New blood!

[Jmzey]

Hi all,

Ive been watching this forum from the shadows for a little while now, so thought id sign up!

 

Decided to give chainsaw carving a bash a couple of months ago and have been absolutely loving it!

This is my third carve and my most challenging to date! Used a big chunk of waste Lime that has been lying about the yard of the company i work with for ages. (Have more pics but not sure how to add more than one!)

I used my "trusty" husky 560 to block it out, refined with an ms211 with a sugi dime tip, then pulled most of the details with a file belt sander, saburrtooth grinder wheel and finally a lick with the Dremel.

 

Im no expert on timber but am under no illusion that greenwood lime is durable and this will rot away pretty quickly ... although i used wood preserver and then some teak/tung oil to give atleast some protection

 

Wondering if anyone can give any criticisms on this carve, and also any advice on what preservatives, oils stains etc people use to protect and preserve carvings they intend to sell.

 

Cheers,

James

[Mark Bolam]

If that's your third carve I might as well go and kill myself.

 

 

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[Vespasian]

Third carve or not I'm impressed..

 

After sein a few of these carves I was wonderin if someone had tried out on marble after a while and how they might of done..

 

The talents certainly out there..

[Ianw6522]

James, for your third attempt at carving then in my opinion that is an excellent effort. If you want constructive criticism then perhaps the distance from the eyes to the nose needs to be greater giving your piece a longer nose to forehead and making the cheeks look a little slimmer.

You mentioned the use of other tools that helped with your carving, I have them myself and I have found that with practice you can achieve more with your chainsaws and rely less on your power tools, using them mainly to finish off your carving. Keep pushing yourself with your saws and don't be in too much of a hurry to pick up the Saburrtooth, miss it out and go for the finger sander instead, I found by doing this my skill with the saw improved.

 

I'm no expert compared to most of the guys and gals on here and I'm still a novice myself but hope my little contribution helps you if you want to improve the chainsaw carving element of your skill.

 

Nice one

[Moony]

Bloody hell James! For your third attempt my friend that is amazing! Well done, in contrast here is my first ever attempt!

[timbernut]

That's a great piece jimzey, think the eye to nose distance is fine as it looks more pony like but the nostrils should be larger n less central

 

 

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[Jmzey]

Thanks for the kind words all.

 

Its gone pretty weird after oiling - not sure if this is the precursory stage of rot or not? Any ideas.

 

 

Moony - quality mushrooms mate! Love the chunky forms, you gunna sand/oil them or keeping a more rustic look?

 

Ian - thanks for the advice! Yes its my intention to achieve as much as i can with the saw alone! Ive only been using chainsaws for 8 months so im hoping my saw control will improve through tree work and through carving and benefit both. The ms211 is just so light and easy to fling about id be daft not to make the most of the speedy stock removal eh!

 

 

 

 

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Edited August 21, 2016 by Jmzey

[Moony]

Had to leave them as they are because the family snaffled them, have got orders for more so more practice it is! Good look, I think your horse looks fab! ;-)

[wisewood]

Hi James,

That's an excellent carving mate , you have a good eye for proportion. As for preservation and finish there's lots to choose from and most people will have their own preference.

Most use clear decking oil, some of the dearer ones like Osmo have anti fungal properties.

I also apply anti fungal/ insecticide first on the more susceptible woods.

Some carvers even get their work pressure treated.

 

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[peatff]

I'm not a horsey person but the cheeks look out of proportion to me, not that I could do anything like it though. It all looks like firewood when I've cut it