[Dundee]

This is my first carving. I used Maple, it was only 1 dollar more than Poplar. I'm using Chris Pye's book Relief Carving In Wood: A Practical Introduction.



Chris

[gene messer]

Good job Dundee .. Good looking carving for your first ...

Keep up the good work .. your doing great ..

Gene

[Tom H]

Hey! that's neat Dundee. You were brave using maple for the first one. That stuff is way to jard for me....Good job. Nice clean cuts. Tom H

[Donna_T]

Chris,
Great first project, but wow...what a hard wood to start your carving experience with!!! I tried maple once. Never again without using power. But, on the good side, maple finishes well.

Try some basswood next if you can get it. You'll be amazed at the ease with which it carves.

Thanks for sharing your first project.
Donna T

[chuckt]

Hey Dundee - Nice Job! Looks great. My wife and I are each just about to start that project from Chris' book this weekend. I like the way the Maple turned out, but I think we'll try Basswood first since that's what I have on hand. Did you find the maple difficult to work on for this? Did you use a mallet or just hands? How think was your piece - can't tell from the pic. Chris indicates in the book that he used 2" thick stock (I think) but that seems wasteful to me, so I think we'll just use 3/4" for the shallow relief project.

Anyway - GREAT JOB!

ChuckT

[Dundee]

I used a mallet when lining in and to remove the bulk of the wood during initial grounding. I could not have done the grounding by hand. The rest of it was just by hand. It was harder than the pine I used to do the practice cuts. I should have made the fish bigger so I would have less ground to do. That took me a long time. it would have been much quicker with a soft wood. The basswood I have on hand is more suited to carving in the round so I'm saving that. I just bought a 1x8x24 board which I cut in two so I can do another low relief carving. I will buy a 2" basswood board for the high relief carving. I just bought the maple cause it looked nicer than the poplar and was about the same price.

Chris

[chuckt]

Well - I think you made a great choice. It looks really nice! In fact, when I am out today at the Home Center - I may take a look for a piece too. Keep up the great work. I'll post mine when done.

!
ChuckT

[GeorgiaCarver]

You-all are troupers! Maple is a tough wood although it finishes great.

Nice job on the carving, good clean cuts for sure. Thanks for sharing.

Greg

[Thor]

That sure beats any of my first "carving's'". I'm a fan of Chris Pye and his books as well. Please continue to post pictures of your carvings. You are off to a terrific start.
Thor

[Joy]

Great first carving! And now the journey begins! Have fun