[kitaye]

I do most of my carving while sitting in the recliner with the boob tube on in the background. It's comfortable, good light, and lastly the cats can still sit on my lap. All of my carvings, so far, have been pretty easily held in my hand.

Yesterday I was looking around for a pen and I realized I had at least 6 carvings in various stages of carving or finishing. Each is a different style and completely different subjects. I tend to work on one till I reach a dead end or my hands cramp up then I work on another. It gives my eyes,hands, and head a break.

Regardless, it got me to wondering about other carvers modus operandi. I thought it might make a good discussion thread.

Where do you do most of your carving- workshop, yard, den, porch, studio, bathroom, or somewhere I haven't thought of? Do you work on one carving from start to finish until it is done? Do you have many, and how many, on the go? Are they all the same style and/ or subject?

[susieq]

Hi Kitaye,
I carve in my shope only any more because I am mainly a power carver now. Back when I did mainly use gouges, I had a work space in the house, the old bedroom of our youngest daughter who had married and lived in another state. I had a carving table set up, a stereo to listen to my favorite music and could work until the wee hours of the morning....often did.

My shop is not attached to the house. It has nearly all the comforts of home....tv, stereo, airconditioning (a must have here in Florida) and all of my tools, dust collector, etc...

I carve only Father Christmas figures and usually work one piece to the end before starting another, with a few exceptions. Couldn't get the santa on the pig finished in time for the state fair this year so put it aside to work on a commission piece. I also have two pieces started that are for me, which means they will probably never be completed....
susieq

[Tom H]

I carve just about everywhere. Spring and fall (when it's cooler) I carve on a porch swing, outside my shop. When it's real hot and humid I carve in an air conditioned extra upstairs bedroom, where my computer is. When I clean my shop, I sometimes carve there too. When I am at the doctors office I carve in the waiting room. I even carve in the van and the car, but not while driving.

I have so little patience that I try to finish one carving before I start another. But what I generally carve is completed within one hour. One can easily tell that buy looking at my carvings. Experience tells me that if I put a carving down without finishing it, I may never get it done. Wife thinks I have adult deficit disorder.....

Tom H

[mark yundt]

I have a dedicated shop,,,,but hearing how you do it,,sounds a bit nicer than what I go through. At times my cat actually comes up and sits on my carving,,only 'cause she wants attention,,but that's about it.

Jeez...a recliner,,a TV a cat,,,make a note to myself to look into this type of setup...just might work

[Joy]

I have about 1/3 of my bedroom confiscated for carving. I usually listen to the stereo while carving (loud enough to keep the dog, hubby, and Mother away ). I generally carve on only one piece at a time until I get to the finish stage. Then I start the planning stage for the next piece (which has been stewing in the back of my mind for weeks). I try to carve every day for a least a few hours.....but since it is "only" a hobby... sometimes life interferes. I also have a walking cane that I carry with me in the car to carve on while I "wait".

When I first started I carved in a recliner, but as the pieces got bigger and I started doing some relief carving I moved to the work table to carve.

[jamesfa]

I usually have several projects on the go at anyone time,if you happened to notice my posting in works in process awhile ago,i had 4caricatures,and an eaglecane in progress.
why? because i do most of the painting at one time.
as a RV'r for the last 10 yrs the painting is done at home when i'm there.
I don't have a dedicated area for carving except for a small spot in the garage(definitly not allowed to carve inside),but i do have our carving group at the senior center.

Frank

[Jim OH]

I work on an old oak desk in a converted dining room. I limit my distractions as much as possible as I tend to have accidents with my tools when I am not giving the carving my full attention. No music, no TV, no pets, no food. Good grief, I sound like a hermit. LOL I work on one carving at a time and wait until I have several done before I break out the dreaded paint ;O) and then I only paint one at a time as I find I will invaribly forget to paint something on one if I try to paint several at once.
Jim OH

[Gergie]

I carve in my garage in the summer and in my little shop (affectionately called my little dungeon) in the winter. If I'm doing knife work I will set at the dining room table and visit.

Also in the summer the shade tree and lawn chair works real well.

[Woodartist]

Hope I'm not changing the direction of this thread, but it appears that some of you use a laptop carving box. Being a newbie, I'm interested in what designs are the most feasible???

[Mitchell]

Bill,

I actually use a pillow case to catch my chips when carving outside of my shop.... It's held open with a large needlepoint type hoop.

Back to topic - I carve in my shop in the basement about half the time. The other half is done from a recliner in fromt of the tv (to be able to spend time with the Mrs.).

I have MANY carvings in process; working on whatever hits my fancy at the time. They can be very varied from 12" santas, to ornaments, to miniatures, to relief "nature" scenes.

They get thrown around until I feel that they are complete - washed - and then thrown into a box to wait on painting......sometimes for months.....sometimes to never get painted.....