[sludgeguy]

Hello

Was wondering how you did the dirt that your Texas Skip is standing on and what do you use to tie all the bases together?
I really like the way it makes the carving stand up on the and away from the table.

Thanks,
Doug

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Doug......Just check out the projects on my Blog. The horse, the cook I think they all outline how I do it. Let me know if you can't find what you're looking for.

[sludgeguy]

I did look through the blog but I still didn't find how you actually fasten it all together. Do you glue or screw the different layers of base together? Like the grass area to the finished walnut bottom? I was wanting to use wood glue but there really isn't a good way to clamp it, I'd hate to run a screw in it and I'm not sure a dowel would line up...superglue?

Thanks Lynn, sorry I realize I'm taking your knowledge for granted, but I figure you have a system that works why reinvent the wheel.

Thanks so much for the blog and for coming back here to help us all out!
Doug

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Okay, This is the way I do it. Depending on the carving, I make an initial base cutout from a piece of 1/8" paneling. I whittle off the edge to give the Bondo a good surface to hold on to. Next I make another base out of 1/2" basswood about 1/2" larger than the panel piece. I sand it up nice and pretty then whittle off the upper edge. Varnish it a couple coats of poly. For the final base I use a piece of Oak or Walnut and make this one large enough to accommodate a routed edge. This is stained dark and then given a couple coats of Deft.

So, now we have a three layer stack. To scenic the panel piece I first position my carving so I can predrill the mounting holes for the dowels from the figure. Once thats done I mix up a dollop of Bondo and ice the panel. Just after it sets but not too soft and not too hard I peal off the paper and whittle off the outer edge of the bondo down to about 1/32" away from the edge of the panel.

Once the bondo is really hard I lay out another piece of newspaper and paint the bondoed piece with a heavy layer of ModPodge acrylic medium. I take my can of very small gravel, don't use sand or dirt, and totally cover the piece. Then I go wash my brush. Now I slowly pull the paper off the bench so I can get my fingers under the panel as it comes off the edge of the table. I carefully tip it on its side and tap off the excess gravel. Now I give it a light spray with soapy water and set it aside to dry. The following day I paint it, and redrill the holes.

Now for assembly. If you look at your carving you'll see areas where you can hide a few nails under feet, hooves, etc. I position the panel over the basswood and nail it into place. Depending on how big the larger base is I drill 2, 3 or 4 holes for screws which will go up through the hardwood base into the basswood being careful not to let them go up into a dowel that will be coming down from above. I screw the basswood base to the bigger one.

Now I redrill my dowel holes so they extend down into the basswood and hardwood bases. With my carving all painted, varnished and ready to mount I glue in the dowels to the carving and then glue the dowels to the base.

I hope this helps you understand my system. It might sound involved but after you've done it a couple of times it becomes quite easy. ALso, as each carving you do will be different from the last one you might have to adjust these methods a bit. The Texas Skip piece I'm working on now utilizes the same 3 base method but everything is held together with a 3/8" metal allthread which is run up the leg of the character.

[sludgeguy]

That's what I was looking for, I hadn't thought of hiding fastners under the figure's feet.
Thank you so much!
You're an inspiration and a true gentleman!
Doug