dervishcarving

fence it off and leave till the summer and any chicks have fledged. anythign else could be seen as disturbing a protected species and you (more than the house owner) would be in court.

jeez that would be a slow job eh?

yup, could be amusing but harrogate is a bit far

nice piece there mate. Self-taught is how we all started, i dont think anyone here has had any 'training'. pick up a saw and start cutting wood, thats how we all learn. How do you improve and get better? pick the saw up again and practice no shortcuts, no magic-book, just practice. looks like you have got the carving bug trust me, it dosnt go away. I have carved for 2 years now and when i dont have my saw in my hand, i feel kinda frustrated oh, just a thought but that piece has a hollow center (from what i can see) so its going to fill with water. Might be worth putting a discreet drain hole in it somewhere

I think they want the CS30/31 rarther than just a cert of attendance.

for insurance i use craftinsurance.co.uk. not too expensive you need to demonstrate competence which, in the uk, means a certificate of some kind. basic chainsaw use and maintenance risk assessment etc... i can PM you a sheet for that i have only done a couple of public demonstrations that were nto competitions and they supplied teh barrier stuff If they can supply the wood then its easier for you I would suggest they pay you and they keep the piece and raffle it if you have plenty of stock you could have a stall in stead of a fee but it depends on what you have to sell at the time

yup, well done will. scorching when done right brings contrast to the piece and you done it right

eyes off ebay i suspect is easiest try to get a blwotorch with te hottest flame you can afford. cheep is not good mapgas is great but expensive

nice piece will came out good definitely needs some highlights now though eyes would be good, you can buy glass eyes as for blowtorching... I put a comment on soembodys question a few weeks back but for this i would look to highlight the scales so scorch 'under' the scales. to do this scorch from the bottom, aiming upwards, get a good scorch along the op endge of a scale plus the overlap from teh one above it. do this all over. then you have to sand again, sand off the upper scale and leve just a 'shaddow' thats all we do with the blowtorch really, give some deffinition looking good mate d

tommy crags is in that area too i think

sandoflex is kinda like thatwoodcrafter, but expensive actualy their pretty decent, the sandpaper comes out of the centre-disk in long 'fingers' that are held out on brushes expensive tho

woodscrews work fine from the base into the lower log. but do MARK them clearly to avoid hitting them with teh chain

there aer a couple of books on chainsaw carving but to be honest mate, they are not really worth the money you would be better watching a few youtube videos of basic carvigns, look through a few of the threads on this forum about basics and safety etc (there are quite a few of them) and then pick up yer saw and have a go

i hate working close to ponds, fishes dont like wood dust nice wol tho

nice one alan. was it you who had issues with a neighbour complaining about noise?

i have the same issue with mine. turned from mild steel (i included some gaps in the edge to let the wood out) they work ok with a drill but not really fast enough to burn it properly. i dont have a die grinder, just a dremell. might try turnign one to fit the dremel tho

the proportions of teh bear are good mate and thats a crucial stage now you just need to move it out of the blocky stage into lifelike Tom has given some pointers on adding fur. a good idea os to look at pictures of how the fur lies on a real bear (pick a species, they are nto all teh same) adding the skin-rolls and the fur is a technique to learn, takes time and practice but once you get it you are well on teh way. you also need to look at the face. its still pretty blocky but thats just 'cos you havent finished yet again, look at pictures on the 'net. I tend to look at skeletons first then muscles and then pictures of livign animals as i like to know how it works beneath the skin (im a scientist, its just how i am). the final thing to learn are eyes and i HATE them. there is only 1 way its right, every other way is wrong. the trick is to learn the right way...and im still learning that one just keep practicing, if yer anythign like the rest of us, its impossible to stop carving anyway

i do a lot of scales, trick is to use the side of the bar not the flat. mark out the pattern first, its easy to go off on a tangent otherwise. each scale takes up to 4 cuts the way i do em so its quite slow BUt they do look like proper scales. cut the lines first then cyt-again using the flat of teh bar into the scale, gives it a flat surface and each one looks like it is overlapped by the ones above it. a little hard to explain but easy to show.. u dotn live in NE scotland do ya? the scales along his throat (underside) to the belly i do like a snake or a crocodile, wide flat scales. as for burning, get yerself a decent blowtorch, i got mine from B&Q and it does fine. the hotter the flame the better scorching is great to make 'shaddows' between areas of different height, like between scales. scorch the gaps between the scales and then use yer sander to remove the scorch from the top of the scales, just leavin the shaddows under the edges

I think you can get them with or without but the saw needs to be modified to fit the tool. I think it was about £600 with the saw. Chap called Harrold Khunt in germany makes then, ill try find his details for you

the last picture shows most of the wood we had to remove to get the right shape, is still very wet but will be good once dry. I couldn't believe how wet the wood was and how HARD. I've carved elm many times but this stuff was like iron! I need a ripping chain for the next one, those long lateral cuts took forever with a std semi-chisel chain This is the next one, about 18 foot high but HOPEFULLY i wont have to remove much off the top of this one. it has rot but hopefully not too much

Well, maybe it is. This is part of a 2-tree carve in Old Aberdeen. Lovely old house with quite a formal walled-garden and a lovely view to the cathedral. The owner had 2 LARGE elm that had to be taken down but the tree surgeon (Guss on these forums, splendid chap) gave her my card and persuaded her to get them carved and not just taken down to ground level. She didnt want anything overly elaborate (was a shame, i had some great ideas for totems) so i came up with this seashell inspired spiral and the other will be a leaning tower, norman-style with a few windows and arrow slits, heavily weathered stone. A lot of harrycane work but should be fun Anyway, this piece needed the top 4 or 5 foot removed first, some rot and it had too much of a lean then it was a case of making a spire and cutting teh spiral before sanding, LOTS of sanding. probably 4 or 5 hours of sanding all told. Worth it though, the woodgrain is lovely and there are a lot of burrs which have come up nice. The owner wanted to keep the wood i removed for het fire, such a shame given how pretty it is. 2 and a bit days work for me and my mate. and yes, was a privite commission this time so i even charged them for it

Dam, a free lathe!! i would have gone for that too

get a cheep £20 metal detector off ebay, has saved me many chains in the past year or so. wont find stones but its a dam good start

I started with an electric in my garden. i had, still have a B&Q own brand about £90 that did me well. they cut slower so you need to be patient, the slow speed also means they are more likely to tear out bit if you get too close to an outside edge. well worth trying though. dont know about getting 1/4 sprockets for them but contact RobD on these forums and he will be able to advise main things to remember though: 1 even with an electric you need the PPE, they may be slower than a petrol but a chain at 17m/s will do almost as much damage as one doing 21 m/s 2 They can overheat very easily. urn it for 10 minutes or so at most and then let it cool off. if you overheat them you can destroy the bushes and that means dead saw 3 dont forget the chain oil. as you dont have to re-fuel its easilly done If you have a look back on my earlier carvings (Google seach for dervish carving and look at my facebook page) you will see what i managed with an electric with a standard 18 inch bar.

otter would be my guess. looks like it