Very large & heavy woodspirit

Irishman · #1 05-15-2006, 07:21 AM

It took me forever to carve out this 150 lb, 4 ft high piece of apple wood. I have never done a piece this large before and may not for a time yet.

is very hard but has lots of colors throughout. Its already cracking in a lot of places. I put one coat of tung oil on him so far. The lighting was terrible where I took the pics but I wasn't prepared to move him and risk a hernia. Larger pieces are much more challenging as its difficult to keep the symmetry, plus my tools are not designed for wood this size.
Patrick

Irishman · #2 05-15-2006, 07:23 AM

Oh sorry here are the pics that turned out so so.
Patrick

Dylan · #3 05-15-2006, 08:24 AM

's hard and that's a lot of it. Great job, that carving should be around for a while.

Dylan

AlArchie · #4 05-15-2006, 08:52 AM

Good looking piece, there Patrick! And my compliments to you on tackling a chunk of apple for a carving. Those enhanced grains look great.

Al

Thor · #5 05-15-2006, 09:56 AM

That is a very fine looking face. Beautiful wood as well.
Great job.
Thor

Colin_Partridge · #6 05-15-2006, 09:57 AM

Patrick,
That is a beautiful woodspirit and very well detailed. I know what you went thru I have carved apple before. Although it is really hard it takes magnificent detail. Again great job unfortunatly apple cracks quite badly but I find the cracks enhance the carving.
Colin

Irishman · #7 05-15-2006, 10:32 AM

In an earlier thread a few carvers had asked if I could do a tutorial on how I do my eyes...so I planned on using this as my test piece. I'm not that advanced a carver, however, I did take a few picks on how I did the eyes at different stages. I will see how the pics turn out and post them at some point. After a few viewed my large WS, they asked if I could do a face on one of their trees. That would be kind of scary as if it doesn't turn out as planned, they would be stuck with the results. I will have to invest in bigger gouges as well if I keep doing these large pieces.
Thanks for your comments and encouragement.
Patrick

Bill · #8 05-15-2006, 10:33 AM

I have never tried

Wood, but it looks like a real challenge, I really like the detail around the eyes. Great job.
What is the size, other than large and heavy?
Bill

whitecree · #9 05-15-2006, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irishman

It took me forever to carve out this 150 lb, 4 ft high piece of apple wood.

Good work Irishman, and yes, apple cracks rather easily. So do most fruitwoods.

Come to that, almost any large solid piece of wood will crack. The inside of the wood dries at a different rate than the outside, but not to worry - those cracks really do add character to the piece. Ever see a really old totem pole? The cracks just lend to the beauty of the work.

Irishman · #10 05-15-2006, 12:33 PM

Bill, its approx. 4 feet high and the circumference is a little larger than the mouth of one of those 5 gallon white buckets. It is very heavy so where ever it ends up, safety will need to be considered. A wooden stand may need to be configured to keep it secure.
PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

I have never tried

Wood, but it looks like a real challenge, I really like the detail around the eyes. Great job.
What is the size, other than large and heavy?
Bill