the 'roughing' out stage and getting to grips with the overall form, depths, etc as well as all the bloody folds and creases in the dress (and I have even started the wrinkles yet!!)

Here's how she was looked a little while back! :D


carvingdemo.jpg
 
This is very interesting because it's amazing how you have worked around the blemishes. Very impressive.

Brendan.
 

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