Hurling Ball (Sliotar)

This is a wooden model of the ball used in the Irish (Gaelic) game of Hurling. The leather ball, or sliotar (pronounced shlitther) is hit with a wooden stick (a hurley). I carved this wooden copy of the ball from bog oak, i.e. very old wood recovered from a field. It was part of the deal, that my colleague Billy gave me a large chunk of bog oak in return for my carving a sliotar for him. After I used a saw and chisels to make the rough sphere, I carved the final shape with knives and palm tools. I sanded it then finished it with varnish.

Seahorse

Carved a seahorse from a basswood practice block at the weekend. It's inspired by one of Gene Messer's YouTube video lessons.

Rounding the Trout

I drew a centre line along the top of the trout from front to back. The same on the bottom. On the trout's left side, I drew a line from the mouth to the centre of the tail. These lines mark my high points and I have been rounding the fish by removing wood between these lines. Towards the middle of the fish, the line on the left is placed a bit higher than the centre of the fish, because that's where the fish is thickest (not in the dead centre).

More roughing-out on the trout

I took off most of the wood on the sides of the fish. I've made the tail curve out slightly to the fish's left. If you're wondering why the dorsal fin on the top is not centred, it's because my piece of basswood is narrower than the original trout I am copying, so I'm effectively leaving off part of the right side of it's body. I plan to mount that side of the carving onto a board of some kind, so the missing "slice" isn't so important.

The Trout - First Step

My step-father asked me to carve him a trout. Mind you that was last year, but better late than never. I bought a trout from a fish supplier and I traced the outline onto paper. Then I used carbon paper to transfer the outline onto a block of basswood. I don't have a band-saw, but I used a Mike Shipley knife, an Allen Goodman knife, a Flexcut carving jack, a small gouge, a flat chizel, a large rasp and a coping saw to bring the wood down to the outline so far. I have been doing spot-checks with a try-square to see if there are any large bumps or slants that need to be corrected. In this picture you can see at the bottom that I'm not quite there yet. My wife has been very patient so far about the wood-chips that are still found around the sitting room the next morning after each bit of carving.

Egg-cup

I whittled this egg-cup together from some scrap basswood over a couple of evenings while watching TV. (My wife Frances had custody of the remote control of course.) I used a couple of knives and a Flexcut carving jack. It's finished off with a few coats of sanding sealer (shellac and alcohol), which actually took me longer than the carving itself. The egg is real and was kindly given to me by Colm, a colleague at work who keeps chickens at home.

Ball in a Cage

I carved this with a knife from pine wood. I got a little help from a small flat chisel when I was tackling the end grain on the ball. I varnished with diluted satin varnish to hold the end grain and fibres in place, then I sanded, progressing from 80 to 360, to make it feel nice and smooth.

Wooden Knot

Here is a little knot I whittled from a some waste lime wood. (The drill hole was already in the leftover piece of lime.)

Blackbird Letter Opener

I whittled this from a neighbouring slice of the same wood as the pine snack dish below. I got the idea from YouTube videos made by Arleen Zomer (carverswoodshop) where she made letter openers shaped like birds. This one is thick and took a lot of whittling. I sanded it too. I used a wood dye on the main bird (not the blade tip, or the beak) and I painted the beak and eyes. I finished it off with a few coats of clear satin varnish.

Home-made Knife

Here is a whittling knife I made from a flat 25mm woood-drill-bit and the handle of a shovel. The handle was whittled and sanded, then drilled to take the blade. The blade took a lot of grinding. I finished the handle with boiled linseed oil.