Galoots,

I've been on vacation the past week.  No oldtool acquisitions, although
I did hit a good flea market, and I did paw through some piles of tools,
and seriously considered yet another brace, but excessive rust and
a nudge from Kathy kept me from making a fool of myself in public
by purchasing one brace too many.   She did not, of course, keep me
from making a fool of myself in all those other little ways I have ;^)

Arrived at the cottage to find that the small amount of so-called lawn
we maintain (more like domesticated weeds than actual lawn) was
almost a metre high.  I hauled out my scythe to mow down the tall grass
and weeds around the property.  Yes, we are way ahead of everyone else :^)

Apart from a bit of yard work and general maintenance (sanding, painting,
and staining) the only galoot-type fun I had was some carving.  The Hydro
crew cut down a fair sized cedar (10 inch diameter) last fall, and I had
saved some bits of the trunk for what I hoped to be a Haida-style mask
carving.

I took a piece about a foot long and split it in half, debarked, then roughly
hollowed out the back with a big gouge.  I let this dry in the wood shed
over winter and pulled it out last week.  No checks or cracks  had developed,
so I planed the outer face to a reasonably clean surface to start carving.
I've got a book with some mask and totem pole patterns and pictures, so
I used one of those as my guide.

Before I left for vacation I selected some carving chisels and honed them
well.  Or so I thought.  They cut very clean and smooth cross-grain on some
soft white pine I had in the shop.  Then I tried applying them to this piece
of cedar.  OMG as the kids say in text-speak.  I managed to find TWO tools t
hat would cut this mush-wood without tearing it to shreds.  One chip carving
knife, and one shallow sweep (#3) 1/2 inch Henry Taylor gouge.   I think I will
stick to basswood and white pine for carving from now on.  This cedar is awful
stuff.

I spent a couple of hours to get this far.  And I don't fancy doing any more
to it besides painting it in traditional colours.  Not sure yet about the final 
shape,
but Kathy thinks I should clean up the outside groove and cut to that line to 
end up
with just the face.  Sounds good to me.

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/100_4664.JPG

-- 
Darrell LaRue
Oakville ON
Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks great to me!

=A0 Van Hudson




________________________________
 From: Darrell & Kathy <larchmont@s...> To: Galoots <oldtools@r...>
 Sent: Sunday, July 8, 2012 12:31 PM Subject: [OldTools] a bit of
 carving this week

Galoots,

I've been on vacation the past week.=A0 No oldtool acquisitions,
although I did hit a good flea market, and I did paw through some piles
of tools, and seriously considered yet another brace, but excessive rust
and a nudge from Kathy kept me from making a fool of myself in public by
purchasing one brace too many.=A0 She did not, of course, keep me from
making a fool of myself in all those other little ways I have ;^)

Arrived at the cottage to find that the small amount of so-called lawn
we maintain (more like domesticated weeds than actual lawn) was almost a
metre high.=A0 I hauled out my scythe to mow down the tall grass and
weeds around the property.=A0 Yes, we are way ahead of everyone else :^)

Apart from a bit of yard work and general maintenance (sanding,
painting, and staining) the only galoot-type fun I had was some
carving.=A0 The Hydro crew cut down a fair sized cedar (10 inch
diameter) last fall, and I had saved some bits of the trunk for what I
hoped to be a Haida-style mask carving.

I took a piece about a foot long and split it in half, debarked, then
roughly hollowed out the back with a big gouge.=A0 I let this dry in the
wood shed over winter and pulled it out last week.=A0 No checks or
cracks=A0 had developed, so I planed the outer face to a reasonably
clean surface to start carving. I've got a book with some mask and totem
pole patterns and pictures, so I used one of those as my guide.

Before I left for vacation I selected some carving chisels and honed
them well.=A0 Or so I thought.=A0 They cut very clean and smooth cross-
grain on some soft white pine I had in the shop.=A0 Then I tried
applying them to this piece of cedar.=A0 OMG as the kids say in text-
speak.=A0 I managed to find TWO tools t hat would cut this mush-wood
without tearing it to shreds.=A0 One chip carving knife, and one
shallow sweep (#3) 1/2 inch Henry Taylor gouge.=A0 I think I will stick
to basswood and white pine for carving from now on.=A0 This cedar is
awful stuff.

I spent a couple of hours to get this far.=A0 And I don't fancy doing
any more to it besides painting it in traditional colours.=A0 Not sure
yet about the final shape, but Kathy thinks I should clean up the
outside groove and cut to that line to end up with just the face.=A0
Sounds good to me.

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/100_4664.J-
PG

-- Darrell LaRue Oakville ON Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and
Occasional Tool User

------------------------------------------------------------------------
OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.

To change your subscription options:
http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools

To read the FAQ: http://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html

OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/

OldTools@r... http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I like that a lot Darrell!

