Carving a double Santa bottle topper!

[Scott Hagerty]

Idle hands are the devil's playground! I finished up a commission and didn't feel like working on my roughout so, I dug around and found a chunk of bass wood 1 1/2" square x 6 1/2" long. My wife had mentioned a bottle topper and since I haven't ever carved one I though "why not".

Further more, I decided I had enough wood to make two toppers on one stick.

Here we go!

In picture one, I have divided the stick in half around the middle and started carving into it to divide the two Santa's.

Picture two shows where I have laid out the bridge of the nose and started laying out the nose.

Picture three, four and five show the progress.

[Scott Hagerty]

Picture one on this thread shows the progress of both heads.

Picture two, I have started to lay out the eye sockets with a #11, 1/4" gouge. I have also started tentatively drawing in where I want the part of the hat with the tassel.

Picture three, I have drawn in the mustache, that helps set up where I want the outside edges of the cheeks to be.

Picture four, I have drawn in where I want the cheeks to be. I have also outlined them, along with the top of the mustache, with a V tool.

Picture five, progress so far!

[Scott Hagerty]

Picture one of this series shows progress on both heads.

Picture two shows the layout of the hat, hair and beard.

Picture three shows the other side with the droopy hat and tassel.

Picture four shows where I have outlined the hat band and other details with a V tool.

Picture five, I have decided it was time to drill the bottom of each topper with a 1" paddle bit to set where the cork will go.

[AL...]

Great work Scott . Cant wait to see them finished
Cheers
AL

[Scott Hagerty]

Picture one shows where I have started to push the face back and bring the hat out. I mostly use a knife and v tool for this process.

Picture two shows roughing out the shape of the beard. I'm using a 1/2" #6 gouge for this type of work.

Picture three and four shows progress on the back of the head. Outline the bottom of the hair and using stop cuts start to push the hair up under the hat.

Picture five shows that I have started to shape the mustache and round the cheeks off using a small #3 gouge and a knife.

[Scott Hagerty]

Picture one shows the process of shaping the hair on the back of the head using a #6 1/2" gouge.

Picture two shows more of the shaping on the front.

Picture three shows where I'm laying out the eyes.

Picture four shows how I have stop cut the line of the eyes. After the stop cut I turn the knife to cut upward from the bottom of the eye to the stop cut. That pops out the eyelid to allow you to shape the eye. Take a little sliver out below the eyelid to make a squinty eye.

Picture five shows laying in the eyebrows, detailing the eyes. I use a small v tool to so this work. It definitely shows in this pic that I need to take a minute and strop some tools.

[Scott Hagerty]

Picture one shows cutting in the nostrils and roughing up the mustache. I use dockyard micro gouges for this work.

In picture two I have started laying in the detail on the beard using a Denny v gouge and where I have taken a small v tool to lay in the hair on the mustache.

Picture three moves to the back of the head. Carefully, I can't stress this enough, start to cut away the excess wood below the hair line. I used a knife and v cut my way through. One wrong move at this point and you will be cut badly or break off something vital to the carving!

Picture four show the block removed.

Picture five shows the back of both heads after I lay in the hair with the v gouge.

[Scott Hagerty]

Getting close now!

Picture one shows more detailing of the hair using a v tool.

Picture two shows where I have used a v tool to add some eye candy to the hat band. Also, it shows that both heads are still attached to each other.

Picture three shows a nice side view with the tassel after I gave it a little attention with the v tool.

[Scott Hagerty]

Last set! Then we're done.

Picture one shows where I have used a Dremel to fit the socket to accept the cork. I have also drilled it out to accept a dowel to make the connection to the cork more solid. I used a dowel pin to locate the spot to make the hole in the cork.

Picture two shows the cork in place. At this point you need to test fit it on a bottle to make sure it is going to fit. If it doesn't, make the necessary adjustments now!

Picture three, still joined! At this point I v cut with the knife to separate the heads. I went as far as possible with the knife then used a back saw to make the final separation.

At this point, I clean up my cuts and make any adjustments to the carving needed before finishing.

Picture four, the finished product. All that is left is to paint and finish then glue the corks into the sockets. I'll let them dry a couple of days before doing the glue up.

[Scott Hagerty]

Notes: Looking back on this little project, I think it was great being able to hang onto a much larger piece of wood to carve these heads.

I will use a larger piece of wood next time too. I'm thinking something more like 2x2x8" would be almost perfect. I was a little cramped on the top of the hat and it is a little squashed looking. You could use a much longer piece if you wanted a much taller hat also. That is probably what I will do on the next ones.

I hope you find this as informative and fun as I did!

any questions you have, I know I probably glossed over some of the finer points along the way.

Thanks for looking!

Scott