WIP - 1st carving - be gentle!!!

[TTIT]

This years club challenge was anything at all from a pine pallet. Decided to give carving a go (or 'shaping' at least) and something with a 'cute' factor might get me the elusive Peoples Choice award. Haven't done anything like this before so I'm looking for tips on better ways of acheiving this type of form.

1. Smashed the pallet up, dressed the boards and cut out all the knots - couldn't see myself carving them . Glued enough together for the body, then some smaller blanks for the legs, eyes and toes.
2. Marked out and cut the 'plan' on the bandsaw, then glued the waste back on with hot-melt - big mistake That stuff holds a lot better than I thought it would - had to sit him in a warm oven for about an hour to get the waste off later
3. Marked out the side elevation on the waste and cut that out.
4. Waste removed - looks like an obese sperm!!!
5. Roughed the shape down with a carbide wheel in a 4" angle grinder - except the tail which I wasn't game to weaken just yet.

[Whittling]

Can't fault it so far! Keep going... looking forward to seeing it finished.

[TTIT]

6. Drilled mortices to accept the legs - 35mm outer with a second step of 20mm. Turned the tenons on the legs on the lathe - had to do SOME turning on it
7. Dry fitted the legs to mark a rough ground line so I could cut the waste off before gluing them in.
8. Glued the legs in, marked the outlines and cut them out on the bandsaw.
9. Rigged a platform beside the belt-sander so his still-flat belly would sit a couple of mm off the deck and rotated him in to the belt to get all the feet even - worked sweet
10. Back to the lathe - can't help myself . Decided to put a box in his belly - hmmm a 'Box-bellied Gecko' - it'll never stick! Pinned him against the faceplate where I wanted the box centre while I screwed his feet down through the back of the faceplate.

[TTIT]

11. Hollowed out the box - complicated slightly by the one and only knot I left thinking it would never be exposed . Turned the inside of the lid to suit the box then wedged it in place with some tissue paper so I could shape the top of it in place.
12. Started refining the shape using a small carbide burr followed by a 1/2" drum sander in the Dremel. Had a lot of trouble with them digging in to the soft sections, sometimes so deep I had to reshape. Ended up doing a lot of shaping with sandpaper on blocks of various shapes to try and get a more even surface. Made some flats with a Forstner bit to hold the eyes which I turned on the lathe.
13. Turning the toes on the lathe (can't leave it alone ) was a breeze but drilling the holes in the feet for them was a nightmare . The drill kept wandering into the soft areas and I broke one foot completely in half - blessed are the CA makers . Glued the toes in with epoxy to help fill the voids around some of them.
14. I originally planned to texture the whole outside and spray-paint the blighter but the grain was starting to look like it was planned that way and I was rapidly running out of time so wipe-on poly was the final choice. The little grub was made from beads turned on the lathe from the same timber as a handle for the box lid.

[TTIT]

Finished the last coat of poly and painting the eyes and gluing them on the night before the entries were due in - nothing like a deadline to force a few decisions

The making of the grub is on this thread if you're interested.

I picked up 1st prize in the Challenge which came with a nice monetary reward but I missed the Peoples Choice by 5 votes to a toy cattle truck Ah well - it was fun anyway.

I'm keen to do a bit more of this 'shaping' bit - can hardly call it 'carving' when I didn't pick up a chisel . Any tips at all on better ways to do something like this will be greatly appreciated.

[Claw Hama]

Thats pretty cute, make great Xmas presents for the littlies

[Harry72]

Cool box!

[underfoot]

Looks great TITTwell done

5. Roughed the shape down with a carbide wheel in a 4" angle grinder - .

. Any tips at all on better ways to do something like this will be greatly appreciated.

my only suggestion for shaping the body would be a flexible abrasive disc (36 grit) on a rubber arbor on your angle grinder. (just about my most used tool)

[mkypenturner]

hey vern
that a great wip i love the gecko

[schaf]

Great gecko. Well done.

[mic-d]

love it Vern
Cheers
Michael

[bench1holio]

you can turn your hand to just about anything titt!,
love it, well done!

[wheelinround]

[CV3]

Great job. You did very well for you first work.

[nine fingers]

Hi Vern, As I have said before your imagination and skill with anything out of wood leaves most forum members, including myself awestruck with what you can create. regards John