An Egg Head.

[Rook]

Or would the term egg face be better?

Oh well. I was in my shop last night and I came across an old wooden egg. I'd bought it a couple years ago with intention of somehow mounting it in my wood lathe, hollowing it out, and hiding it as a 'special' easter egg. That plan sorta died when I couldn't figure out how to mount it without marring it up. It went into my 'catch all' tool box where items of interest, but no immediate application, are stored until I think of something to do with them.

I got the idea. I, possessing the tools and some intelligence, could carve that wooden egg! Make a face on it, if it turned out well, I could get several and make a family of eggheads.

It didn't turn out well. For a start, I'm not yet comfortable with the tools. I worry more about my own blood and keeping it in my body rather than other things more pertinent to carving. I tend to have a hard time controlling the tool like I want to. Practice will help I'm sure. I found myself underestimating the depth of stop cuts for some reason. Also, around and in the eyes, the fibers wouldn't shear clean, even after a touchup and hone on my tools. Just the multi-directional grain didn't like me.

The other more significant problem is, it was like using a plastic disposable knife to carve a brick. Very hard wood. No smell while carving, nor did it have any notable characteristics other than the grain directionality which was unforgiving. (I'm thinking Pine of some kind, but I've never seen pine this hard. It'd kill a chainsaw.)

Here's the end result. As you can see, it's just awful. I give myself a C- because I can still very clearly see a number of obvious mistakes, and it's not clean enough to be what I expect. I'd give it a failing grade if it were worse at all, being able to recognize it as a face is worth something. Relief is much shallower than I had intended. If the wood were as soft as red cedar, shucks, I might have rounded off the lower narrow end and made the head more rounded with hair all around.

Egg head 004.jpg

I'd like to thank you all for bearing with my wordiness, and for getting me fired up to carve since last night reading in the forum. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for looking. (Oh, and I will get better, I promise!)

[uvawyo]

Rook, I wouldn't call that egg ead awful, it is really a very good ealy carving keep it to see how you improve as you become more and more addicted to carving
Get a good carving knife, a glove and a thumb protector
Good work on the egg
Happy father's day!

[papasar]

For a beginner the carving is pretty good. I can tell its Abe Lincoln right away.LOL. Your non-carving friends will be amazed. Relax and enjoy the journey. Might make it easier if you spray the piece with 50/50 water/alcohol
mixture while carving.
Bill K.

[carver33]

Rook,

That's not bad at all for a first effort. The only thing I can add is that you need to be sure that your tools are sharp.

I don't know what your skill level is with sharpening is, but with sharp tools, you can carve just about anything. I've had new carvers in our club carving with what they thought was a sharp tool, but were totally amazed when I showed them what sharp really is.

If you're not comfortable with sharpening, or sure what sharp really is, you might try sending a tool or two to Little Shavers for sharpening; or if you have a carving club near by, talk to some of the experienced carvers. I'm sure that they would be willing to help.

[brent]

Looks better than my first head. Egg is probably maple.....SHARP tools a necessity.
Try to get some basswood or tupelo.
Don't give up...keep on trying and you will see improvements as you go.
Don't be afraid to "try" something new, if a mistake happens, you have two choices.......carve it out of the piece or, change the idea behind the carving...no one needs to know there was ever a mistake unless you want them to know.
Good luck!

[brent]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention......if you are concerned about cutting yourself ( believe me, it does and will happen), take a gander at Lynn Doughty's videoes and look at his fingers. Nuff said on blood.

[Mr. Chips]

Mighty fine first carving, Rook.
Just keep in mind the next carving will be better. You will learn from each carving you do.
Like Herb said, wear a carving glove.
There are two types of carvers. Those that have cut themselves, and those that are going to.

Randy

[Bill Anderson]

Its better than you think." each one is practice for the next" you will be very surprized at how fast you'll progress. they are right it takes sharp tools... woodcarver sharp is diffrent than around the house sharp.

[SlowMover]

It is a great firt carving. All the essentials are there. two eyes, one nose..just kidding...it really shows promise. Have you gotten any books to study from? That is a big help to me, videos are great, but I can stare at a page or a photo for longer and get a perspectie a video doesn't show. The videos are good for a dynamic process, they show things the books don't. I reccomend books by Pete Leclair and Jack Price as great for beginners..remember to practice and improvement will come.

[Timberwolf]

Rook,

I think you may be a tad hard on yourself.

You took an extremely hard chunk of wood, mustered up some tools and a very good carving for your first time out.

I see symmetry, I see natural talent.