Thread: My first carving attempt

Cool !!!!


Al

Nice work.

Regards,

Theva

Thanks Al and Theva. Bit of a brag pic. Was pretty proud of it. Finished carving my second one, actually got it out of hiding and started a bit of filling and put its eyes in today. Reading the forum has got me a bit inspired again.

See Ya

Kath

Love it! Have you any more details...like where did the design come from?

Is the hair yours, or is it just a coincidence that the horse is blonde too?

P

I actualy thought it was the horse talking......


Al

Kathy,
very nice, care to tell us a bit more - eg: method of construction, materials, how much time it took (must have been more than a few hours )

Mick

Very impressed with your first attempt. How do you think you'd go with some claw and ball feet? There's money in it for you!

Al.

Thanks guys for your comments. I actually got the number of a guy out of an old House and Garden mag ages ago. He sold the plans and the manes,tails and all the bits, which are brought over from England.
The plans are Margaret Spencers, she makes/made r/horses in England.
Also bought a couple of books written by Andrew Dew, he makes them as well. The books were a big help.
The first ones made of obeche and the one I'm working on now is jelutong.
I transferred the plans onto stiff plastic and traced onto wood and cut out with bandsaw - fair bit of glueing to build out muscles etc.
First one took about 10 months off and on, plan says 50 hours, but I had a few stops and starts. Second ones been easier - not as scared to attack with gouge. The mane and tail are real horse hair. Made the stand out of jarrah, but haven't learnt how to turn yet so posts are square - which I don't mind myself. Anyway a mates got the lathe now, so I told him when he learns he can show me.
PS Bitingmidge - Me dogs are blondes too!

Yours eyes probably getting tired so catch ya's later.

SeeYa
Kath

Hey Al

Thanks. Dunno if I could do ball/claw feet, like to do some smaller stuff, but haven't found the knack yet?? My other brother has done one, but getting 4 the same could be a bit tricky I reacon. Saw an echidna in Margaret River once and a snake winding up a piece of wood with a mouse on top all carved out of timber - they were bl.... amazing, very clever. The echidna was carved out of a jarrah burl and each spine was made of bamboo. The man who is a truckie didn't even know he could do that sort of thing till he had a go.

Anyway good luck with the feet.

SeeYa
Kath

Kathy,

Nice work. Who are the horses for? (family, clients..) and how big are they?

If you had books by Andrew Dew then why didn’t you use his plan and accessory also? (Vice versa for Margaret Spencers)

Well done.

Hey Wongo,

Thanks. I only found Andrew Dews book after I had already cut the timber from the other plan. With M. Spencers plan there was just a couple of sheets with instructions which weren't too easy to understand for a beginner. I changed the head a bit for a more friendly face.
The saddle height is 800ml from the floor and to the top of the ears 1050ml.
I didn't make it for anyone really, just wanted to see if I could do it.
Going to try and sell the second one I'm doing. Have attached a better pic - if I can work it out

Kathy,

Good luck selling the second horse. Horses with such quality should worth around $3000 - $4000. All you need is a wealthy buyer.

Also, I think you should use turned pillars rather than the square ones. It makes a big difference. You can pay someone to turn them for you if needed.

Thanks Wongo

Have had one turning lesson in Perth at Carba-Tec, but since I live 3 hours in the sticks its hard to have on-going lessons.
Have to admit I'm a bit scared of it as well.
Put it in the local show 2 yrs ago, got a 1st prize and highly commended, (sorry don't mean to pat myself on the back) lots of people liked it.
Dunno if they'd like it enuf to pay that much tho. Was thinking $2500.

(Hovo and - not trying to sell here!!)

See Ya
The Blonde

Hi Kathy,

Nice work, I really like it. You should enter it in the Melbourne Cup, or better still whatever our Perth equivalent of that is. It may not win the race but definately the 'fashion' side of it. Looks great.


Don't be put off by a lathe...they look more dangerous than what they really are. Turning will give you the flexibility to choose your post shape etc and with your talent I'm sure you'll be a superb turner in no time.

Very nice work, I'm sure that even the bigger picture doesn't do justice to your fine work. I like it.
Please contact me, thanks.

Regards
Joe