Woodshop

[Turtle]

project elevations >>

[Turtle]

my video camera won't record on tape, but if i stay within 3 feet of the computer i can record to the hard drive. :eek_big: here's our shelly little wooden head so far >>> YouTube - turtle stool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWudiRs0f8Q

[Queso]

did you make the Head?

[Turtle]

did you make the Head?

 

the head is now roughed in. i'll add details later. children recognize it immediately as a turtle already. ;) i have progressed a lot from the video so i'll make another little video clip today; the last took 7 hours before it was available at u-tube so remain patient.

 

i haven't carved in a long time & i'm likin' it. i love the sound of mallet on chisel on wood. i can tell by the sound as much as sight how the cut is working. tap tap tap tap.... :doh:

[Queso]

What about the face in your avatar? Did you make that too?

[Turtle]

What about the face in your avatar? Did you make that too?

 

:eek2: no; i found it online.

 

here's a still of stool. off i go to get the vid uploaded.

[Queso]

what kind of crazy design are you going to paint on its back?

[Turtle]

what kind of crazy design are you going to paint on its back?

 

i'm thinking to only carve shallow grooves to outline an authentic carapice and plastron structure and have the grain itself as the crazy pattern. as it is child's furniture i don't want to use any hazardous finishes and i may color it with green food color and then finish with mineral oil.

 

i have 2 new videos uploaded and as soon as they process i'll put up the links. one of the 2 is me chiseling with my primary tool on this project. can ya hear it? crazy beat man. :eek2:

the primary tool is a 1/2" flat chisel that i have reground with a crowned head. this takes off the 'ears' of a standard flat chisel that would otherwise gouge down into the wood. my mallet is an apple branch that i carved some relief into for a handle.

 

orby, ya got me thinking to maybe carve a mask from the flat i sawed off the log when i started. :QuestionM

[Turtle]

breaking news!!! Scientists Confirm Turtles Smile All The Way Down

 

knock and a door may open.

 

YouTube - tortuga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQaXQ45zn2I

 

YouTube - chiseling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dafd_BRI-Zo

[Turtle]

what kind of crazy design are you going to paint on its back?

 

hey orby! how's about i amp up the stool's mojo with this?

 

>>

Check this out

 

http://www.tortuga.com/eng/get_started/starterkit/11x17_Now_Timer.pdf

 

the tzolkin was modeled after the turtle shell, and the 13 revolutions the moon makes around the Earth in a year.

 

This calender is archetypal as the Egyptions and other cultures around the world used it, and not just the Mayan.

 

:turtle::eek2::QuestionM:turtle:

[Queso]

you read my mind

[Turtle]

you read my mind

 

good vibrations

 

...

the primary tool is a 1/2" flat chisel that i have reground with a crowned head. ... :phones:

 

there is more mojo in this project than you can shake a stick at. :lol: in this regard, i gave the chisel short shrift. the thing is, it was bought new in the 20's or 30's and antiquey-tooly types will now be appalled that i reground it. :hyper: nonetheless, i didn't get it to gather dust but to cut wood.

 

the chisel is made by the Peck, Stow, & Wilcox company and marked PEXTO on the shank. the shank is of the socket type, with the tapered wooden handle driven in the socket and topped with a series of leather rings set around a turned pin. (i have a set of them, but someone used a metal hammer :doh: on all but the 1/2' and broke the handles :eek: . if i have a lathe again someday i'll make new. meantime, i keep them all hidden now.:hihi: )

 

seems the chisel and the wood are about the same age.

 

The Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company was out of Southington CT from 1870-1950 and they manufactured and sold bits, braces, chisels, dividers, draw knives, hammers, household tools, machinist tools, screwdrivers, tinsmith tools and wrenches.

Rose Antique Tools old tools and history

[Turtle]

No work on the stool for almost a month due to slipped disk. Starting to get it back in shape by making some poles for my wagon-pulling harness.

