dervishcarving

Loving this, keep it going. I do basic riging when i do work for my dad in the small woodland they own. Have always done it very slowly with v short sections as i didnt want to over-extend my rig.

I wish there was somebody round Aberdeen who knew wild mushrooms well enough to teach me. I love gathering wild food but fungi you really need to know what you are picking and i just dont

Unfortunately not managed to get into it yet. Did some powered-flight stuff previously (Piper cub and once a twin engine private jet... long story) but only managed to try Hang- once and para- once. Both in the Alps, both on tandem rigs. Fantastic times. Have looked into getting qualified here but living in Aberdeen the closes places are a ways off and right now i just dont have the time. Either too busy with work or busy carving. loved teh video, the chap at the end who was managing to place-hold against the wind... thats skill

oh...and what kind of flying? gliding or paragliding?

want to compare carbon-footprints troll-speaker? I drive 130 miles per day to and from work. usually on my own in a car Unfortunately public transport is not possible up here in the north east of scotland as it costs twice as much and takes almost twice as long plus i dont work fixed hours and so cant stick to a train-schedule nor can i offer to car-share. I dont mind the carbon footprint to be honest, i have no kids for my footprint ends with me. what i do mind is the amount of fuel i have to buy and so the amount of tax i give to those idiots in the government to spend on their duck-houses!

This tree needs no carving, its amazing as it is. I do carve, but only dead wood. This tree has so many shapes already in it that it lets your mind see them without the need for cutting. As for the e-drama, Im just waiting for the nukes to fly

The circular tool at the end of the bar was probably a chainsaw-cutter (dunno what other names there are for them). Never used one myself but i know they are popular in some competition carving (shifts a lot of wood quickly). The heated iron is just that as for the paint/can? possibly just oil? Its a bit late now but most carvers if you ask, we are happy to chat about what/how/why Unfortunately i missed it this year, i will be home in north wales early next month, just a month too late

I like it. Simple clean lines that focus on the wood not the design. Nice work

Truly lovely work sir ! inspirational and way beyond the abilities of a lowly chainsaw-carver but,....how do you make a dowel?

not tried that dryer-oil idea yet, will do if i get a chance but at the moment i have to get things cut and finished asap Things should ease off soon and i can try some experiments. I would also like to try soaking in some PEG (poly ethelene glycol) but again, not had the time yet.

Tom, can you share a link to teh exact product you use? there are a lot of options

I had a similar idea but 2 problems... 1- price/volume, thats a lotta oil and a lotta money! 2- it wont keep, eventually it will become contaminated and bacteria will grow in it leading to colour and odour not to menttion it wont help with larger sculptures I found this... Shop - Buy Linseed Products - High Barn Oils. 20l for 75 pounds. Its a decent price for 25l oil. I think i will try some deck oil and see how it goes on. The last carving i did (Owl and Rabbit) drank oil like it was going out of fashion! must have put 2 or 3 liters on it but its poplar so if you dont oil it, its gonna split

Really like these, may have a bash myself once i get the current back-log cleared (no pun intended). Do let me know how the 'might not split' issue goes, anything that might help with splitting of wet-wood would be good to know as i haven't found anything yet

Hey carvers. Do any of you know a good place to buy (to be delivered) lots of linseed oil? I tend to use linseed oil on my carvings once i am finished (or as i go along for some woods) and its damed expensive in B&Q. Anyone got any suggestions? or alternatives? Ta

i play the fool... thats about it

It does help a bit that i work on it and teach it so i kind have the shape in my head I don think i will get that detailed WeeDee, i have an idea that has the helix spanning between a carved base and a carved 'top' and i think i will make each 'arm' triangular in cross-section to 'imply' the pairs. the outside surfaces on this piece are just de-barked and sanded from the original trunk. I find Jet-Lag is easy to deal with if you a re busy and focused but as soon as i stop, i feel sick.

