[Just Carving]

Here are some pins that I made and finally got around to painting.

To give you a reference to the sizes, the teddy bear is 3 3/4" tall by 3" wide.

Hope you all had a H-appy Valentine's Day!

Bob L

[gene messer]

Only one word for those Bob .. CUTE ! .. CUTE!... CUTE!...

great job ..

Gene

[Blake Lunsford]

Very nice Bob! Those would make a nice valentine's day gift for anyone!

Blake

[Lightningbolt]

Those look great with such vibrant, bright Valentine colors. I like the teddy bear and the butterflies which I hadn't thought of yet. I always have the kids in my class carve valentine pins each year at this time and they're always a big hit. Thanks for posting and giving us a few new ideas.

[Marci MN]

Good job! I like them all! What do you use for glue to hold the pin back on?

[Just Carving]

Hi All!

Thanks for the wonderful compliments!

Dave, the butterflies are easy. I'll carve the profile out of a piece of 3/4 inches thick--box store wood works good--and do the relief carving on the top. Then I slice the wood in half through the 3/4 inch thickness, and then do the second one. You can carve them in just about any wood.

Relief carving is 5-6 steps:
1)making a stop cut on either side of the body
2)carve from the outer sides into the relief cut
3)make a stop cut at the division of the top and bottom wings
4) carve from the top and the bottom to the stop cut--the wings should have rounded surfaces
5)then outline the body, and round the tops to the wings
6)as an alternate, flip the butterfly over and thin down the wings to the body--can be straight or arced. Leave the width of the body flat so you can glue the pin on. If you'd rather have a magnet, leave the bottom flat for a better gluing surface.

I have left the pins natural and coated them with Min-Wax Poly Wipe-on (Satin and gloss) and Gloss Rustoleum Lacquer spray. I've sealed them and painted them with cheap acrylics (Crayola paints found in the Stationary goods section of the foodstore) and the craft store acrylics, and also used Min-Wax Poly Wipe and Gloss Rustoleum Lacquer spray on top of the paint. I'm not so thrilled with the results of the sealing part--I may skip that from now on, and just paint.

I've carved different sizes. Root around the Internet for a photo of a butterfly that you like and has an interesting shape, print and/or reduce it--usually I shoot for about an 1 1/2 inch high and/or about 2 inches wide. I've made them bigger, but I think the sizes listed are good for pins.

Marci, I use two part Super Epoxy for $5-6 that I get from the hardware store--could probably get it for cheaper at Walmart if it was closer. You'll recognize it by the double plunger syringe that it comes in. So, far it's worked good, with no trouble. BTW--I use the same epoxy for gluing my Flexcut RG tools and homemade knives and tools in handles. So far, after a year or so of doing this, I've had no trouble. I squirt out about a 1/2" strip of the two components--mix it until it changes color to a milky white. Use a stick to thickly (about a quarter's to a nickel's thickness) butter it to the pinback. Make sure the pinback is right side up (I've made a few upside down pins already!). Place it on the butterfly so it's centered and straight, and make sure the epoxy oozes out through the holes on the pinback and around the edges--sort of like making a seat around the pinback. Let it sit overnight.

Hope that helps--any questions, shoot!

My dream is to make enough of these to go all over--I like to call them Butterflies of Hope/Happiness. I started carving them since my sister-in-law loves butterflies--she's a stroke victim in a wheelchair, slowly making progress in rehab. And she loves to wear pins. The teddy bear pin is a new one I borrowed from a Christmas ornament that I got from one of the websites listed in the source list for patterns I put together a while back. I'm a softie for teddy bears!

I've included a couple more pictures. The next up and coming thing is green butterflies with shamrocks--you can see one in the photo.

Enjoy!

Bob L

[Kenny_S]

Nice pieces Bob L. Suggestion, paint the backsides also. The epoxy will work on painted backs also.

[Lightningbolt]

I thought that I'd add a few more comments about my experiences attaching the pin. I've always used "E-6000 Craft Adhesive" which comes in a 2 oz. tube from the craft department at Wal-Mart for 5 or 6 dollars. There's enough in those 2 ounces to secure hundreds of pins and there's no mixing involved.

When I first started using this stuff several years ago there were a few pins that just fell off so I then began to lightly sand the rear side of each pin on the belt sander roughing up that shinny chrome finish. I've never had even one to come off since and if I do have to remove one after curing, then it will always rip a sizeable amount of wood with it.

All of the kids have a personalized canvas awards banner in our dining hall at camp where I make various skill awards pins for their scouting achievements so I make up approximately 60-75 pins about every 5 weeks... and then comes the time for making those wonderful valentine pins. Anyhow, that's what works for me.

Bob: Thank's for those additional pictures. I'm just gonna have to make one of those butterflies!

[Marci MN]

Thank you Bob for the explanation on the glue. I've never messed with epoxy but my husband does have some he says.

When you say you want them to 'go all over' are you planning on selling them?

[Just Carving]

Actually, I thought about that, but I'd probably get more satisfaction in giving them to people I know. I'm not much on marketing and selling.

Bob L