THE OLD MILLRAT’S CARVING CORNER

My Carvings

Now that you have seen some of my tools, take a look at a few of my carvings. It was difficult for me to decide what to put here. I chose a few of my favorites.

First is what is known as a “Green Man.” I have no idea why they are called that. Take a look at Chris Pye’s website for more Green Men.

The wood was given to me by a friend who had no idea what it was. It was VERY hard, and it took me a year to complete this carving. The finish is wax.

Next is what is known as a “Fish Priest.” Tools like this are used for killing a big fish when it is brought on deck. Mine are a little fancier than most because I carve on them, and I use pewter for banding them which makes the wood less likely to split. I pour the melted pewter into grooves while the piece is in the lathe.

The carving wraps around the tool so it takes 2 pictures to show it. Also, the grip is turned to a rough round shape on the lathe, and then I carve it to an oval shape. The big end of the “priest” is bored out and filled with molten lead. Then a wooden plug is inserted to hide the lead.

One of my very favorite carvings is the one I did of my beloved isabella Doberman. (called a fawn color) She died too young and I still miss her. The carving is life sized. The wood is Butternut, and it was painted.

I recently turned a curly maple platter and then carved flowers on it. I won’t ever do that again. The wood is VERY hard.

About a year ago I saw an antique picture which I just knew I had to carve. I call it my “Pig-to-market” carving. The colors are PrismaColor pencils smoothed with lacquer thinner. The wood is cherry.

My wife found a strange looking glass bowl which she wanted a base for. I like to use pewter in my turnings so I made her this base with the ring. The wood is walnut.

And here is the base with the glass bowl on it.

I always have a carving in progress. Here is one I am working on right now. I enlarged a picture of a piece of antique jewelry and penciled it onto a piece of cherry. I almost always carve hardwoods exclusively. This piece already has more than 20 hours in it.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to my carving stuff. Thanks for looking!