-- John

John Eaton
http://modernwoodworking.blogspot.com

-----Original Message-----
From: oldtools-bounces@r...
[mailto:oldtools-bounces@r...] On Behalf Of Darrell &
Kathy
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 12:32 PM
To: Galoots
Subject: [OldTools] a bit of carving this week

Galoots,

I've been on vacation the past week.  No oldtool acquisitions, although I
did hit a good flea market, and I did paw through some piles of tools, and
seriously considered yet another brace, but excessive rust and a nudge from
Kathy kept me from making a fool of myself in public
by purchasing one brace too many.   She did not, of course, keep me
from making a fool of myself in all those other little ways I have ;^)

Arrived at the cottage to find that the small amount of so-called lawn we
maintain (more like domesticated weeds than actual lawn) was almost a metre
high.  I hauled out my scythe to mow down the tall grass and weeds around
the property.  Yes, we are way ahead of everyone else :^)

Apart from a bit of yard work and general maintenance (sanding, painting,
and staining) the only galoot-type fun I had was some carving.  The Hydro
crew cut down a fair sized cedar (10 inch diameter) last fall, and I had
saved some bits of the trunk for what I hoped to be a Haida-style mask
carving.

I took a piece about a foot long and split it in half, debarked, then
roughly hollowed out the back with a big gouge.  I let this dry in the wood
shed over winter and pulled it out last week.  No checks or cracks  had
developed, so I planed the outer face to a reasonably clean surface to start
carving.
I've got a book with some mask and totem pole patterns and pictures, so I
used one of those as my guide.

Before I left for vacation I selected some carving chisels and honed them
well.  Or so I thought.  They cut very clean and smooth cross-grain on some
soft white pine I had in the shop.  Then I tried applying them to this piece
of cedar.  OMG as the kids say in text-speak.  I managed to find TWO tools t
hat would cut this mush-wood without tearing it to shreds.  One chip carving
knife, and one shallow sweep (#3) 1/2 inch Henry Taylor gouge.   I think I
will
stick to basswood and white pine for carving from now on.  This cedar is
awful stuff.

I spent a couple of hours to get this far.  And I don't fancy doing any more
to it besides painting it in traditional colours.  Not sure yet about the
final shape, but Kathy thinks I should clean up the outside groove and cut
to that line to end up with just the face.  Sounds good to me.

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/100_4664.JPG

--
Darrell LaRue
Oakville ON
Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darrell,I think it turned out great. Nicely done.Joe

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 8, 2012, at 9:31 AM, Darrell & Kathy <larchmont@s...> wrote:

> Galoots,
>> I've been on vacation the past week. No oldtool acquisitions,
>> although
> I did hit a good flea market, and I did paw through some piles of
> tools, and seriously considered yet another brace, but excessive rust
> and a nudge from Kathy kept me from making a fool of myself in public
> by purchasing one brace too many. She did not, of course, keep me from
> making a fool of myself in all those other little ways I have ;^)
>> Arrived at the cottage to find that the small amount of so-
>> called lawn
> we maintain (more like domesticated weeds than actual lawn) was almost
> a metre high. I hauled out my scythe to mow down the tall grass and
> weeds around the property. Yes, we are way ahead of everyone else :^)
>> Apart from a bit of yard work and general maintenance (sanding,
>> painting,
> and staining) the only galoot-type fun I had was some carving. The
> Hydro crew cut down a fair sized cedar (10 inch diameter) last fall,
> and I had saved some bits of the trunk for what I hoped to be a Haida-
> style mask carving.
>> I took a piece about a foot long and split it in half, debarked, then
>> roughly
> hollowed out the back with a big gouge. I let this dry in the wood
> shed over winter and pulled it out last week. No checks or cracks had
> developed, so I planed the outer face to a reasonably clean surface to
> start carving. I've got a book with some mask and totem pole patterns
> and pictures, so I used one of those as my guide.
>> Before I left for vacation I selected some carving chisels and
>> honed them
> well. Or so I thought. They cut very clean and smooth cross-grain on
> some soft white pine I had in the shop. Then I tried applying them to
> this piece of cedar. OMG as the kids say in text-speak. I managed to
> find TWO tools t hat would cut this mush-wood without tearing it to
> shreds. One chip carving knife, and one shallow sweep (#3) 1/2 inch
> Henry Taylor gouge. I think I will stick to basswood and white pine
> for carving from now on. This cedar is awful stuff.
>> I spent a couple of hours to get this far. And I don't fancy doing
>> any more
> to it besides painting it in traditional colours. Not sure yet about
> the final shape, but Kathy thinks I should clean up the outside groove
> and cut to that line to end up with just the face. Sounds good to me.
>> http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/100_466-
>> 4.JPG --> Darrell LaRue
> Oakville ON Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>> To change your subscription options:
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
>> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/ OldTools@r...
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
------------------------------------------------------------------------