I have an idea for a sculpture for my workplace (Im a DNA researcher when I'm not carving) that would involve a DNA-inspired double-helix section. I decided that if everyone else id doing spirals i would have a go at a test-carve of the spiral shape. Old rubbish wood so it has no strength and will probably snap in the first bit of wind which is a shame as some of the markings in the wood are quite pretty. It was a good way to spend an hour whilst trying to resist the Je-Lag induced cravings for sleep

splendid work there, especially the wee dug

nice ! you beet me to it, had a plan for one when i got back. lets compare notes on technique when i get back

Cheers. Without the Rabbit it would be very dull... a Wol on a stump. The rabbit and the flowers/etc add some interest to teh stump. I got some detail on the rabbit.. his back/bum is properly 'furry' and his ears are hollowed out and teh flower petals/leafs are all concave. The 181 was a godsend, without it i would not have been able to get the proper details in... nor would i have been able to hollow out under the rabbits forelegs or anything. Got it off some chap who was upgrading, indebted to him When i get back form the states lets organis a meet to carve and bleather?

Ok, a piece i did recently. Poplar tree that was damaged in high winds last year and brought down to leave a stump 6 foot high. I had planed for a much smaller stump so had to kind of make it up as i went along. Poplar is v strange to carve, its like willow. Carves easy but 'burs' up very easily when cutting across the grain. I made the owl sleeping (hence 'sleepy' the owl) and the rabbit standing on his hind legs (hence rampant) hiding round the back. The flower/leaves/grass stalks at the front are all carved proud of the trunk but i left the actual flower-head attached at one point just to give some stability (i dont think poplar has much strength). Photo taken on my phone so not great resolution

Assuming you have some experience using a chainsaw (natch) and you have the PPE (natch again) then make sure the chain is loose (like... you can pull it up to a cm away from the bar at the bottom...scares me sometimes), pour in some good oil and have a bash. I started with mushrooms and worked up from there. try to think in 'boxes' so you try to cut the 'general' shape as boxes or tubes (simple cuts) and then from there bring some detail into the piece. I dont find this part very easy, i tend to start trying to get details too easy into the carve and suddenly find i have only done a part of the piece and have to back-track but its a good habbit to get into. mainly just take it slow and make several shallow cuts insted of one deep one to try to avoid cutting too much off hope you enjoy it. i found it completely addictive and now spend hours every day i can carving oh...the tip of carving bars get very very very hot... i didn't believe Tom when he told me, i touched it... it hurt

great editing of the shots but... those huge trees just being fed into a chipper? That cant be right!

I guess art is in teh eye of the beholder. Personally i think jackson pollock was an eeejit but many liked his work. same goes for this 'art'. I think the first one could be carved from sycamore and is a styalised sycamore seed. could be. could easily be a musical note or just some 'bits 'o wood' The rest of it.... I'm not a fan, the upside-down trees that look a bit like people (or Tree-Ents if you like the lord of the rings stuff) are quite a clever demonstration of an ability to cut branches at EXACTLY the right length but that's about it. mind you.... i also think most 'modern' music is rubbish and a good steak pie beats just about anything that Heston Bloominidiot could cook, so maybe my tastes don't always align with Mr Nash

I have done a lot of tree-work for my father, including eucalyptus removal. Back in the 90s they were popular and he planted a load. Shallow roots + wind in north wales = trees lean then fall and stumps need removing. The best way i found was an axe, a bow-saw, a splitting wedge (use a cold chisel if you dont have one) and a lot of sweat/swearing. The improvement on this i used last year was to pay my nephew (then 15) to do the donkey work. Once it was in small-ish pieces i put it on a bonfire. Good luck with it but using a chainsaw for this is not going to end well. If yo absolutely MUST use a chainsaw hire yourself a powerwasher (or loan one) and start washing. get ALL the soil and stones of the roots and then get sawing. Its messy but will at least make it possible (if not really advisable) Good luck