Woodspirits- Cypress Knee Buddies

Lightningbolt · #1 09-12-2005, 10:34 PM

Hey ya'll,

I was gone all of last week to an educators conference on the North Carolina coast and got more carving done in a week than I have during all of the past couple of months. I roomed with another woodshop teacher in our organization and we'd carve all day long somewhat hidden by our table (and from our supervisor!) as one speaker after another spoke. Then after supper each night we'd sit on the porch amid the nearby crashing waves from the oncoming of Hurricane Ophelia and continued carving until midnight. Man, what a great week of carving it was and the best part was getting paid for it just like we were at work back home! Carving is such a tough life but somebody's gotta do it!!

Somehow I managed to hang onto these three "Cypress Knee Buddies" and ended up just giving away most of the rest. These were some tiny cypress kness that I could easily pack away in my luggage at only about 7 inches tall. While carving the mean tongued one in the middle I somehow inadverdently poked a hole through its nose so I got a piece of stove pipe wire and made it a nose ring! Sorta groovy, huh? I love carving in cypress which is sorta soft but sooooooooo carvable!

I also picked up some live oak drift wood which also made for some nice carving. Live Oak trees seemed to be the dominant trees there on the Outer Banks and I know that they'd be fantastic for the kind of live-tree carving that Colin Partridge does. The way their huge flat limbs spread out over the earth like an umbrella makes them somewhat "mystical" and like something out of middle earth... they'd look so complete if they had some nice woodspirits in them!

So that I could pack lite I only had my Flexcut "Carvin' Jack" and it did a great job while taking up only a little bit of space, although it was aggravating to keep opening and closing all the blades. It was a great week and hopefully I can continue the carving spirit as the cooler days of fall begin to move into the mountains.

Enjoy!

GaryMc · #2 09-13-2005, 06:05 AM

Great Job Dave! I love the expressions you get in your carvings! Keep it up on your time or theirs, hehe!
GaryMc

Ashbys · #3 09-13-2005, 07:28 AM

Really Nice ! I like the movement look in them. What a way to spend a week, carving , a bit of ocean breeze, carving , carving finding wood ...

Ash

Ron Davidson · #4 09-13-2005, 09:09 AM

Great job. It sounds like you had a good week. Have you ever thought of the Flex cut travel kit, I have one and it works great I bought an extra handle so I don't have to change blades so often and it has eleven blades. Ron

Irish · #5 09-13-2005, 06:39 PM

Oh-Oh-Oh Dave! Those are sooo perfect.

Susan

#6 09-13-2005, 08:27 PM

Dave, Those memories will last forever of the trip and friendship. Great carvings. have never worked on knee b4 but will look into getting a few pieces.

Lightningbolt · #7 09-13-2005, 09:44 PM

Thanks for all of the much too kind comments folks! I really like carving the smaller pieces like these. While I certainly have carved some larger pieces I really do enjoy the uniquiness of the little things.

Ron: Thanks for the suggestion on the travel kit and I'll have to look into that one for sure and having an extra handle or two just might take care of all my complaints.

Coffeeman: If you haven't yet had the joy of carving in cypress knees then you've just gotta find a few. The three small ones in the photos were from a car trunk full that a good friend brought to me from his inlaws who have a river front home on the N.C. coast. Seems that they were putting in a new boat dock and had to thin out about 35 cypress knees from about 6" to 36" in height so I've got quite a good stash of them for sure.

The skin can be quite hard to get off so I boil them in a drum that I'd say is about 25 gallons full with water and under an open fire. I just lash a wooden tripod with wire like a teepee and after they've boiled for a while the skin will peel off just like a banana leaving the most pristine and perfect carving surface that's softer than a baby's butt... and twice as slick!

Sometimes I will leave the bark on for a nice bright inner wood contrasting with the dark brownish/red outer bark. I just use my palm sander first with 120 grit then 220 grit and finish with a steel wooling.

I saw some cypress knees that must have been about 18" tall and ready for carving at the Woodcraft store and they were selling for mega-$$$$$$$ uncarved! Thank goodness for good friends who always have their radars on for good carving wood... and who are always at the top of my list for receiving a few of my carvings.

Colin_Partridge · #8 09-14-2005, 08:40 AM

Dave wonderful carving love the expressions, sounds like you had a great week. I agree with you I was down to Florida this year and couldnt believe the price they wanted for raw cyprus knee's. I did see the process of how they get the bark off and it is a bit involved but I refused to pay the huge bucks for them. I have a few that are raw with the bark on them but it is almost impossible to get the bark off once they dry. Thanks for posting the carvings they are just great.
Colin

wade clark · #9 09-14-2005, 09:57 AM

Colin and Dave,
There's an orange juice stand just north of Lake Wales that sells them cheap. They range from 5 or 6 to 30 for a huge one. A few very unusual ones may be a little more, but most the good sized ones are 12 to 15, fewer at 20. Usually when I'm in the area I buy a pick-up load and they knock the price down 20 or 30%. They always have a few hundred on hand, maybe more.
They're not easy to come by. they have to be cut on privately owned land, not government.
I've seen them on ebay too.
Wade

Lightningbolt · #10 09-14-2005, 07:31 PM

Thanks for the extra info Wade. Fortunately for me I've got a fairly good supply for now and at the best price in town- free, including delivery! It does cost me somewhat in giving away several free carvings but in exchange I have quite an army of friends always on the lookout for prime carving wood.

Also, over the years I've canoed over 2,000 miles on Florida's Suannee river and others including the Silver, Peace, Chipola, Apalachicola... and I've collected countless dead cypress knees along the way, either floating in the drink or waiting to be found on shore. Sure hope that I didn't break some law by taking them although they were all dead. Too late now anyhow because they have all been recycled into nice carvings for future generations.