I knew you could.
Last week I said the Eagle Lovespoon would be finished by now. It's not. It's taking just a leeetle bit more time than I anticipated. Part of that was the fear and uncertainty I was feeling over doing the eagle. As splintery as this piece of wood is, I was really afraid the chip carving would be a disaster.
It wasn't. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't a disaster. I was able to clean up all the breakouts without too much trouble. All it took was patience.
I also started relieving the frame around the hearts to bring up the kissing cranes' beaks. The cranes are my next challenge. Once I get them done I'll start on the back. I'm not going to go into anywhere near the detail I've done on the front, but I'm going to clean things up and round them off. If I didn't the spoon would look more like a casting than something carved. More to come.
This is my new bowl, carved from one of those green aspen branches I got a few weeks ago. Being green wood, this one carved very quickly. About the only difficulty I had was in dishing out the outside of the bowl without the blade of my knife catching and chattering.
I thought the design was fairly successful.
I thought the design was fairly successful.
I particularly like the way the heartwood goes through the base of the bowl. What do you think?
Hooray! The whale-fish has his tooth! I got the blades from Mike at Preferred Edge this week, and was so anxious to try it out I had to neglect the Eagle Lovespoon and mount the blade. Not that it took all that long.
I traced the outline of the shank of the blade onto the handle, and cut inside the lines with my detail knife. Then I cut out between the lines with a small chisel and one of my other bent knives. The fit wasn't perfect and I need to do better at cleaning up the epoxy, but this was the first time I've ever done this. Overall, not bad. And it cuts like a dream. That larger blade really makes a difference when you need to move a lot of wood. The handle is comfortable, too. The tail makes for the perfect place for my thumb. I'm a happy camper!
Next time, more progress on the Eagle Lovespoon and maybe a bowl or two. Gotta use that new knife!
Until then, let the chips fly!
Posts
I'm getting an itch to buy one or two of those knives. Whats your take after using them?
ReplyDeleteThe eagle spoon is coming along nicely. Its made me think of a Thistle spoon as a project, I've ordered some American walnut . Yes all the way over the Pond for me to destroy it.
I like the shape of that bowl Bob, how big is it? It looks small, but I have no idea really.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I like them a lot. They take a little getting used to since you hold them in a reverse grip. I still haven't quite got the slicing action down, but I'm getting better. I think I'll add some advice on these knives in another post.
ReplyDeleteSean, the bowl is 1" high at the low point, about 1-3/4" high at the high point, about 2" across the beam and 4.5" stem to stern. The base is about 1" wide and 1-3/4" long. The design is based loosely on a Swedish bowl design. Next step is to get bigger!
I love the eagle! IT's awesome! Sometimes a stylized animal is what is called for. I have a hard time trying to find something I like while my wife is alwasy urging me to try "unrealistic" birds and animals. It looks like a cross between a Roman legion guide on and an Alaskan totem pole.
ReplyDeleteEthan, you're close. The eagle is a Celtic design. Though I also noticed the resemblance to the Roman eagle. The Romans were great adopters, and the Celts were much more widely spread at the time of the Roman Empire. Maybe they got it from the Celts. Maybe you ought to try some Celtic animals. Dover has an inexpensive book full of them, all public domain. The book comes with a CD with the designs. A couple of those might be what you need to boost sales.
ReplyDeleteThe eagle is FABULOUS! Your spoon is going to be a real showpiece when you're done. I really like the shapes of the bowl and the whale/fish knife. Keep on carving!
ReplyDeleteHello, how’s it going? Just shared this post with a colleague, we had a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteTotalentreprise