Great project! It looks really difficult but actually isn't. More fun than anything else. If I were just handed the template, yup, it would be one heck of a challenge figuring out the slopes, etc. But being able to watch Mary carve explains it very well. Being able to carve something like this has boosted my confidence level tremendously. Looks like I am going to have to give something with acanthus leaves a try. . . . .
Fantastic carve .... NOW youre getting into designs I can/will use in our home here in the Tx Hill Country ... we have a 2 story "Early American" style house outside and since we've moved in 4 yrs ago on retirement we have been trying to redo inside to match outside styles ... the whole Colonial Charleston fireplace will fit perfectly on our upstairs/master bedroom fireplace ...
Hope you plan on making casts of this one ... if so, please put me down for one asap ... just let me know cost of same .... (By the way, thanks for the series on face ... now just one or so on Santa Clause???) ... r
Hi Ralph,
That sounds great! Please add photos to the student gallery as you work through your fireplace carving. Santas, eh? Well... there are a LOT of Santa carvers out there that are much better qualified than I am, and they use those unfamiliar carving tools - called "knives" 🙂 I'll work on this - maybe something closer to Christmas...
Mary, if you were going to do a full head, which would require thicker block of wood, would you glue up some wood to make the thickness? Glue seams left to right and NOT front to back? (or boards one behind the other, rather than side by side?)
a full block would be more difficult to get I would think.
Hello Timothy,
I would recommend getting this as one block of wood if you can. The difficulty with gluing up pieces of wood is that the grain may change where they are glued together which could potentially cause some difficulty. If you do need to glue boards, I would recommend boards one behind the other. There will be less possibility of odd colors appearing. Check out www.wilcoxcarvingwood.com to see if they can cut a special size piece of basswood.
Hey Marry May can we see more baroque carvinngs ? There is a book i want you to get you can look it up on google by typing in Andre Charles Boulle book. It is a book on Marqutery but it has very many carvings from the baroque period. The best place to get it for cheap is Abesbooks.com. It is they best book for refrencing baroque style carvings.
I just carved this project. It was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. These videos are great. I like that we can actually watch Mary work and see how she does things. I have had a carving set for quite some time and I only have a couple of fishtail gouges, but that is no big deal. The important thing is that she shows the process, explains her thinking and we get to see it.
BTW, I may love it, but. . . . now my better half wants quite a few more and of different sizes. After a half dozen or so of these I should be pretty good at them,
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From MaryMay on Carving a Christmas Bell
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