Thread: Great White Shark in Huon

Congratulations on the 1-piece carve. Just a little frightening, thinning the fins? Western Red Cedar might be even worse.

How big is the shark? Care to reveal a little about your finishing process? I like the dull satin appearance.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

How big is the shark? Care to reveal a little about your finishing process? I like the dull satin appearance.

Thanks RV,
It's L 27 x W 12 x H 11 cm. I start by smoothing the chisel marks out with 80grit sandpaper doing a little final shaping while I'm at it. Then work my way through 180, 220, 320,400 grits. Then I change to Norton sanding pads 500-600, then 800-1000 then finish by going all over it with 0000 synthetic steel wool. I oiled it with Kuno's, then again 24 hours later (sometimes I do 3 coats) when dry I buff with a cotton rag. I had a lot of hassle with this one, it just seemed really tacky after 24 hours. Not sure whether it was the humidity or because the Kuno's I have is getting a bit old. Can oils get old? I then buff with a cotton rag but I just couldn't get rid of the tackiness. I was using an old cotton sheet which seemed to do nothing so I started getting the sh@#$ with it so I tried an old t-shirt and it worked much better, but still a little tacky. I think I'll use danish oil next time. I couldn't buff it up as much as I normally do because I was paranoid of knocking the fins or tail off, so I just did what I could - thus the satin finish. Any tips on buffing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, I'm so glad that you didn't paint it.
27cm! That's cetainly a good size to go with a determined talent.
I sense that Huon is expensive. True?

I'm not at all familiar with Kuno's Oil. If there was any vegetable oil component,
I suppose that there might be a little oxidation from air/oxygen in the container over time.
Otherwise, some possible premature solvent evaporation? I'm only guessing.

I'm not confident to fool with experimental applications of finish.
MinWax Tung Oil Protective Finish: 1 coat darkens the wood, 2 coats is satin, 4 is gloss.
I might sand it back with 600 to dumb it down (Caterpillar in western red cedar fence post).

In the Handtools-Unpowered forum, you can get a look at my Kestrel D-adze Build.
Finished last week, I'm doing little more that demolishing wood to get a sense of the strike patterns.
That's birch (Betula) with two coats of TOPF. The D follows the Elbow adze in my continuing
exploration of the wood carving tools popular in the Pacific Northwest native community.

Keep your fins on!

Yes , that is a good carving, I should know, I've done loads of fish & they are as hard or harder as any carving despite what you might imagine , an approximate torpedo fish shape just wont do it , it requires as much careful observation as anything else - perhaps more .

By the way what is oooo synthetic steel wool ? , there are a number of UK. timbers that show a undesirable grey hue after normal oooo steel wool .
You quite obviously are a guy who takes time & effort over his finishing process , I would have saved some fine wood shavings from the initial planning of the block & rubbed it hard with them after the 0000 wool, it burnishes the surface that bit further , although I must admit the moisture in the air must surely eventually negate this final step by raising the grain again.

In my experience finishing oils don't get old ,just a bit thicker & yes humidity plays a bit part I how long they take to dry, 24 hours is NOTHING in oil drying time, so leave it a month & see where you are then.

It is beautiful. I have so much respect for wood carvers. They are a clever bunch.

While looking at this thread my colleague looked over my shoulder and we both agreed this is a very nice piece.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

I sense that Huon is expensive. True?

Yes, huon is reasonably expensive. It now only grows in small areas of W and SW Tasmania and is a very slow growing tree. It is no longer logged and is now totally protected. The huon available today for wood workers was felled or died years ago and has been salvaged from rivers and the forest floor where it has survived because it contains a natural preserving oil. Not a lot of places on the mainland sell it either. So I guess you would consider it quite rare. So for what it is I think the price is reasonable.
Maybe any Tasmanians can correct me if any of this is incorrect.

Thanks Mike,
Norton - Saint-Gobain super fine synthetic steel wool is a pad used for highlighting and rubbing wood (burnishing). Not sure what else to say about it, you can google it, I use the white one. It's fantastic stuff.
I guess I was a bit more tentative with this carving as it was awkward to hold and rub hard with the synthetic steel wool without risking fin and tail breakages. I thought 24 hours would have been sufficient as it's 30 degrees C+ here at the moment and the instructions say 12 - 24 hours. It has dried in 24 hours for me many times before with good results. I still have 2 weeks before delivery date so I will buff a few more times before then. I've recently moved closer to the coast (now 50km away as the crow flies) which maybe is a contributing factor to the humidity issue which I'm not used to. I will take that into consideration next time.
I will give the fine wood shavings a go on an offcut, but huon is a very soft wood so that will be an interesting experiment.

Thanks

BTW I'm female.

Superb as usual Germaine, The teeth might be scary for divers seeing a great white but I agree the fins are scary for carvers. As on the
finish, I personally think on this one danish oil would have worked well, the shark is wet and shiny but in saying that I don't see any blemishes on the finish you used. Great job, hope the Etsy shop is working for you.

Truly lovely work. You have caught the movement. Well done!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Excellent!!