 

An old Norse trick for making ski poles out of slender branches without having them split as they dry after harvesting is to stand the poles vertically and upside down as they dry. I followed this procedure with the Western Red Cedar I'm using for the poles; I gathered it when a windstorm broke the top 12 feet out of a 50 foot tree a year or so ago. The wood is now dry, crack free, and ready to work. ;)

[DougF]

I carved this Face out of a Cypress Tree root I found this piece a wood on one of my Surveying jobs when I was taking a break, I thought it looked like a face as soon as I saw it although no one could see it but me at the time this did not denture me in my endeavorer being a smaller piece of wood I carried it with me all the time and carved on it every during all my free time, it stands 2 1/2 in tall and I have two weeks of work in it so far (still need to put some sandpaper to it)

 

Tools used pocket knife 4 in blade (Very Sharp)

 

 

This Ball and Chain I carved out of a 3 in X 3 in X 12 in Yellow Pine post,

this was my First and so far only attempt at carving a chain I found that the hardest part of this project was trying to keep the links of the chain all the same size the first link is the most important I thought I had the size of the links well in hand but as you might be able to tell from the last pitcher the links turn out small, large, small, the ball part being the last part to be carved.

 

as a foot note when I started this project I didn't know what it was going to turn into I just started to remove wood and a Ball and Chain is what was left, the next one I do I'll sketch the chain on all for sides of the block be for I start carving to insure even link size.

 

Tools used pocket knife 4 in blade and a Hobie knife (small razor knife) for inside links.

 

it took 6 months to carve this working 3 to 4 hr a day.

 

If I forgot any info on Ball and Chain or the the head that you would like to know about let me know and I'll be more then happy to answer you.

 

Turtle put on a pot o' java I need one more cup. :shrug:

[Turtle]

Turtle put on a pot o' java I need one more cup. ;)

 

:D:(:shrug:

 

Roger Wilco I tried the chain carving once with an 8 foot 4x4 of Doug Fir. I layed it out first and chisled all to rough form. Dragged it around with just one link free for years, and the ring split as it was and I had to glue it. cut it up for firewood a few years back. :kiss: :kiss:

 

I worked on the stool a bit this week; now using my 'moto-tool' with either an 1/8" ball cutter or the 1/2" sanding drum. :eek:

[DougF]

Turtle

An old Norse trick for making ski poles out of slender branches without having them split as they dry after harvesting is to stand the poles vertically and upside down as they dry. I followed this procedure with the Western Red Cedar I'm using for the poles; I gathered it when a windstorm broke the top 12 feet out of a 50 foot tree a year or so ago. The wood is now dry' date=' crack free, and ready to work. [/quote']

I tried this procedure two years ago on a eight foot long four inch diameter Cypress log (that I had to cut doing a Survey job) being it was GREEN I thought I would Waite 6 to 8 months before carving on it.

when I pulled the log out of storage it had a split down the whole

length.

Any idea what I did wrong? was it to big a piece of wood? maybe I just wasn't holding my mouth right. ( Old Joke)

[Turtle]

I tried this procedure two years ago on a eight foot long four inch diameter Cypress log (that I had to cut doing a Survey job) being it was GREEN I thought I would Waite 6 to 8 months before carving on it.

when I pulled the log out of storage it had a split down the whole

length. :shrug:

Any idea what I did wrong? was it to big a piece of wood? maybe I just wasn't holding my mouth right. ( Old Joke) :hihi:

 

Your stick may have been too big and/or too old for the upside down trick to work. From the show I saw I got the impression it was best applied to saplings.

 

To keep larger pieces of green wood from cracking and checking, submerge them in a pond for a year and then bring out and air dry. I used to do this with burls. The water keeps the cell walls from collapsing as they cure, i.e. become rigid. It is cell walls collapsing that cause the cracking. There is also a chemical treatment some woodworkers use to stabalize green wood; they immerse the wood in PEG (Polyethylene Glycol)