Swan

[William]

Not long ago someone said they had a lot of thin boards and was not sure what to do with them.
This Swan was a fun and easy carving and thin boards were needed to add strength in the neck bends.

A few more coats of DEFT clear satin and this Swan (10.5" x 8" x 5") will be finished. The body is from a basswood block, the neck/head was made from 1/4" basswood boards glued cross grain to form a sort of plywood and the bill is Amboina Burl with black glass eyes.

The board under the Swan is for a Mallard but it's how the boards were glued for the neck.

Bill
^v^

[Nancy-G]

Wow --- that's gorgeous !!

[gene-messer]

Only one word for this one Bill .. Beautiful .. It almost looks like glass ...

[AlArchie]

Wonderfully done, bill! I love the way the grain shows through the finely finished body, and the work with the contrasting wood for the bill is something I've never seen before. Very nice!

Al

[mark yundt]

Excellent job,,,just excellent,,,,,,it makes your eyes keep moving over the lines you used,,,,,,beautiful finish as well.

[slivers&dust]

Very nice!!
I especially like the way you used the burl for the bill. I would like to hear more about how you mated the bill and head. From what I can see it looks seamless. I'm curious because I've been wanting to try using different colors of wood in a project myself.

[Bill]

What a carving!!
Like what you have done, outstanding.
Bill

[William]

Nancy, Al , Mark and Bill,
I liked it but was afraid it may look a little too plastic for professional carvers, thank you all for the kind words.

Thanks Gene, I did not have enough Titanium white to do the job but had a full tube of Pearl white and that glass look was a pleasant surprise.

Tony, I carved the Burl first with power because it is so hard and then fitted it slowly to the basswood, trim a little and try it many times before I got a good fit and then glued it in with Titebond 2, I did not use a dowel on the bill but did on the neck.

You all may have seen this way of attaching heads before but it is new to me and I'm going to try it on the next one. Instead of using a dowel some carvers use heavy wire and 5-minute epoxy and this way the dowel holes do not have to be perfect.

Bill
^v^

[bygeorge]

Bill, absolutely beautiful!! Was this from a particular pattern? My wife has been begging me to do one of these fellas for sometime now.

Chuck

[mark yundt]

I don't know if it was planned or just a great coincidence but there are so many parallel lines and curves to this piece that keep repeating themselves without being redundant,,the curve of the back of its neck mimicking the breast area,,and if you extend the curve of the bill it flows back into the curve of the chest line which just leads you back to the beginning again,,keep extending the lines and they complete themselves in the carving,,wow,,it really makes for a complete package,,and the juxtaposition of the burl against the pearlescent finish,,just great,,what a presentation of wonderful form and line,,as simple as it appears is just what makes it great and interesting,your eye really has no need to stop at any one area,,it naturally makes it move,,I really enjoy looking at this piece...thanks again.