Butternut Wood Spirit

Carved this guy from a cut off piece for a larger carving. One advantage of carving from large logs, you end up with big chips. I use all of the log that I can, especially butternut. I really like how the heart wood and sap wood look in this carving.

Wild Bill

Here he is, after a few coats of satin lacquer. I debated trying to bore out and fill the knot hole in his neck, but decided against it. After all nature put that knot hole there, so who am I to say it doesn't belong? I think it adds character, along with the wormy holes. I've had several people ask why I would carve wormy butternut? I respond, why not? Take whatever the world gives you and make the best of it. Good advice for carving and life.

Applying the Finish

Wow, the grain really popped out on this carving. Began applying the finish on Wild Bill today. Two coats of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits mixed 50/50. I apply generous coats and let it soak into the wood. I will follow up with a couple coats of Deft lacquer after a few days. Linseed oil takes a long time to dry, cutting it with mineral spirits helps speed up drying time. The lacquer also acts as a drying agent.

Roughing in the Base

Just a few minutes with my Arbortech mini grinder and the base is roughed in. I love this tool. It has a 50mm tungsten carbide blade and removes wood quickly. It is great for removing a lot of wood on a small carving, like this one, or detail work on larger carvings. I will use hand tools to finish shaping the base, but this is a time saver.

Progress Update

Today's progress on Wild Bill....

Progress

Here's some progression pics on my newest carving. Still a long way to go.........

First Carving of 2015

Now that Christmas has passed, and all the santas and angels have been carved and given away, I can get back to what I really like to carve. This is a butternut log I bought at last year's Kansas City Show from Krantz Wood Sales. It measures 8" in diameter and 15" in length. I started by removing some of the waste wood with a chainsaw. Then I switch to mallet tools. Here is the progress so far......