The Nose

Now for something different. I was was commissioned to carve a nose, just a nose. The customer had a small "stress ball" nose he wanted carved double in size. I decided on a piece of butternut I had, from Tennessee. I used my band saw to cut the front and profile. I then used a mallet and large gouges to shape the nose. I switched to smaller hand gouges to carve it smooth. I usually don't sand my carvings, I prefer the hand tooled look. However, this carving just calls for a smooth finish. So, I hand sanded beginning with 150 grit. Switching to 220 grit and finishing with 320 grit. Three hand rubbed coats of satin polyurethane made the grain pop. I finished it off with a coat of Howard Feed-N-Wax. I think it turned out great, and the customer loved it!

Cottonwood Bark Chief

I started this one last Saturday, during a club carving demonstration at Martha Lafite Nature Sanctuary. Finished it today. It's North Dakota cottonwood bark sealed with a water based polyurethane matte varnish. He's available on  my Etsy store.

Cottonwood Bark Chief