FriarsGorse

Thanks for the opinions everyone ... I think I will end up suckin' it.

Has anyone any experience of carving silver birch ?? At the age of 49 my back gives me some grief so is it worth the pain of felling it and handling some decent size pieces ... I know it is very wet/heavy....or is it crap for carvng ??

I watched Bob King using one of these at Woodfest in 2010 and wondered what the ... is that? It looks to be superbly designed and manufactured. For some reason it looks to be very safe considering what it does. Hope it turns out to be good value for money ... have fun with and let us know...like you say when this bloody weather clears up .....Happy New Year All.

Did my frequent trip to Scotland in September ... bought a bottle of Edradour Natural Cask Strength (57.4%) Bourbon finish, from Loch Fyne Whiskies in Inverarie. Its the most stunning stuff I ever tasted. Strangely ... on the way back... nearly home... called in to Sainsburys for some essentials and bought a bottle of Arberlour 10 yo ... special offer £24. All the way to Scotland and I bought half my stash from Wolverhampton !!

Very nicely knocked out. I'd hang it on my wall ...very tidy.

Lovely job Roni ... as has already been said its a great shape. Promise I'll try not to copy this one !!

I have a 90 and a 110 on the drive and its a constant worry. I have been looking at quick release / snap off steering wheels on e-bay. Its all there ... steering wheel, boss and snap off boss kit. Seems to me to be a good idea to take the steering wheel off each night but I just cant satisfy myself that the wheel wont be right under my chin when its all on. Has anybody tried this ????

Congratulations Kim ... nice to see you back. Very classy work as always.

Some months back I was asked if I could do an otter. I was a bit troubled that what I thought should be a fairly simple form could be a bit tricky to get right. Then suddenly on 29-4-13 Roni McDonald posted 'todays stump carve' ... a fantastic otter that I loved to bits. Unfortunately I loved it that much that it gave me a mental block as to how to do an otter any different from this !!! (Weird on my part maybe!) So I sent Roni a PM asking if I could use todays stump carve for "close reference", (trying very hard not to say can I copy it !??!) Roni's response was great suggesting ..."we all do a certain amount of copying and its nice when someone wants to replicate your work ... Good Luck." I think I am supposed to post some pics as part of the deal so now its finished here goes .... thanks a lot Roni... your attitude is very much appreciated and in turn Abercarver if my otter is of any use I can send you some photos ..... for close reference !!!

Wow that's a helluva piece of work .... the word epic springs to mind !

This is a bostin book ... got me started.

Superb !!! He looks the friendly sort

Have a great weekend all you lucky people going ... the jealousy is killing me. Would be nice to see some photos next week of an arbtalker brandishing that 1st prize !!! Good luck all of you carving !!

I have now lost count of the amount of people I have made watch this so I can watch their reaction ... and tell them this is the bloke who inspired me to have a go. Can it get any better than this ?

Puts a smile on my face too !! As always ... couldn't be better...

My latest ...Glen Garioch 1797 Founders Reserve. Not peaty but very rich and nice and sweet. Very Nice and nearly as good as Edradour!!

I'm in the midlands.... Brummie born and bred.... married a wench and moved to the Black Country about 25 years ago. I live in Wordsley mid way between Stourbridge and Wolves. It looks at the moment like you might be forming the "North of Brummegam Branch" !!! Tamworth is about an hour and a half drive for me and Ashby a bit more. I spend a stupid amount of time working, but if its possible I would love to meet up with some like minded !!(Even if I'm on the lemonade!) Its interesting to see some saying they want to have a go at carving or try and improve at what they already do. So maybe with a few more posting we could end up helping each other out a bit. All the best ...Ross:thumbup:

You know its embarrassingly disappointing that for forty-odd years ... in my own head ... I've been singing the wrong bloody words !!! Mick ...you are indisputabley correct !!! Think I might be having a go at Benny soon but the whole gang is gonna take a while !!! Thanks all for the kind words ... I need to go find some blue paint !!

Finally I can cross this off my Things i'd like to carve list ... (or have a go at list !!) I don't usually like to paint but I think it was necessary!

Every year I want to go and every year the bloke I work with books his holidays that week !!! (He has to ... its a long story) I would love to be there for a beer and a chat but I don't get my annual chill out to Scotland til 14th September .... suppose you'll all have gone home by then !

Wow ... that's stunning for a first go

Wifey had 03 plate 1.8 petrol Freelander from it being 6 months old to just last year. Head Gasket went 3 times in 75000 miles. including the all new replacement gasket which was supposed to cure the problem. We loved ours but mechanically it was crap ! I think the TD4 is Better ! It would only pull one little oss in a little oss box. She now has a 90 which pulls two big osses in a big oss box.

Superb ... Good to see you back

Lookin very very:thumbup1: good ... is he as heavy as he looks ?? Do you do what I do and try and calculate what size piece of wood will not quite give you another hernia ????

Has anyone else used makers-marks ??? I placed an order and its currently not going to plan !!!