[Thomp]

1x2 basswood blocks turn into these in several hours...

CarvingTheLittleGuys


grandsons critque: NO PAINT PAW PA

[gene messer]

Thomp .. Let me be the first to tell you.. good job ...These little guys are small and keeps the knife close to the fingers ... That's why alot of people dont carve them ..Their hard to get good detail on them .... Also when you get time .. check out Jack Prices books on compact characters ... He's a great carver ... ( and he lives in Texas ) These guy's are excellant for quick gift's for family and friends .. and the way your going ... your going to be a expert on these little guy's very soon .. Great job
Gene

[Tom H]

Very nice Thomp! You might have inspired me to try one..Do you rough them out with a saw or just start cuttin with the knife?? Tom H

[Eddy Smiles]

Nice work! Like Lightningbolt's post the other night, another option for parking lot carving! On the ones that you didn't paint, is that detail woodburned on?

[Thomp]

Thanks for all the comments folks,
i been in the 'buying books phase' of carving and this little near pocket sized book is well worth the instructional value it contains becuse for me it was a different approch to creating these little fellers, it cought my eye as soon as i unpackedit and i was wanting to start this project the day i touched this book, while some 15 odd books just got put up on the shelve.

WOOD: i got some Walnut hollow blocks of craft basswood from walmarts., under $4.00 a bag of 15 pieces and several of the blocks were exactly the right size to start although the size is never mentioned you can tell from the hand on the cover there thumb sized. future thoughts: longer wood sticks..

Gene thanks.
they are however tough on the holding hand's index finger, i got several pokes and short slices, so the power behind the cuts are minimum, and a sharp knife is very necessary. becuse you dont want to have to recut skint places dull knives make.

one suggestion is to buy longer blocks,(for the leverage and ease of holding) then when finished cut off the little guy,
or make a totum of these little folks then cut them apart with a razor saw. it would make the wrisk of cutting yourself much less.

Tom H.
There isent much roughing, only a 1/4x1/2 at the butt and the 1/4" knotch under the belly are scrap and maybe the rounding of the head could be faster, but you would still have to skim carve off the saw marks.

"the man" while following the authors short paragraphs of instructions of the 46 page photo and text which are easy to follow and took me the most of about 5 hours,
the woman was a breif period of about 2-3 intrupted hours to have it complete,

the best lesson learned from this book is how the eyes and nose as well as the jowells all combign off the inverted "V" from the bridge of the nose to the chin, its a trick in how you look at different planes or layers i never looked at in the way it results from a few cuts. i did take some deviations on the under eye bags and wrinkles.

the author keeps you awair of when to use stop cuts and stops your progress many times to get you to back up and look at your carving and take the time to clean up your stop cuts, as well as to round out several places.

EDDIE.
The detail is traced with a woodburner,
and yes these little guys would be a great project for parking lot or doctors , dentest office visits. in a pillow case a pocket kniife and several blocks.

[Nancy_G]

Well, they're just as cute as they can be.

[AlArchie]

Yep, they are cute! Here's a tip for that small type of carving. If you can use the 3/4" square stock for the carving, just rip some standard 1x 4 or 5 (3/4" thick ) into 3/4" wide pieces. They will be as long as the board was so you can cut them off with a "hand hold" on the end of each piece. Make each one about 6" long and that will give you plenty to hang onto and keep your fingers clear of the blade.

Al

[Thomp]

Al,

i got some mystery wood the other day at lowes
(i always dig in the pallets befor shopping Ha!) from the place they disgard the pallets its snow white no grain or knots rough cut 1x4 i can only guess willow , cottonwood or aspin.
some kind of filler shipping strips no nail holes
ill try one to see..

thanks fer the idera

[Just Carving]

If the pallets are made from 1x4's and 2x4's, they're probably aspen. I got a 3 pallets from up the street when the neighbor had work done. The wood's good for the most part. Sometimes it's real hard--I guess heartwood. The nails were a pain to pull so I cut them and I scrap the parts with nails. Enjoy--nothing like free wood!

[Thomp]

bob,

taking apart pallets is an art form,
i took a 3foot 2x6 and cut a 2" hole about 6" from the end then with a jigsaw cut the hole into a slot, and attached a cleat across the top across the 6" wigth
on the other end i made a handle to fit my hand,

pallets are no match for the leverage you can obtain with this monster sure it will work ya but look at all the free wood.

i love to catch the home improvement stores when they order shower doors and sliding doors they reorder them there is about 10-12 1x4" with small staples in them and they usualy recieve 10-12 palleted crates of them at a time,

salvaging oak pallets isent worth the effort unless you just use them for a backlot fence

tru this home made tool next time. youll bust less bosrds if you take it easy.. and use of pincers to pull them hard nails.