THE MOOSE IS LOOSE

This here is a big ol' Hack berry log. 5ft tall, almost 18in across and something like 300lbs. What a moose of a log. The manager or something in X-ray found out about me through another co-worker and asked me to carve him a moose he saw in Silver Dollar City. He got me a few pictures and gave me artistic license to use my judgment so I took advantage of the 68 degrees and a Friday off.

This here is the head roughed out. Moose have beards, who knew.
The moose is the one on the left.

There will be antlers or horns or whatever moose have attached later. I was able to cut off two big chunks large enough to make the antler-horns, so it will be from the same log.

It's a good thing I got pictures 'cause I don't know jack about moose, much less moose about jack.

The main thing X-ray Ron liked was the pot belly and the big goofy teeth, so say cheese.
This one is already fun and it pays real money. I think I'm going to buy another chainsaw or a welder, I not sure yet. The money is already burning a hole in my pocket, better concentrate on the task at hand.

CARVING FORT

aka THE STABLEWell I'm back, at least for now.
I took a electricity class over the fall semester, which I loved, and started my new job as a plumber for St. Johns hospital, which I also love. Not much carving though. I did hand carve some heirloom toys for the boys and will share them later.

For Christmas I got money, after all, Christmas is about money not Christ, right? Anyway I gave it all to Lowes and finished building my fort. Turns out it looks like a stable especially with the toy wagon. I put in some lights and outlets because I'm fancy and I am no longer in the dark about electricity. Sorry about the corny joke best I can do. I also sold a couple of bears at work which helped fund this project.

I now have a caricature moose, a stylized Mary, a simple fireplace and a rooster all commissioned and waiting. Plenty to keep me busy for a couple months.

I had to shoot the eagle

Shot the eagle?! Don't worry I just winged it. Had to, there was a big crack in the left wing which I don't mind ( adds character ) but I don't want it to grow and ruin the bird.

So I drilled a big hole and added a homemade dowel with epoxy...

...cut it and sanded it and there it is.

I had to come to a point where I was done sanding and just live with some scratches.
So...








Pause for dramatic effect.







...boom goes the dynamite.

I stained it and just need to seal it and its done. Lots of time in this one and there is some things
I'll do different next time, but I'm pretty pleased with it and will let you know how it does at the fair.

The eagle is landing

Well I'm about 35-40 hours into this project , maybe more, I've kinda lost track. I have sanded and sanded and sanded and I still will probably sand another couple of hours before I call it done. Remember, the wifey likey so I have to look at this the rest of my life and I want it as close to perfect as my patience will allow.

I have entered several projects into the Ozarks Empire Fair over the last couple of years and have done pretty well as far as ribbons are concerned, but the have so many categories that the ribbons are handed out liberally. I also carve in the expo center for a few nights during the fair and that's the fun part. This year it looks like this is my only entry unless I can work some magic in the next month and a half, which is unlikely.

So some more sanding and the finishing is all that's left. I'll probably stain the base darker and just seal the rest and move on to some thing easier like a bear or anything I can get done in A few nights.

Eagle four

Well I'm pretty much done carving this bird. Now I just have to sand on it for probably 4 or 5 hours cause its got to be smooth.
I was talking to my wife about how much I should sell this carving for and she informed me that it's not for sale. So sorry to all who were getting out your checkbooks, this birds not for sale.

Anyway I carved the eyes and beak and am pretty pleased, I was nervous because they could really make or break this whole project.
I still have a little work to do on the feet, or talons as Napoleon Dynamite would say, but mainly just a lot of sanding and a little shaping.

Kinda mean looking huh? cool

Eagle three

I was able to get some more carving done this week and man is this a big project. I put about 4 more hours into it this week and it looks pretty much the same. I had to skinny up the wings quite a bit which took the most time but I also added some more shape to the feet and head.
The main problem I ran into was the bottom of the wings, which you can see in the picture below. There just not symmetrical, which really bothers me. I almost have them fixed but ran out of time when my helper got home and didn't get a picture. I show comparison photo's in another blog later, but don't worry it will be fine. I just have to cut away everything that doesn't look like an eagle.

Below is a good view of how much I took off the wings so they weren't so chunky. Chunky is good on babies not eagles. Also, you can see more shape to the head and beak.

I think I have about 20+ hours in this already and will probably spend that much more trying to complete it, unless it really speeds up which sometimes happens when I don't run into to many symmetry problems.

This is when production came to a grinding halt, but when all the fun started. Henry is really jammin' to some tunes.
You see, I told you, chunky is good on babies not eagles.

This was about 6 weeks ago. I was in the other room and didn't hear any noise ( this is a real red flag to a parent of a toddler who loves his brother but can't really love gentle ) So I ran in the room and found that I was wrong he can love gentle.
For you that don't know me the littlest is Harrison ( he is abut 10 weeks now ) and believe it or not, just as cute as his big brother.

Last one I promise. Henry jammin' with daddy's scwrench ( chainsaw wrench, also known as a T-wrench )

Eagle two

This is where we left off (above). A few guide lines with the sharpie and I'm ready to go.

It really helps to sit back and stare at the carving for a few minutes and making some rough sketch lines before getting after at it, just to make sure the proportions are right. With this large of a project ( 5ft tall x 18in around ) it's easy to get lost in one section and mess up the entire carving,

This is the sketch lines drawn with the tip of my chainsaw. Man it really helps to visualize it with just a few cuts.

I still have lots of work to do but its going good so far. At this point if I mess anything up it should be fairly easy to fix. It seems for me that if I make a mistake that can't be overcome ,without a fire, it's usually within the first few steps. So far anyway.

This is my oldest boy Henry. He's helping daddy water some sod that I got from work and used to patch in some of my lawn.
I threw it in because he's so stinkin' cute.