tributesinwood

Wood Carvings by Mark Sheridan

23 Jan 2015
2 Comments

The Cowboy Hat

Now that the head is at least roughed in for our little cowboy hound, it’s time to start thinking about a hat.  The hat is made in two pieces along the same lines as described by Lynn Doughty on his website OutWestWoodcarving.  Basically, the side view of the brim was outlined on a piece of basswood with the grain of the wood running from the front to the back of the brim.  After cutting out this profile, an elongated oval was cut ( looking from the top of the hat ) so that I ended up with the cut-out shown in the second photo, below.
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Following that, I took a little bit off of the top of the hound’s head to make a flat area to sit the hat upon.  Using the method of applying some pencil lead to the top of the head and slowly chiseling away the impression of the lead that’s left on the hat, I ended up with a depression on the bottom of the hat brim that made a nice tight fit on the head.  This might seem a bit unnecessary to you, but you’ll find that having this depression makes the hat sit nicely on the head in a way that leaves you with the impression that the hat is fully covering the head and not just sitting on top of it.

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The crown of the hat was pretty simply made…just a quick cut out of an almost rectangle on the bandsaw and then some knife carving to get the rounded shape from the top view.  I say, rounded, but it actually is round with a bit of a point at the front.  That just seemed to look about right to me.  Then, I just used the same method of applying pencil lead to the brim and let it rub off onto the bottom of the crown so that all of the high points were highlighted by the lead markings.  A few ( actually, quite a few ) swipes with a shallow gouge removed those lead marks and ended up with the crown sitting nicely on the brim.  I should also mention that I added a hat band using a carving knife and a quick pass with a burning tool.

Hope you like things so far.

 

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Posted in Wrangler Hound and tagged , , , , ,
21 Jan 2015
1 Comment

Roughing in the Head

The Wrangler Hound is starting to take some shape.  The general outline of his head was marked out on a piece of basswood and cut away on the bandsaw.  I intentionally cut the outline a little bit larger than I expect the carving to be when it’s completely so that I have room to cut in some deep wrinkles and folds that these little Basset Hound carvings end up having.

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I started off using a Typhoon bit and the Foredom tool to move some wood away quickly and do some general shaping.  I’ve mentioned before that Typhoon bits are very aggressive carbide tipped bits.  If you decide to use this method of blocking in your carving, you need to wear the appropriate protective gear…safety glasses, gloves, leather apron and either leather or very heavy sleeves.  Of course, you can use your regular knife to accomplish the same thing.

The roughed-in surface after the shaping with the Foredom tool and a bit of refining with a carving knife is looking like this.  Next step will be to cut a flat section along the top of the head and add in a weathered, droopy, cowboy hat.

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Posted in Wrangler Hound and tagged , , , , ,
18 Jan 2015
3 Comments

My Project List

I wonder if everyone has a project list full of ideas?  I love having a project list…always have.  As a kid, I used to look forward to the Fall just because I knew that I’d be down the basement working on a project…usually a model airplane.

One of the newer additions to my list, one that I introduced a little while ago, was my notion of a hockey-player sitting in the penalty box following a bit of a scuffle.  I’ve pretty much completed the head and helmet, but ran into a little trouble with the body…I just can’t seem to get the right orientation of the shoulders and arms…or, at least, something that is going to make me happy with the final carving.  So, I’m going to try something that I’ve not tried before and that’s using modelling clay to create a three dimensional body figure that I can use as a model for the carving.

Carving wood is a bit unforgiving…once you’ve carved away too much, well, you’ve carved away too much.  Many carvers first develop a clay model where, of course, you can add or take away clay to your heart’s delight, and, once your satisfied, turn your creation into a wood carving.  I’m going to give it a try with my first ever block of clay!

Don’t laugh if this doesn’t turn out.

Another project that I’ve started involves a…wait for it…Basset Hound!  Not sure what I’ll call this carving yet but am feeling like this particular little hound may end up with a touch of attitude.  Especially, with that six-shooter hanging in his holster.

Here’s a quick sketch of what I have in mind.  Stay tuned.

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged , ,
10 Jan 2015
8 Comments

Photo-Op for a Country Hound

Our little Country Hound is finished and has now sat patiently for his photo-op.

I’m pretty pleased with the way that this little carving  has turned out.  Thanks to Lynne for her ideas on this carving as I would not have come up with this composition on my own.  It was fun to carve and complete.

I’ll put some additional photos on the Flickr site ( link at the side of this page ) a little bit later today.

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Posted in Country Hound and tagged , , , , , , ,
09 Jan 2015
1 Comment

A Colourful Rug

Well, that was fun…I’ll be sure to carve and paint a braided rug again.  Maybe I’ll even make a real braided rug in the future!

The rugs themselves are made of multi-coloured strands of cloth.  The rug that I “carved” is modelled after a three cloth braiding pattern and also has three distinct colour sections: an outer dark blue/light blue/red section, a middle light blue/beige/yellow section, and a centre yellow/light green/dark green section.  I say that I “carved” the rug in quotations because the strands were actually carved into the base with a parting chisel ( looks like a “V” ) and the individual braids were burned in with the tip of a wood-burning tool.

Having the burned-in channels of the braid were really helpful in the painting, as the paint was confined to the burned boundaries and was not able to bleed into the adjoining sections.  So, everything looks nice and crisp.

