Cherry Woodspirit Log

Lightningbolt · #1 08-15-2007, 09:21 PM

First the story: This spring one of our ornamental cherry trees on property didn't sprout into it's usual snowy heaven of blooms... nor even a single green leaf.

ly this wonderfully anticipated burst of white blooms was no longer with us and was deader than a door nail.

Actually the tree only had one limb of green last year so we knew that it was probably gone. Well, the maintenance man and I got busy sawing it up and I took one of the chunks down to the woodshop to test it with my chisels for possible carving wood. Man oh man did those blades glide so nicely through the wood. Yes, I'd have to save some of the larger pieces so I put them under the tarp until I could get to them.

It was a standing dead tree for some time and the wood seemed mostly dry but the logs are heavy and I'm sure still contain a bit of moisture. I peeled the bark off of a couple of test pieces then left them in the shop during all of July and the first week of August while I was on a 5 week vacation, then upon my return there were some cracks but not like I'd expected. I decided that I could work with these logs but I still wanted to complete most, if not all, of the carving in one day so that I could get the final seal in place to encourage a slower drying of whatever moisture was still present.

So yesterday I had a couple of hours to play (work) around with the first log so I chainsawed the rough-out of a woodspirit into the somewhat small log, being only about 7 inches across. I then switched to my carving knives to finish it up and experimented with a few new variations in carving the hair more in "chunks" instead of my usual narrow and thin swirls. I also added a lot of wrinkles in the forehead like some regularly do here on the forum and I really liked that effect! Just wanted to try something new from what some other's are doing on this forum so thank's for all the ideas y'all !

So here's a few pictures of the carving for you to see. I put nothing but a couple of coats of clear gloss on it and I couldn't believe the beauty of the red color in this fantastic cherry wood... so beautiful! This one will also be in our fall fund raising auction in mid September.

This afternoon I started another small chainsawed bear in the same cherry wood and should finish it tomorrow. I'm just too pooped to post the pictures that I have of it tonight but I'll get them up soon.

Man what a great day!

Lightningbolt · #2 08-15-2007, 09:22 PM

And the rest...

Eddy Smiles · #3 08-15-2007, 10:01 PM

Dave... They probably didn't crack because even though you didn't seal the ends you peeled them. We cut down a cherry tree last Fall but didn't peel them and about all that can be done with them now is cut them up for spoons. They're cracked too badly. Nice job! Really pretty!

Joy · #4 08-15-2007, 11:12 PM

Nice looking spirit. I'm glad you saved that beautiful wood.

Man that is one chewed-up mallet you have. LOL

Irishman · #5 08-16-2007, 06:49 AM

Thanks for sharing your stages of progress. Its interesting how different carvers approach their woodspirits. I carved cherry wood before and I remember it being very hard but it had a variety of colors in the wood. So you went out on a "limb" and tried some new approaches to the hair and such. That's what's great about carving in logs. The worse that could happen if things do not work out is to put it on the fire wood pile.
I see your mallet is taking a beating. I'm at a stage where I'm using wood too big for my tools and mallets so I have my radar up for a makita electric chainsaw to help with the roughing out.
Your putting out a lot of carvings lately. I hope to get back to my routine once summer is over. Good work.
Patrick

Thor · #6 08-16-2007, 08:27 AM

Very pretty wood. I have a couple of split cherry logs that I've been messing with too. I'm trying ot hack out a trencher in one half log with my carving axe.
Your wood spirit face looks just right for that preety wood grain. I like the hair.
Thor

Lightningbolt · #7 08-16-2007, 08:53 PM

Thank's for the comment's everyone. I've now got it on display at work on an end table in the lobby where everyone is "ewwing" and "ahhhing" over it.

and where it'll remain until auction day.

This cherry is unusually beautiful but it's not our native wild black cherry. I really don't know exactly what variety of cherry it is but I know that it came from a nursery when our facility opened in 1979. Some kind of ornamental cherry I think... never any cherries

but it was always the first tree to bloom into a sea of white flowers in the early spring. The growth rings are further apart than our normal native hardwoods, more like white pine than a cherry. It carves very nicely however... harder than pine but softer than black cherry or maple.

Not sure exactly why I'm on a carving roll again because it's hotter 'n heck here but I'm gonna keep at it and milk my unexpected carvin' motivation for all it's worth... or until I drop unconscious! The sweat is pouring but as you can see from the pictures I'm woking in a heavily shaded mountain location at about 1,800 feet above sea level. I'm staying well hydrated mainly by means of massive amounts of watermelon and cantaloupe. Did I mention the nearby 200 acre cantaloupe fields or the nearby 80 acres of watermelon?! You didn't hear it from me!!!!!!!!