Sunday 11 August 2013

Getting Started

Before you start carving, there is some prep that needs to happen. I hate that. I wanna get going... First, as the log dries it will split. By slicing into the heart of the log you reduce (eliminate?) this splitting. I misunderstood the necessary cut initially and my able assistant cut off the bottom; first mistake. Oh well, I can work with that. The photo shows the proper cut, as I understand it.You have to cut into the heart.
It seems like this amount of cut should be sufficient but it may be that we should have done a bigger 'v'. When I learn more I'll share it.


The other thing I learned after the fact was that you cannot take off the bark and  immediately start carving. Well you can, but you may regret it in the finished product. You need to take off the top layers, right down to the 'real' wood. I think it's the sap wood you're removing but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, I'm working with Western Red Cedar so it looks pretty obvious at this point. Later on it's less obvious, to me anyway but that's for my next post. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have acquired a mentor guiding me on this adventure? I really lucked out.



Two ways to get down to the workable wood. Chainsaw or hatchet....chainsaw is faster.



Ready for final cleanup







5 comments:

  1. Looks like fun. You go girl.

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  2. Oh yeah??? My dog is cuter than your's! Anyway, get carving already! :)

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  3. Quite the project, my advice is to just cut away all the wood that doesn't look like the leaves and....voila!

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  4. What would I do without all that good advice

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  5. Love this. Looks like a really fun project. Keep posting please !

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