[Hooked]

Beautiful! Curious, How long did it take you from start to finish? I am a newby and I know I will get quicker, but my current project is going on more hours than I want to count!

[Richard R. Boyd]

Hi,
Thanks for your comments. Hooked would be a perfect noun for me too. It certainly would describe me when it comes to carving.
I can’t give a definitive time on any of my projects. Time has little meaning for me once I settle down with a block of bass wood and my flex cut tools. The Bacchus relief took the most time and may have been as much as eight hours total. The spoons vary in time required because of the intricacy of the design. But I estimate an average of about four hours each The Celtic knot spoon being the longest.

[squbrigg]

If you are talking about how long the ship relief took, I really couldn't give you a definate time line. But it took weeks. I work slowly on most pieces, unless there is a need for speed (customer imposed or self imposed). I am only able to carve for short periods before having to rest, so the time stretches out for me. I was disabled in a car accident 10 years ago, with a brain injury and neck and back injuries, so my strength and endurance is limited and I still have to deal with constant pain. Still...... I'm able to still carve, though slowly, so I'm happy.

What I can tell you about the piece, it is carved in Butternut, is the top for a cigar box (a bad habit I aquired a couple of years ago, but enjoy). I used both power (Foredom and Foredom micro-motor) and edged tools and burned some detail. It was a real challenge because of the thinness if the masts and spars, which will split or crack off unless you breath just right!!! Butternut, while a beautiful wood, does have weaknesses.

Bob

[susieq]

Wow Bob,
I don't know how I missed this thread when you first posted it but that is a gorgeous job. Great deep relief!

[Alice in Wonderland]

Just plain "BEAUTIFUL" Bob, this would be gorgeous as a picture on the Wall one can feel the wind and hear the waves it is that true, the color too,I want to keep looking at it ,of course I used to sail and love ships.
Alice

[Hooked]

remember..newby here, so warning this could be a dumb question

Was just looking at your finished piece again. Did you burn all the darkened areas. Like the body of the ship? Or did you put some stain on it?

Trying to decide if I should try to burn some details on the deer head I am doing or maybe just put some more stain in some areas. I have never used a wood burning tool, but ,heck, this is only my second project with wood carving tools.

[squbrigg]

Asking questions is how we learn, and the whole purpose of posting photos is to help each other, for you to learn from and for me to learn ways to improve from.

The hull is burned. I have found it does a better job than stain, though I have used stain in some cases, but find burning gives more control over the final image. Butternut is such a beautiful wood, and the grain so firurative, I hate to cover any of it, so I try to incorporate the grain into the piece, to advantage.

Bob