carousel horses

Hi From time to time i have a bo- peep at pictures of the great work members are showing and with little to do on a wet day decided to post pics of several horses i have carved part of a total of some 9 carved during the last 5 or six years . Designs are generally based on horses carved by old master woodcarvers in America in the late 1800s . I sometimes change the stance and adornments which i add to both sides contrary to the originals which were normally adorned on the side facing the outside of the carousel . Size is also reduced to approx half size of the originals . The horse with flowers is based on AMERICAN BEAUTY which i recall the original Attachment 434447Attachment 434448is worth about $100.000

BEAUTIFUL isn't the right word as they are so good, sir...

Any more photos please?

Cheers, crowie

Lovely detail in those carvings, what timber are you using?

I was also wondering about the timber used and why half sized?, are they for half size carousels?.

Exquisite, what an eye for detail. [emoji106]


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Fantastic work.

Can you share some detail. What timber are you using?
How do you get such big sections - laminate up thick timbers I expect ?
What is your general approach - rough it out on the bandsaw etc etc?

Cheers
Arron

You do some great work!!

Hi Usually Jelutong however on two occasions i used what was claimed to be European Lime obtained from Trend Timber however they later advised it was no longer available . In the U.S.A they generally use Basswood which is equivalent to English Lime which was used by many carvers for church pieces. Either Basswood or Lime are available in Australia but on in small blocks and sticks at silly prices. Both are great timbers to carve and its hard to understand why some yard hasnt imported a quantity.I have looked at importing some but whilst the super foot rate was about $4-00 the cost of freight was way too high. So the next best is Jelutong which is available from several yards in Sydney

Hi Arron
Normally Jelutong but would prefer Lime or Basswood if either were available at a reasonable cost,The first stage if construction is a box section normally 16 mm M.D.F. Saves weight and timber . Inside the box i make a square tapered section to later fit the support pole. I then start building around the box with 50 mm pieces basically cut on a band saw to the horse shapes profile. I leave sections to later fit the legs like a large lap joint where they fit into the body Much of the legs are carved before fitting The head and portion of the neck are carved before fitting,Eye sockets are carved to allow fitment of the glass eyes . For working drawings i make a side view line drawing of the horse profile and from that gauge all other sizes based on some study of horse pictures from books newsprint etc. There is a book by Bud Ellis that has a number of line drawings of carousel horse profiles as made by past old masters .

Hi Full sized carousel horses are normally too big for the average house as they could be near 2 metres long. Also there is question of material cost and suitable fixtures to hold the horse for carving . I normally make them around 1 metre total and this makes the horse more manageable to work on and lowers the material cost. Carousels or Merry go rounds are few and far these days most being restored ones made about 100 years ago.Horses in restored condition as also newly carved versions are popular in America as ornaments Prices can range from several thousand up to $100,000

Hi These were made in Jelutong . Additional details in other replies as below. Cheers