Thread: The Whale Way

That is so beautiful. You are so skilled.

I love it.

majestic - a wonderful piece.

You did a nice work.
Don't worry too much with anatomy, you've got harmony !
Never saw a real one by my eyes, but this one looks like a whale for sure.

What a giggle! That is borderline pretty. I'm glad you chose not to add paint/stain. Maybe next time.
I know nothing about SRW. Is the eye just barely discernible below the big caruncle? How big are they?

Very nice work Whittling, I don't much at about the SRW but I imagined the tail to be a bit larger or do they have a smaller tail than
other whales. I love the way it's mounted on the driftwood base. Your living in a beautiful spot there too.

Wow! That is awesome Whittling!
Great work!

Can I ask how you attached the whale to the driftwood?
I always struggle with things like that.

bravabrava

That is drop dead gorgeous!! All power to you!!

I am not usually a fan of whale/dolphin carvings as they are usually so passe.

Thank you all for your kind comments. I'll try to answer some of the questions in this post so as not to drag it out.

I will concede that it does look like a while... no one is likely to mistake it for a bird anyway... But as we have them here for several months every year and of course they are a real tourist draw in the area, I though that a few sculptures of this sort... well done... might have a chance of selling in amongst the myriad of mass produced stuff from China. But of course they need to be better, ie more realistic, than the mass produced stuff or what's the point. Soooo I'm trying to get it as right as I can.

I'm not too worried about the tail structure. It may be a bit on the thin side but its not too bad. I think it within the range. Its more the other end of the whale that bothers me. Some of the callosities (the white bumpy lumps) are not in the right places and are not all the right shape either. The jaw is not quite right yet either. The lips on either side of the head actually come up higher than the snout in between them and the ridges of the lips need to be more 'callositied'. Its bloody hard to get it all to come together when there are no really good illustrations that show the whole beastie. Hopefully the next one will be a bit closer to correct.

As for the base attachment... I held the finished whale alongside the 'spike' of the driftwood to get an idea of the angle I needed to cut it, relative to the slope of the underside of the carving at mount point. I then cut the spike off at that angle and then drilled straight down into it about 10mm. I glued a 25mm length of 9mm dowel into this small hole with araldite, making sure that the dowel was at 90 degrees to the base. (I had to check this repeatedly with a small square as the glue dried). Finally, I drilled a 9.5mm hole in the bottom of the whale. There is no glue holding it on as the dowel is long enough to ensure the whale can't fall off. This makes it easier to transport when necessary as the whole thing comes apart very easily.

I rarely paint/stain, though I have been fooling around with tinted, diluted shellac as a sanding sealer. Not on this though! They actually have very distinct black and white markings which, together with the patterns of their callosities, are unique to each animal and allow researchers to identify individuals from year to year and place to place. We are blessed to live at the top of a 400 foot high cliff which makes viewing them easier than a lot of other places less elevated. My wife is part of the team that documents these creatures for a national data base so that scientists can keep track of where they go and what they do... beats harpooning them for 'research'.

Yes RV... that is the eye site. I actually carved them a little bigger than they really are. Even though whales have large eyes, relative to the rest of their bodies they are very small. As for size... SRW's are pretty big. Females can go up to 18 meters long and weight up to 80 tonnes. About the size of a large bus. A newborn calf weighs about 5 tonnes. Gentle giants but even a 'gentle' movement can cause a lot of damage to a fishing or ski boat, yet every year, despite legislation and some stiff penalties, some idiot wants to try to 'pet' one. So far my wife has documented 3 such incidents, so thoroughly, that the Parks department were able to get convictions in court for the first time. Needless to say she's a hero in some circles and an interfering so and so in others. I guess you can't please everybody.

Originally Posted by Featherwood

Can I ask how you attached the whale to the driftwood?
I always struggle with things like that.

I know I answered this but in reading it over I'm not sure I made it clear so, just in case you need them, here are some photos to clarify.

You will note that the underside of the whale is on an angle to level horizontal where it contacts the base. This angle needs to be duplicated in the angle of the 'spike' tip where it meets the whale. However, in order to get the main part of the whale body horizontal and level, I needed to set it up in the drill press and drill the hole at 90 degrees to level. This meant that the dowel had to be as near vertical as I could get it, despite the surface onto which it was glued being on an angle from horizontal. (Hope this is making sense).

I drilled as deep as I could into the top of the spike's slanted surface, again using a drill press for a vertical hole. Couldn't go very far as the spike is small and there wasn't much timber to drill into. I didn't want to risk pushing the drill out the bottom of the spike. The dowel was glued into this shallow hole using araldite. I knew I would need a strong joint to support the weight of the whale hanging out as it does. I had to keep visiting the dowel joint every half hour or so to check that the dowel was still vertical against a square I used for that purpose. It tended to lean at first but as the glue got tackier it stayed in place and dried vertical. The job was made easier by the subject matter... ie) The whale is a lot thicker than an eagle tail so there is more to work with.


Hope this helps

Thanks Whittling,
Your explanation is very informative and the photo's are great.

Yes, the thickness of the subject can really determine the thickness and depth of the dowel. Also, the available wood on the driftwood spike is usually an issue in the depth and strength department.

The only way I think I can get around it with my flying birds.......I could maybe use a brass rod (similar to the wren leg) and drill down following the angle of the driftwood where there is more wood and strength. Then drill into the bird at an angle towards its body where there is more wood.....and bend the brass rod to suit.
Then the depth of the rod is deeper and stronger in both. The drilled hole being slightly smaller than the rod so there is a really tight fit. Hope this makes sense.

What do you think.......could that work?

Never tried it myself so I can't say for sure but it sounds like it would work ok. Caution on making the hole smaller than the brass rod though. An arc or sphere are one of the strongest shapes when the pressure is directed from the outside in... but one of the weakest when directed from the inside out. I've had walking stick handles split because I made the hole just a little too tight on the dowel from the shaft. Its better to ensure just a bit of play and use a strong epoxy which will add to the strength of the joint by cementing the dowel to the inside of the hole creating a cohesive whole rather than an internal force that strives to push the grain apart in either base or carving.

That's really interesting, thanks for the caution.
I do normally leave some room for the epoxy but I think my dilemma lies in the bird on a rod which is on an angle that is not going to be glued (for packing and transport reasons) I think it will need to be reasonably tight so it doesn't swivel. In the birds I have done in the past on a rod, I have drilled the same size hole as the rod size and after taking it off and putting it back on...only a few times it begins to get loose and swivel, so it doesn't sit in the position I originally wanted until I glue it.

Pity there isn't a sticky or rubber substance or sleeve or something I could put in the hole or on the rod to stop it spinning....but still have it removable for packing.

Any suggestions?
Am I fighting an uphill battle?

Bravo Whitlling, lovely!

For me it is an excellent work. It is a delight to be looked.