dervishcarving

you going in the right direction reference photographs as you go along help. straight lines tend to not happen in nature how you going your eyes?

Yeah, Id go with them Mike, looks like Elm to me

one of the worlds best carvers is based in Wrexham. Simon James O'rouke. he on facebook

the only speed control on my personal lathe is how fast i pump the pole-cord

We have done some timber framing with Douglas fir... excellent results. very little movement and the pink heartwood is v pretty

Si has good advice there, try village fetes or shows to get used to carving to a deadline and with people watching. also how to organise your kit and not forget stuff (which i still do). the big shows are incredibly hard to get tinto, I know Carve Carrbridge and Woodfest wales are always massively over surbscribed and the limited spaces make it difficult for a complete novice (at shows/competitions i mean, not as a carver) to get a space. Carrbridge does keep a couple of spaces back for beginners but they do want to see your portfolio first. Its also worth going along to watch a competition first as well. I watched carrbridge my first year and learnt a lot just from watching. Made my first year of carving a little less daunting

couriers probably wont take saws either or they would charge a fortune. best to drive. not a bad deal if you want a holiday in Italy. lovely place

No copyrights for art mate, certainly not for this stuff. I know as soon as i put a new design of chainsaw-carved art on't tinternet it will probably be copied these, however, i think are now considered pretty universal. I have made maybe 10 this year, all sold within minutes. I have been asked to make more but to be honest i just cant be bothered. I see some people sell them for £20 each.... and they sell fast! maybe i should charge more but pfffff

biscuits? dog bones? Dont you guys realise my dog reads this forum and he is now looking at me and asking for a biscuit... or a bone... He also asked me to ask if anyone knows where i might find a biscuit joiner at reasonable price?

lidle have some grinders in today. 20 pounds so i figured i would give it a go. seems ok-ish. wort the money anyway. sharpened up a bowl gouge quite well

what do you mean by drill the pith steve?

feel free to put me on the list

Evening chaps A friend of mine does a fair bit of timber-framing but cuts all mortises etc by hand. He is looking into maybe getting a chain morticer to speed things up a bit but the new-price is high. Does anyone have a second hand one they might want to part with? if so, let me know and I will pass it on. cheers

lovely work Si, all of the team doing great.

thats why i dont tend top paint. they cam look like cheep tacky painted plastic

about the only ones i paint are ones for kids.. like gruffalos like this

you done goon Tommy!

nope, i always have a large wound dressing in my back pocket. Is sensible abvice

just make sure you have a large wound-dressing in your pocket.

great work

tried them out yet?

my fave detail saw is the ms180 every time. light, enough power for what you need and so cheep its almost disposable

Like it.... i dont do many owls now, bored of them BUT, this one.. like but...face good, proportions good, now you need to work on the feet (proportions right but that one is cut too deep close to the body, try sepparating the two feet, the tallons dont tend to be so much 'in line') when an owl is resting in that kind of pose te feathers of the brest tend to cover the ankle and so you are only seeing the 'toes'... look at some images and see if you can mimic them, tough with saw-only though, i use grinders for them now.), you have a bulge on either side of brestbone (or keel in birds) which is a little too big...gives a nice effect (mirrors teh heart face shape) but maybe too big.... then it sjust smoothing and feather detail mate. feathers you will find your way. i think we all have our own ways of doing them. try to avoid flat-heads on birds, and try to emphasise the wings abit, at the shoulder (which isnt actualy the shoulder but the top front edge taht looks like it must be the shoulder) and then the primary feathers (flight feathers) which become vissible from about 1/3 way down the folded wing. simple fact is though, if they sell, people like them. my comments are intended to be constructive so please take them that way. i do this to myself every time i finish a piece.. i go over it and pick apart each thing that coul dbe better next time.

splendid work

thats where i got mine from