not finished carving but feel good as to where I'm at . Its all still in the ruff but and I will now shift over to the diamond bit for the sanding phase. But after looking it over I still have more carving to do?

You have patience beyond belief Patch. All of that detail yet to be sanded let alone finished would make me crazier than I am.

You are a genuine craftsman of wood artistry.

Amazing, Jesse. Another beautiful piece of creative artistry in the making. 

Don't look here.

Edited January 9, 20224 yr by Smallpatch

7 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

Well, I hate this site for sometimes I loose all the typing I had done regarding your nice compliments. I put what I was typing on I thought was safely stored to find a picture then went back and all the typing was gone, shucks.

 

 

Modern Technology, it has it's moments.     Meanwhile, your project is fantastic!!!!! 

I think you guys are too wild with your thoughts.

  This is nothing but following a pattern and I'm just sitting here thinking about what tools will be required for the next step. This is whats interesting for there are always a different number of tools and attachments to consider and do I want to risk all this work I've already finished here to chance the most obvious answer or do I go with a tool that causes little danger if is slips and rams its bits in  to new not to touch wood.

  This picture shows what almost carved all you see in the picture. Plus the old belt sander that did all the wood removing in the middle up to the carvings..

  The 4 bits laying on the wood I never use anymore. They are much too aggressive and cause more damage than any of the other type bits.

  So all I do is choose the bits that I think will work in certain areas to end up looking like the picture.  

One thing I started using for some final sanding is a Dremel Multi-Max. I bought it for a totally different purpose but it saves lots of hand sanding and thats what's important.

 

Then all of a sudden it appears.

17 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

 

  This is nothing but following a pattern 

Yeah, right! You forget to mention your years of experience, your artist's eye, and mastery of your various tools. 

Gene I agree it does take a calm and collected mind when one uses any tools and to keep something under control when its spinning then to lower it on to some hard wood, that first touch against the wood is very important. I think of a weed eater when the line comes in contact with a water hydrant sticking out of the ground. I figure this is the most important time in a power carvers life. Yes, this is something that has to be learned very quickly.....I'm headed to that area right now.! I have my power tools trained for they turn themselves on when they hear the key is inserted in to the lock!! Too bad I don't have an automatic dust remover do the same....floor is always slick from too much sawdust,,,,

  And this is not my health problem. I thought I was going to need a pacemaker but the heart doctor says my heart is strange  for it has the regular valve that makes my heart beat which is at the top of the heart... And for some strange reason my heart has another valve at the bottom also beats, but not as strong of a beat, every other time in between the regular heart beat... They decided not to operate but are trying lots of blood pressure pills hoping this will stop the lower beat... But so far for about 6 months or more is bad cases of diarrhea. This is my health problem and I can't get too far away from a bathroom. All this is sad but true!!!!!

 And I never had real high blood pressure!

Sorry to hear that, Jess. Sounds kinda shi**y!

 

 I been playing with the background waiting for instruments for the center area.

   I free handedly drew out some lines on clear plastic so I could flip it over for both sides and my little rectangled mess didn't match up so I had to go back and widen some of the slots on the other side.

 

It does take a calm hand to slice off a smidgen of wood and the blade needs to be newish so it don't slip out of line. 

I never know what will suit my thoughts or if my dreaming was just that, dreaming.

 Next will be trying to get all the pieces to match its neighbors in height and looks?

Patch I love the look of all those little rectangle design thingies. Your patience for detail, blade changes etc. for such intricate small detail is amazing especially given the thickness of the wood.

 

You most likely already do, but I'll say it anyway, make sure you sign and date in some fashion this piece (as all your others). This one is a real keeper. Can't wait to see it with the instruments installed.

Really like those rectangles. It's going to be awesome!

Just waiting for the instruments I cut the holes for before I continue with the coloring

 The temp says its colder here right now than Anchorage Alaska. I'm afraid to go out and check on my project for the wood might be frozen!

Wow! That's gonna be a real beauty! 

If you're seeing Anchorage temps (23° now) I'd stay in the house.