Making copies of my carvings

[Bob De.]

Getting to a point where I would like to make copies of my carvings (decoys). Would anyone have any ideas were to start Question

[BrandantR]

Well, I would start by picking up a piece of wood Wink. Sorry for the smart remark. There are various duplicator machines out there but they are quite expensive. Unless you plan on producing a lot of the same carving it's probably not worth the expense. I would say just sharpen your tools and start making chips. Love your avatar by the way. That little Pixar short was hilarious.

[Mitchell]

What EXACTLY do you mean by "copies"?

[Bob De.]

Mitchell, I have seen copies of others carvings in some type of resin. I enjoy all the aspects of carving and would not want to skip any step. I put a lot of detail into my carvings and find it hard to recoup enough cash to keep up with my hobby. Also I find it hard to sell them for what I believe they are worth. At the current time I’m carving 3 pair of Northern Shovelers and would like to make copies of the best pair, like a mold were I can make resin copies of the original, and sell them for less or sell to people who are unable/unwilling to pay for an original wood carving.

[Bob De.]

Brandant, Thanks, I found my avater by searching the web (free avater) saved to my computer and then transferred to here. There’s a lot of cool avaters on the web for free.

[Mitchell]

"I put a lot of detail into my carvings and find it hard to recoup enough cash to keep up with my hobby. Also I find it hard to sell them for what I believe they are worth."

I can understand that.....

I'm not familar with molding, but see that as a way to market your art. Tom Clarke has made a nice living at it (I know his originals were not carved).

You may be able to find something on the 'net about resin casting, and/or someone here may have some experience. You'll get some responses.

You could do the duplicating idea Brandant suggested - either yourself or pay someone else to do it. Carvers often refer to these as "rough outs". For birds, it may be a bit pricy due to the size. That way you would still have to do a bit of work to get the finished piece, but the technology today can pretty much match the original very closely.

Edit to add: Did a quick search here and did find some stuff on casting -> cast your piece

casting- vacuum chember

Resin Castings

[Bob De.]

Great advice, Thanks Mitchell! I will check that out. I guess were all pretty much in the same boat, most people who don’t carve do not realize what goes in a carving.Cheers
Thanks for the resin casting link. I will check this out.

[mark yundt]

I did a fairly long post on doing castings not too long ago. They were 8 + 10 ft long drops as well as 4 three foot swags. I also made casts for 150 pieces for a canopy in a church as well as 20 capitals.It's not a very difficult process,,ducks would be quite easy.I'm planning on pulling casts from my lifesize crucifix,,SOMEday.I had a carving supplier that had casts of most of the popular birds done by the name carvers. I'm sure they made a few dollars selling these study pieces as well as the 20 or so study bills I personally own.

I also have a duplicator. They can do a fairly decent copy,,but there is still alot of carving to do to clean them up.Roughing out a duck takes a few hours it's the detail that takes time,,and that's where a duplicator leaves you.

[Bob De.]

Sorry, I missed your posting on doing casting. I work for a Catholic church and would like to tell you; how grand your carving of your life-size crucifix is, this is a must see for all.

[Mitchell]

Mark's was the first that I had linked on my list ("cast your piece")!