branch carving

[wolfe3]

I saw an article on DIY about branch carving and would like to know more about it and who and where to find patterns , articles, or just any chip chat about the art. thanks
wolfe3@usa.com

[Bartster]

chris lubekeman the man who did the diy show has an article in all issues of chip chats

[Bartster]

he also has a book "whittling twigs and branches"

[Lightningbolt]

Thought that you'd enjoy a couple of my own branch creations after studying Mr. Lubkemann's book on twigs & branches, a rooster and a roadrunner which I made from and mounted on red maple. I've had a lot of fun making these little creatures which are popular as gifts for just about anyone.

Don't expect to get a nice curling of the tail feathers on your first try. Follow the authors directions closely on drying the wood just right and keeping the angle of your knife sharpened just so to get the best curls possible. It really takes a good bit of practice but you start to figure it out after a while.

I teach woodcarving in our school woodshop and I've figured out how to make these roosters quickly and with a more guaranteed success for the kids to make in just a one hour long woodshop period. I have stocked several hundred of the "Y" shaped branches of all sizes in boxes so they are bone dry. I then filled up several plastic bags with the shavings I made on our shaving horse and I made them when the wood was green so they curled up quite nicely. I have bags of white ash, dogwood, sasafrass, and various other colored shavings which make for a nice pastel of colorful tail feathers.

When a boy is ready to make his rooster we use the band saw to rough out the inside of the legs (sometime bow-legged and sometimes straight) then cut the outline of the red top and open mouth. He then carves all the fine detail, then he cuts about 5 slits straight into the base of the fork where the tail feathers go then picks out the right size shavings, puts wood glue on 'em, then lines them up nicely in the cut slits. He then completes the rooster by painting it with acrylics and has one fine gift for his mom! Hey, my mom also has quite a few of these characters in her kitchen too!

This way a kid can have a really nice rooster in about an hour without having to learn the refined skill of carving correctly curved tail curls. Works great for us and is a good way to mass produce them for sale too.

The attached pictures were made by carving the actual curls directly from the "Y" shaped branch as the others are at school. Good luck and have a lot of fun with these silly litttle characters!

[Mike-in-WV]

Lol, I like that! What a great way to do them . Bet your kids (Students) love doing them also. Mike

[Colin-Partridge]

I took a seminar with Chris last year and it was probably the most entertaining seminar that I have ever taken. For those who dont know Chris he missed his calling in life he should have been a standup comedian. He had me in stitches for the entire time and a lot of it is adlibbed but he is one funny guy. Having said that he is also one of he most talented men I have met the ease and skill in which he carves those twigs is amazing. I have tried but I still cant get the tail feathers to curl the way he does. I will keep on trying maybe I need to send my swiss army knife to Rick to get it sharpened the right way.
Colin

[brushpilecarvings]

I recently took up branch carving and whittling a few months ago. I'm really into it so far, and I've seen some amazing work on this forum. I made a web gallery of some of the stuff I've did so far, the link is:

http://www.brushpilecarvings.com


Terry

[Mark N. Akers]

Chris came to a club meeting of ours one night,very enjoyed watching him do
his magic.The best part was when he walked in with a Wal-mart bag full
of trims from a tree outside our building and said it was worth about $1000
carved.

[Whittin John]

I also have taken several courses with Chris, he is always good and even though I have gotten pretty good at roosters and other branch carved items, I always can learn more and do. Have any of you seen the video of his that was on TV?