[Perdue]

Hello Everybody,
My name is Tory Perdue, 34 years old and I've been carving for about a year now. Guess I like carving hillbillies the most. I kind of consider myself a hillbilly in that I live in the foothills of the Smokies here in East Tennessee. I started carving with a Dremel tool but shortly after, I was persuaded by a professional carver to change to carving with a knife. It was definitely good advise. I started out with a Murphy knife which was given to me by the above professional carver (an employee at Smokey Mountain Woodcarvers). I liked the Murphy and now have two. I also use a Denny and a Flexcut detail knife but I always seem to favor the Murphy. They dull quickly but they have a great feal. I use northern basswood mostly.

My knowledge of wood is quite limited. I like basswood because it is so easy to carve however I don't like how light my finished products are. I wished they had more weight to them. Any suggestions?

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It is a beautiful day here. It also happens to be me and my wifes 12th anniversary. Yes, I know, I better go.
See everyone in later posts.
God Bless,
Tory

[Irishman]

Hello Tory,

Welcome to the site. As for the finishes, try doing a search on the site as there have been a number of postings on finishes.
Patrick

[Iowa Carver]

Welcome Tony to the forum. I am a total newbie and have tried several knives including the Murphy and the Wells. So far the Wells is my favorite for general carving but I like the Murphy as well. If you carve small figures it is hard to get any weight to them but I recently carved a snowman out of a 3 x 3 and when finished it's pretty heavy. Enjoy the site.

Corey

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

drill a hole in the bottom and put some weight in it...lead... wheel weight, plaster of paris etc.

[tucker1931]

Hey there Tony, welcome aboard. Anybody that's a friend of Smoky Mountain is a friend of mine, in that I buy everything from them including Allans DVD on carving wood spirits on walkin sticks. You'll meet a lot of great guys and gals on here so feel free to ask for help if and when ya need it.
Cliff

[wood-whittler]

hello and welcome to the board tory,this is a good place for info we have a lot of talented folks here if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.


bart

[Mottles]

Hello and welcome looking forward to seeing some of your carvings.
Well, Tory it's snowing here! That nice weather we had a while back was just a tease. LOL Send sunshine please!
Kathy

[Ashbys]

Hi Tony ,

Welcome to the site. Do you carving have bases? If they do there are a couple of things you can do to add weight.

The first , simply recess a hole and add a steel or lead plate and use a screw to attach it.

Another way , is to drill into the carving and fill the hole with lead shot. The plug it and glue it shut.

Either one will work , and lead or steel short can be purchased at a local gunshop or sporting goods store .

Ash

[GeorgiaCarver]

Tory, welcome to the forum!

Greg