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Thread: Everything old is new again...
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21st July 2013, 11:46 PM #1SENIOR MEMBER
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Everything old is new again...
My recent discovery of the carvability of blackwood in making the egyptian jackal I posted a while ago, has led me to re-visit some older designs. The first of these is the kangaroo. I've done a number of these in jelutong which worked well, especially with tinted shellacs to give a hint of colour to the finished piece. But after the jackal I thought I'd try some other woods.
Here is my first attempt with jarrah.
And a first try with blackwood....
I'm very pleased with the results so far. Trying now to think of other designs that these timbers might work for....
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22nd July 2013, 04:09 AM #2
Both are nice ! Lovely woods, and very elegant lines on the handle.
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22nd July 2013, 04:49 AM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Classic. As I said in "the other place," you have no shortage of iconic wildlife designs to pick from. It occurs to me: the stick doesn't look the least bit "modern." Appealing.
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22nd July 2013, 02:03 PM #4Skwair2rownd
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That is certainly a great stick!!
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22nd July 2013, 03:18 PM #5Senior Member
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Both very nice, I admire you for tackling jarrah it's pretty hard stuff but lovely grain & color.
Where are you getting the eyes from? they make bring it to life.
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23rd July 2013, 01:01 AM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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Thanks guys for your kind comments. The jackal really did teach me some things about working these harder woods. Thank goodness for tungsten burrs! I'm looking forward to trying out a few other patterns with blackwood and jelutong. I'll post some results when I have them.
RV: Not sure what 'modern' means in this context, but thanks for the compliment.
Copeau: I like to define a handle on my staves. Smooth sticks can be hard to hang onto after a while on the trail. One's hands get sweaty and gripping the shaft becomes fatiguing to the hand muscles. By putting that slight indentation in the shaft and then wrapping it with leather, it makes for a slip-proof grip and a much less fatiguing stick to use. The beads are just my idea of style.
Rob: The search for hardness came about because of the search for a timber that would prove a bit tougher than the jelutong. The guy who ordered the Jackal, also wanted a kangaroo. Unfortunately the jelutong one that I sent him was damaged in transit which is why I started experimenting with harder woods in order to get a less fragile kangaroo ear. They are a lot harder to carve that's for sure. Time will tell if they are any more robust.
The eyes are just your average 'teddy bear' plastic eyes available from most craft shops. One can also get them in glass but glass cannot be ground to shape the way plastic can so I prefer the plastic variety. The trick to realistic eyes is to only let that part of the eye ball show that would normally show through the eye fissure in real life. If you just drill a hole and fit them, they make the subject look 'goggle' eyed. If you look at the eye of your subject when he/it is relaxed, what shows in the eye fissure is usually almond shaped. I grind the plastic eyes to this almond shape first... THEN carve the eye sockets to match the modified eyes. If you do this right it adds HEAPS to the finished look. Get it wrong and you can completely ruin an otherwise flawless carving. I can probably do a WIP on eye shaping and setting if there is any interest.
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23rd July 2013, 04:01 AM #7GOLD MEMBER
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I think I find that the dark wood gives an impression of age.
Good trick with reshaping the eyes, thanks also for that.
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23rd July 2013, 05:15 PM #8Senior Member
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Thanks for the eye info Whittling, I would have probably just drilled a hole and stuck them in, now I know.
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24th July 2013, 11:03 PM #9
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25th July 2013, 12:01 AM #10
very nice
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25th July 2013, 01:10 AM #11
As usual, great work whittlin
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25th July 2013, 01:30 AM #12
It looks very real especially around the chest.