sharpening system upgrade

Well today my power strop arrived in the mail along with the drill mount and a block of buffing compound. The stropping system came with two pieces, the standard leather wheel and a  
V-shaped leather wheel for buffing inside V-tools and gouges.  Now many might just grab the first knife they come across and begin to work the blade, I chose a different path. I looked through my old carving tools so my first attempt using this new tool would not damage a good quality knife.

Even though it was an old knife I set the speed slow, and applied the buffing compound. After this I worked one side of the edge and then went to the other. Because of the way the drill mounts I found it felt better to work one side of the blade change the direction of the drill and work the other side. This allows the handle to always be free of any obstruction and the brief moment switching the drills direction had no impact on my efforts. After a few swipes on both sides of my knife I grabbed a piece of scrap wood and cut a few slices to see if it made a difference, and yes it seemed to. I also looked at the areas cut to see if they were clean cuts or if there were any issues with the blades edge.

I will slowly go through each knife and work them on the new system but will continue to use the hand held strop during carving sessions. Many carvers are like myself and have a limited amount of resources to put towards equipment so a sharpening system has never been on my radar. Now with this system and the strops I already own and use I feel like I can more properly maintain my tools and extend the life of each and every one of them. From what I have seen the brief amount of use I have gotten today I think this will show that it was well worth the investment.

 

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem carving     

wood spirit carving

Well I finished my cottonwood bark wood spirit and have placed it on my Etsy page. I was overall happy with how it came out. I did put a lacquer finish on the piece due to it's size and thickness on one side, hoping that this will give it a bit of strength and stability. I haven't carved that many pieces in cottonwood bark and still on the fence of how I feel about it overall.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cartoons2Carvings

 

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem carving

a cartoon to carving

 Well as you can see I decided to play around with one of my cartoons and see if I could carve one. I made some mistakes in cutting out the pattern and didn't actually leave enough wood in areas for carving details so big lesson learned here. Always remember to leave extra wood because you can carve some off easier than adding some on after the rough-out is cut.

The area surrounding the eyes was cut to shallow so didn't carve that in just did an old style and simply hollowed it out. In certain angles it gives a nice effect but over all I don't like doing the eyes this way any longer. Also the shoes I cut to shallow and when it fell off my table he broke his little feet, so will either address this issue later or will simply move onto the next carving and keep this as a study piece for future reference. I plan on carving out some arms for him and am not sure if I will carve the hands separate or carve them as part of the arm itself. Some carvers will carve these separate for ease of positioning, and yes I know some carvers only carve solid pieces and don't like this way of doing it but I don't care as long as in the end I have a solid carving image wise. Overall happy with my first attempt at this, this was carved on a 2x2 piece of basswood not sure if I will do the same size on the next one or will go to 3".

Etsy store update

Well thought I would give everyone an update on the Etsy store. So far so good I guess, this like anything else is taking some trial and error to get it off the ground. I have met some good people on this site and have gotten a good amount of attention to my store and my carvings, that's the good news. On the flip side I haven't had a sell yet but know it is just a matter of time. No one realistic about starting a business expects to sell out on the opening day. This will take time but I have not only gotten great feedback from veteran carvers but have also gotten great words of encouragement in reference to my carvings themselves. So good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, sales will come. 

just in case you missed the link above click here

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cartoons2Carvings

Before I forget I have a piece of cottonwood bark that I need to do something with so I have prepped it and will begin carving within the next day or so. I am thinking of carving two faces on the wood but keeping the piece as one solid piece instead of cutting it into two.  

as always happy trails 

and 

Carpe diem carving

bottle toppers pt 5 fini

Finally I have finished the second bottle topper, not only painted but also the finished protective coat has been applied. The bottle toppers will be the first two of a series of "night cap" bottle toppers. You can also see the two toppers on my Etsy store front.

These were both carved from the same rough-out and I will use the same rough-out in the future, they are of quality bass wood and shipped in a timely fashion but as always I will make efforts to design and rough cut my own. This way I can be creative in the design of the bottle toppers. Until then I will continue to buy the rough-outs. For those interested in trying your hand at carving a bottle topper go to Mark Akers page, you will be happy with the product just as I have been.

as always happy trails 

and 

Carpe diem carving