Finished fishin'

The trash man said no more wood scrap in the trash or they would have to charge me more money. Does that make any sense to anyone? Oh well whatever, this way of disposal is much more fun and this winter will help keep me warm when I'm carving in my covered and well lit carving fort which this project is funding.
So other than a few minor setbacks all went well with the completion of the crappie which 3 different fishermen guessed first try. Don't feel bad if you guessed wrong ; aunt Jerri, because the arm fin was an inch to high the first time and that threw the whole thing off. What? you never heard the term, arm fin, well it's real scientific, and much funnier than pectoral fin.

Here she is in all her glory. Steve told me not to worry about putting a finish on it but I had to because I knew the beautiful grain would really pop with something on it. I used Thompson's water seal because it really helps repel water and is a clear finish. This picture is right after my second attempt at a finish so it looks glossy but is just wet. Second attempt? Oh yeah the first attempt I didn't check the forecast and it got well below 50 degrees that night and clouded it over so I had to strip it off and do it again

The last step in carving the fish was the scales. I took a u-gouge and ground the sharp edge flat and used it as a punch with a mallet like a thousand times for what I think looks real fishy.
I also carved the eye with my chip-carving knife.

Al, I hope you enjoy your fishy stump, I sure enjoyed carving it and I recommend sealing it every spring and setting it on a gravel bed or something to keep it off the wet ground to extend it's life.

Commission Fishin'

Commission Fishin'A friend from church asked me to carve his neighbor a fish on his walnut stump. I probably would have never attempted to carve a realistic fish, just because I'm not into fish, unless of coarse it's cooked on a plate with a squeeze of lemon. Yum.
This fish is a specific type of fish, which I will not mention in hope that you will guess what it is so I'll know that it looks right. This is important to the project because he was very specific in what he wanted. I told him it would look good or he would get a load of mulch and we don't want anymore stinking mulch.

Man I love walnut, the grain is wonderful and so is the smell.

It's been 3 or 4 months since I've been able to carve with a chainsaw, because of weather, time change and I am a father of 2 small boys as well as a husband which I would like to continue to be. I almost forgot how much I love doing it and thank the Lord, my wife and the weather for letting me do it. Anyway, I'll post the finished project hopefully next weekend.

Floor refinish

Christmas already! Nope, just the best picture of the nasty carpet we had in the living room. This picture is about a year and a half old and trust me, it just got worse. So about a month ago my wife asked me what it would take to get rid of the carpet and refinish the plywood floor underneath, I said, leave town for a weekend hoping that would get me out of it, but it didn't.

Day one: Friday after work. to stay on schedule I had to be ready to stain by Saturday night.
I had to pull tack boards and staples and be ready to sand in the morning.
I didn't know before I tore out the carpet that there was a ton of paint and varnish stains covering the entire 250 sq ft.

Day two: Sand and sand and sand and stain. I can see the original painters in 1958 saying "we don't need no stinkin' tarps, no one in their right minds would finish this plywood floor", oh but I did.

Day three: Poly, sand, poly, sand, poly, poly.
Start time Friday 4pm, end time Sunday 6pm; 50hrs give or take.
The main reason I decided to refinish the plywood underlay is the price. Hardwood flooring is about 3 bucks a sq ft. Of coarse there's always craigslist, but its still 1.50/2.00 per.
This cost .60 per.

The main test was, does the wifey likey.
Oh yes she loves it, and the boy has already scratched it, but that's okay it was cheap, and is rustic so scratches blend right in. (That's what I have to say to keep my sanity).

Carving Fort

Now that looks like a proper place to play with chainsaws and chisels.
Finally Phase 1 of my carving fort project is done!
Phase 1 you ask. Why yes, I have lots of plans for this little piece of heaven.
There's a roof, more fencing, lighting and oh yeah the crane. That's right the crane, I need a way to lift 500lbs logs out of my truck, move them around reload them in my truck etc....
Anyway that's why this Phase 1.
If any one has any ideas for my crane let me know.

Also, the big walnut stump in the middle of my fort is my first commission piece with a chainsaw. A friend from church wants a carving of a fish on it for his neighbor, but thats a blog for another day, soon.

Carving pictures

Here are some of the carvings I've done in the last couple yearsThis a round house carved from Cottonwood bark (pictured above and below). It is hollow with some detail inside which is hard to see in the picture, but you can see in one window and out another.

Below is "Happy creek" one of the few scenes that I have done. I have big dreams of doing a large western street scene and a castle scene but they would take a lot of time and as a father of a 20 month old and a 4 week old time is scarce, and I'm pretty sure their a better investment of my time. Although my carvings don't fuss, but my kids don't collect dust. Okay the kids, Right?

Yes, definitely the kids.

This is spoon and spork I made for my dear sweat mother. She loved to cook, and boy was she good at it. My parents got rid of cable T.V. a couple years back and my dad says mom only lasted a few weeks without the food channel before she went crawling back to the cable company asking for forgiveness. Of course they willing to forget it ever happened for 50 or so bucks a month.

You'll never guess what this is. No its not a duck, it's a hummingbird. A hummingbird on a bamboo skewer. It was hard to get it to hold still. ha ha No seriously it's wood.
Story time; Once upon A time I was making a bear with a chainsaw in my driveway,and I was carving an arrow threw its head so it could be a sign that said "No Huntin". Well, my neighbor came over to see what I was doing and said I should put a strap on the arrow around the back of the head like it was a fake arrow because it was a little graphic, I laughed and said don't worry its not a real arrow.
You know because it's not a real bear either. I ended up carving in the strap because it made me laugh and I really thought it was a good Idea.

Above is a random whimsical castle thingy. Below is a caricature of a cabin in the woods I helped my good friends the Farrars build and gave to them as a Christmas gift a few years ago.

Okay there are a few of the types of things I do. I usually do a type of carving about a half a dozen times then get bored with it and try something new.

BEARNYCOON

This was my first attempt at chainsaw carving last spring. I bought one of the few instructional books on the subject and read it and tried it in my head for about 2 months prior to this. I was so excited when I found some ears in this log. Then I continued to cut away everything that didnt look like a bear cub.

I worked on this well into the night and added texture with the tip of my chainsaw ( which I have refined some, thanks to some attachments and very expensive tools ). I then burnt it with a mini torch ( I now use a pro grade mapp gas torch ) and Walla! we have a cross between a bear, a bunny, and a raccoon. A Bearnycoon, possibly the first ever.
At first I hated it because it did not look like the ones I carved in my head at night while trying to fall asleep for the 2 months prior to this. But now I wouldn't sell it, and I love to sell my carvings.

Carving Fort

This is my carving "studio" and boy do I hate it. What an eye sore.
I need a new carving area out of the way and on a concrete surface.


This is the site for my new and improved carving "studio". Now I just need a big flat square hole to pour concrete in. I guess that's what the shovel is for.

Just about 3 or 4 hours, 2 truck loads of dirt dropped at my dads house and I have a perfect hole for my slab. If I would have had a trailer I would have rented a mini excavator because I'm lazy but I'm glad I didn't because this hole was free, and we like free. Now I need to form it up and pour concrete. Soon this will be my new carving fort ( I just made that up) and there will be no girls allowed.