I should mention that the sections where no braiding is evident is where the rocking chair rails will fit and be glued.  I felt that I needed a bit of a depression ( which won’t be seen after the chair is in place ) so that the rocking chair rails had a good surface for which to adhere.

Next step…fastening and gluing the rocking chair to the base.

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Posted in Country Hound and tagged , ,
06 Jan 2015
3 Comments

Some Rug Braiding

I’ve done some rug braiding tonight and the rug is now ready for paint!

The planked floor and the shaped base beneath it also got some stain and urethane earlier this week, so the base is coming to completion.  I’ve typically painted the wood grain lines on the plank floor with acrylic paints, however, in this case, the planks are running parallel to the grain in the oak base and, given that the grain is very fine, an oak finish looked just right to make a true-to-scale rendition of a floor.

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After doing some sanding, the edge of the base got a darker stain than the planked floor just to make the perimeter stand out.  I also included some small nails at a few of the plank joints in the floor just to add some more interest.

My next step will be to use some acrylic paints to provide a multi-colour rug pattern within the “braided” lines that I’ve already burned in with a wood burner.  I’m planning to use diluted “washes” of a number of colours so that the rug ends up not looking too bright…I’d prefer something that looks well used.

Posted in Country Hound, Uncategorized and tagged , , , ,
04 Jan 2015
1 Comment

Tool Roll for Chisels

That marvellous Peggy made me a denim tool roll for my chisels!  A tool roll is a really handy way to store chisels so that they’re organized on the bench and can be rolled up and transported or placed, protected, out of the way.  After getting a real sharp edge on chisels, the last thing that you want to hear is one of them rolling off the bench and hitting the floor!

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We found a pattern on the web for a simple tool roll and modified it a bit to accept the size and number of chisels that I use most frequently.  Just search the web for “tool roll” and you’ll find several that you can use and modify.

It’s basically three rectangular sections sewn together in such a way that it results in alternating pockets for the chisels.  A little bit of figuring went into the size of the pockets…depth and width…so that the chisels were held snuggly but still protruded enough to be able to see the chisel size markings on the metal portions.

I should also mention that Peggy made the denim rectangular sections “doubled” ( I’d call it “two ply” ) so that the pouch would be strong and look nice from both sides.

Each of the rectangular portions that have the pockets sewn into them are used as flaps that each fold over onto the exposed ends of the chisels.  They meet in the centre with a bit of overlap to completely cover and protect the chisels.

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The tool roll is then “rolled up” ( what a surprise ) and the remaining flap at the end wraps around the whole thing.  Peggy is going to sew a tether to that end flap so that I can tie it together so it’s nice and secure.

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What a gal.  I’m being extra nice to her today.

Posted in Uncategorized
02 Jan 2015
4 Comments

The Base Takes Shape

Well, I decided on a circular base as I mentioned in the last post…so, this morning I did the routering and spent a bit of time carving an oval “braided” rug and a few hardwood slats into the top of the base.  I’m just in the process of using a wood burning tool to show the braiding in the rug cord.  I think that once it’s finished and painted it’s going to look pretty good.

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In non-carving news, Rosie and I got a bit of snow-frisbee in today.  We also learned a new trick…snow angels…kinda like a normal “roll-over” trick but done in the snow!

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Posted in Country Hound and tagged , , , ,
01 Jan 2015
3 Comments

Happy New Year!

Well, I have to admit that we didn’t make it quite to midnight last night…but, we did watch a countdown from last year off of Youtube  ( I know that’s cheating ).  That, combined with a nice dinner and a little bit of wine ( just for the record, Paul’s drinking apple juice…I’m not ) rounded out New Year’s Eve just right for us.

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As you can see from the background on my progress photo of my little penalty box hockey player, we’re getting our fair share of snow today following a pretty green ( actually, more barren than green ) Christmas.

He’s coming along nicely.  I actually sanded the helmet down a bit…something that I don’t normally do with my carvings.  In this case, I thought that the helmet in particular would just look a little nicer with a smoother finish.  His face is coming along as well and I probably won’t do a lot more on it until I fit it to his shoulders, which are yet to be carved.

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The little Country Hound is making some progress today as well.  I decided on a circular base and will be routering a nice edge on the base today sometime.  It took a bit of thinking but I finally made up a little fence out of the portions of the base that I cut away to form the circle.  That fence will get a slot cut into the centre to accommodate the router bit, then I’ll just place the circular base in that “holder” and carefully turn the base within the fence and let the router do it’s work.

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Well, that’s about it for now.  We wish each of you all of the best things in 2015 and I thank each of you for being interested in and following my projects and inspiring me to try new things.  That meant a lot to me in 2014.  Mark.

Posted in Two Minutes for Fighting and tagged , , ,
28 Dec 2014
5 Comments

Starting the Base

The Country Hound carving is now finished, has been glued together and has received a light coat of urethane to protect the acrylics.  I like the way this carving is turning out.

The base has been cut from a piece of oak and I’m just getting a sense of how I’d like it to look.  I’m picturing that rocking chair sitting on a wood floor with a throw rug.  I’m going to play around with that for a little while and see what turns up.

For now, here’s how it’s looking.

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Posted in Country Hound and tagged , , , ,

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