[William]

Hi All,

Do any of you know where I can find a chain (metal or plastic) for a carving I'm working on? I'm Googled out looking for one the right size.

This picture is from the original marble sculpture I'm trying to reproduce in wood and I would like to have the chain match as close as possible. Ian Norbury said when he reproduced this sculpture in wood the chain was one of the hardest things he had done so I'm not even going to try to carve it, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bill
^v^

[Tom H]

Bill, If you cannot find exactly what you want, make tour own chain. Just find a piece of material that is the same diameter as you want the "holes" in the chain links to be. Obtain the wire to make the chain links, and wrap it around the piece of material. After makin a bunch of wraps cut the individual links apart and fashion them into a chain. Better than store bought and you made it yourself......Tom H

[William]

Thanks Tom, I like the idea of a template to keep all of the links uniform.

Small electrical wire might work but it would have to be flattened out and each link soldered, is that how you would do it? I will need 30 links and the two wrist bands.

Bill
^v^

[Thomp]

try beading wire some is flat on one side,
wrap on mandrel like tom said,
cut leingths then use alligator clip to hold them and solder 1/2 of the total links up then join 2 links with one unsoldered and close it the chain will go to gather like gang busters after that...

[AlArchie]

William, check model making shops inyour area...I've seen scale chain for Model RR and shipbuilding fans in a few around the country. Comes in several scale sizes. Another source would be jewelry making suppliers, but those will most likely be silver or gold chains. You might find some stainless steel ones there, though.

Here's a link to a model ship shop that has some various size small chains.
http://naturecoast.com/hobby/hfit1.htm

Bob Squbrigg might have some contacts for this stuff, too

Al

[Lynn O. Doughty]

AlArchie has good advice. Being a model railroad fan you can find all sorts of detail material in one of the big catalogs. I think Walthers is the best source. Just google model railroad catalogs and you'll find it. Here it is....www.walthers.com

Also, I always go to WalMart first! A trip to the women's jewelry section necklece department will yield loads of different size chains. I just bought one which had loads of babbles on it but I just snip them off and I have a really nice scale chain that I use as Curb Chains on my horse bits! Old Sam Walton......That guy thought of everything!

[William]

I found the beading wire Thomas and if I have to make the chain that's what I'll use, it will work much better than just wire. Thanks

Al and Lynn, Thanks for the links guys, I found a few that look like the one in the photo.
It's funny but I found a charm bracelet (without the charms) that was just the right size and had 30 links but it would need some reshaping. I know there are links to small accessories in my computer but sometimes it's easier to do a new search than it is to find them.lol.

Thanks again for all your help guys

Bill
^v^

ps; who invented the phrase "Rush-Job" ? sometimes work really gets in the way of my carving .....rats!

[Thomp]

william,
they got some wire thats so bright white silver it looks fake, i dont know what it is but i would check with a sales person if there is some special concocuion that it takes to solder or weld it'''

[William]

This project is turning into a real challenge and I think it's going to take a long time off and on to complete. I bought Ian Norbury's books "Carving Classic Female Faces" and "Carving Classic Female Figures" to help me reproduce "The Greek Slave" by Hiram Powers. I really wanted reproduce this sculpture in a natural wood finish because all of the picture's I've found are completely white like the original life size marble sculpture but I made a few mistakes and had to use quickwood filler so I will have to use paint. I have the girl roughed out (5" x 13") and was working on the detail when I broke two fingers off of the left hand because the grain made them very fragile so I am carving a new hand out of "Blue and Yellow" epoxy putty bar and one out of oak but I'm not sure which one will be used. I made a clay model first so I could make a pattern from the pictures but due to the lack of reference pictures of the original sculpture I'm having to fill in some areas using Ian's books.

Hiram Powers (1805-1873) was born in Woodstock Vermont but lived in Ohio and Washington DC before moving to Florence 1837, He produced the first of six "Greek Slave" sculpture's in 1843 which at once gave him a place among the leading sculptors of his time.
It was exhibited at the centre of the Crystal Palace Exhibition and Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote a sonnet on it. The sculpture The Greek Slave became an abolitionist cause and copies of it appeared in many Union-supporting state houses.

The Greek Slave was the single most celebrated work of sculpture in nineteenth-century America. Its pose—inspired by the well-known Medici Venus—represents a Christian girl captured by the Turks during the Greek War of Independence, for sale in the slave market of Constantinople. The first nude statue by an American artist, it provoked both ecstatic praise and puritanical concern when first exhibited in the United States. Its combination of noble sentiment and unprecedented nudity challenged conventional notions of "decency" in high art. Overnight, the expatriate Powers became one of the most famous sculptors of his day. By proving that ideal nudity could be used as a symbol of virtuousness, Powers opened the way for the depiction of the female nude by other American sculptors. The Greek Slave inspired an outpouring of prose and poetry and became an anti-slavery symbol for abolitionists.

Bill
^v^
edit to add;
I blocked out some of the photos I posted because I was not sure how a nude would be accepted here although the original sculpture was very mild as far as nudes go, I think Hiram Powers tried to focus on the theme.
These pictures are of the original marble sculptures (but not the same one), I can't find a picture from the right side or the back of her legs, anyone know where I can find more pictures?

[Clifford_Parker]

Whittling chains is easy with just a little practice and a good tutorial. For a book reference I use E.J. Tangerman's "Whittling and Woodcarving" and for web I use http://www.carvingpatterns.com/spoons/chains1.htm

Chains and ball-in-cage were the very first "whittlin whimsies" I learned and, with a little practice and a good detail knife, are quite simple. I would guess that Norbury was attempting to creat the chain as an attached piece of the carving but if you are willing to add it later then carving your own will give you that "I did EVERYTHING!" sense of pride.