[Raparee]

Hi all.
Up until now, my limited experience in carving has been confined to producing Santas and gnomes and woodspirits. I recently carved a stylized fox based on a pattern I found in an old book from the library. I whittled the simple fox out of honduran mahogany, sanded it (gasp) to a very smooth finish, then treated it with blo and paste wax. The colour and grain came through beautifully. The colour reminded me of the colour of a breed of horses that my father raises, so I thought I'd carve a stylized horse for him out of the same wood. A few questions popped into my head:

1. If I carve the horse with appropriately sized legs, I'll have to worry about breakage... if I carve the legs thicker, the carving will look more like a draft horse... if I carve it with the grain following the direction of the legs, I'll have to worry about the tail breaking. Is there a way to reinforce the legs without carving them thicker [ie: superglue]? Would superglue interfere with the finish?
2. I'm hoping to adhere the carving to a base of another type of wood, and given the pattern that I have in mind, I won't be able to use screws. Is there a preferred glue that is effective on wood treated with oil?
3. The mahogany that I get is scrap ends that the store sells out of a barrel at the front of the store, and most pieces are to thin for what I have in mind. How would I go about laminating a couple pieces together to create an appropriately sized piece?

I really want to make this thing for my father, but am starting to think that the idea is beyond my skills. Any advice or direction would be appreciated.

Tim Connolly
Prince George, BC

[Mitchell]

I can't begin to answer all your questions.....but I'll "suggest" that you try to design the pattern to take the grain into consideration. In other words, try not to have the tail perpendicular to the legs. I'd definitely have the grain in the direction of the legs = there's 4 of them and 1 tail......

Superglue is an option, but WILL effect the finish, try a test piece first.

Try to keep some type of support between the fragile parts (don't remove all the wood) until the last few steps and then remove them when everything else is finished.

Someone else will help with the glue options - hopefully.

[Lindy]

Hi Tim,

Honduran Mahogany is one of my favourite woods. I would recommend that you buy a piece of that will fit to your pattern rather than trying to laminate as the glue in the lamination process will also effect the finish. Work with the grain running up and down as this will give the most strength to the legs. For the tail, depending on how you're going to have it laying can be worked with a dremel. No matter what you're going to have to work the legs and tail last and very, very gently by only taking small amounts of wood off at a time.

When complete you can use regular wood glue, (I use Elmer's) to glue to the stand you have in mind.

Check with Windsor Plywood for your wood (3670 Opie Crescent ), I have found mahogany there.

Good luck and when do we get to see the stylized fox?

[Hugh]

I couldn't improve on the very good advice already given, but a couple things you might consider, is making the carving large enough that the legs will be stronger. also before you actually carve the legs, but have the legs roughed out, drill them from the bottom, right up through to the body, drill the hole just slightly larger than the wire , insert a stiff piece of wire, a nail for example (cover the nail with glue when you put it in) if the carving is small. Power carve the legs, with a slow cutting bit that won't chatter. I do this with a hummingbird bill, only I leave the nail or wire sticking out to mount the bird on the flower.

Try this on a piece of scrap wood, drilling and putting the wire in, until you get the fit down, then drill your carving.

[squbrigg]

Good suggestions all....and not sure if I'm repeating any (sorry, things take a while to sink in these days). Perhaps you could consider forming the horse from pieces of Mahogany, rather than one single piece, ie: body one, legs seperate, neck and head, and then tail. Blend the joints during carving, Hugh is right ..... power carving would probably be best , though you could get good shaping of the legs with knives if you're careful. The maine would flow wonderfully from the neck and you could also carve and add the ears seperately. Think of how they carve carosel horses.....I've seen some of those before being carved, parts all fit together.

Good luck with it, we'd love to see the finished product...hint, hint!

Bob

[arbarnhart]

I am not that an accomplished carver and my answer is part question...

Is it considered "improper" to carve the tail separately and then attach it?

I have done a fair amount of scroll saw and band saw work and some 3D patterns like gators have instructions to cut out the legs separately, drill holes in the body and attach them. There are two reasons to do that. One is the breakage issue being discussed and the other is stock efficiency. You can cut a gator body out of a 2"x2" board 1' long and get the legs out of the off cuts from the body. If this is done with a proper sized bit and a dowel plane that matches, the glue joint is pretty much invisible.

BTW, one of the things that got me interested in carving was contouring segmentation projects (like the one linked to below) so I am coming from a world where it's okay to cut up wood and stick it back together, but I understand that is "just not so" for many carvers.

-Andy

Segmentation example (not really all that relevant):
http://home.nc.rr.com/abhobby/images/horsehead.jpg

[squbrigg]

Carving the tail seperately is not considered improper at all. There are no "rules" to carving! It's about being creative and enjoying what you do. As you advance in skill, you may change things and do things differently, but for now, just create and enjoy. There is a learning curve to any skill and carving is a skill. Practice, practice, practice.

Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

design the tail so it comes around and is touching one of the legs, that will give it support....being mounted on a base should give the whole thing support....

[don]

Bird and fish carvers often carve delicate feathers and fins seperately and glue them in. Unless this is for a competition with rules against it Gluing on the tail sounds like a good idea to me. I've had help from Elmer putting fingers and noses back on more than one carving.

[Raparee]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I've been to Windsor Plywood... it's where I usually get my basswood. I love that store. I can spend hours looking at the various exotic woods. I haven't seen any Honduran mahogany there that is large enough for what I have in mind, so I think I'll carve the horse in pieces. I think it's a technique that's beyond my skills at the moment, but I suppose that a carver will never improve if they don't challenge themselves and push their boundaries.

Thanks again for the advice. Maybe Santa will bring me a digital camera this Christmas so I'll be able to show you all how the project progresses.

Merry Christmas!