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While cleaning weapons the other day, I took a good look at my 1911 and thought to myself, "Those plastic grips just don't do it justice." I then thought, "Hey, I've got this new carving bench that needs to be used." And, so, I started roughing out some grip blanks....... The bench turned out to be exactly what I needed to carve these out. It was the right height, allowed a surface that I wasn't too worried about abusing, and just really gave a rustic feel to the whole process...... I definitely need more practice. I learned a lot about using oak as a carving medium and about customizing grips for a particular person. I need to make another set, but these actually feel pretty good in the hand right now. We'll see what happens in the future....... I still want to know how someone can get this angry over a front sight.......

I've been wanting to try my hand at greenwood carving, particularly spoon carving. I decided that, to give myself every chance to succeed, I would need a bench dedicated to carving. I checked youtube, carving forums, etc and decided that a log mule/carving bench would fit the bill. It just so happened that my mother, last week, had asked me to remove some downed trees from her yard. Enter this weekend's project. First, stripping the bark from an oak log....... Then, it's time to cut the legs to size......... And then, the shaping begins. Doing this with hand tools only is quite a challenge (a Poulan is a hand tool, right?) And thus, ends the first day of work on the mule/bench.

I guess this is more of my shop hiding these little pieces that some how fall off another project. Here I was tooling along throwing saw dust all over and look up and realize the top part of that little heart on top of this spoon is missing... I did a complete cleaning of the entire shop and nothing to show for that effort....but I did find a few things off of other projects that have been missing over the years.. I have found in the past to forget looking for the pieces and go on and cut out another piece, glue it in and forget about the miss hap.. But for some strange reason I wasted about 1 day cleaning and looking... and so in the end I did glue in more wood. Funny for I did find the center of that heart I cut out yesterday which I don't need..

Well I decided to do a Newman but not as full. My carving and burning station needed something so cabinet and drawers were the thing. The stock for the cabinet was so rough looking on edges decided to edge band with cherry. Then used #3 plane to reduce it. Well then I have to sand that off, nice and smooth. Ok nothing of the assembly but this is what I have so far. Now a little on doors. This panel was not wide enough so I added a strip of Mahogany using a tounge and groove to secure it in place. Again no assembly pics . Totally assembled and then placed. No way to secure the back with the bottom panel in place so used a bracket to secure it . Well my choice for drawer front had some bad spots on back edges right were joints and bottom go so had to fill that. That was the progress for the last 3 days. Doors and drawer assembly scheduled for today and pushing forward.

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT TO GET IN ON THE AWESOME RAFFLE-FUNDRAISER TO SUPPORT THE PATRIOT WOODWORKER! Another active week here for our turners! Our Patriot Turners- @AndrewB received an African Padauk blank which he turned into a beautiful bowl- Andrew takes us through the process in this post- And a Myrtlewood bowl Here is more on this one- Andrew also is trying his hand at pen making. He showed us a couple of his attempts in these- and this one- Andrew went back and picked up on a previous post and several of our members offered additional tips and hints @Gerald is adding detail to one of his bowls with carvings Gerald is certainly a man of many talents! What’s Coming Up- Cindy Drozda is hosting another live, virtual demonstration in a couple of weeks! Click on the above image for the link to registration and more information. For The Newbies- @AndrewB mentioned he ordered and received a new bowl gouge. Sharpening and reshaping the gouge is probably going to be on his list of first things to do. Here's a video from Mike Waldt demonstrating this steps. Once the gouge is sharpened, you can turn more than a bowl with it- Expand Your Horizons- If your eyes can stand the strain, here's a project, from Woodcraft, that's sure to be a hit- If that's not quite what you want to tackle, try this from Mike Peace- This is sort of specialized and it's from an idea that AndrewB brought up. Andrew was applying epoxy to some wooden cups to make then suitable for liquids. If you are considering something like this, the folks at Alumilite have a video on the process but you'll need a "cup turner". They are available at hobby supply stores but can be built for a few bucks. This idea works great for applying run free finishes, too! New Turning Items- Something new from Ruth Niles Bottle Stoppers You can find more information at- https://nilesbottlestoppers.com/product/stainless-threaded-inserts/ The folks at Woodturners Wonders have their 1" Purple Power Sanding Discs available- Prices and quantities are at- https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/purple-power-1-sanding-discs Everything Else- Mike Peace's videos from last week- Some would say I'm addicted to Easy Wood Tools ( @Jim from Easy Wood Tools ). OK, I AM! But that doesn't mean I don't know how to use the "old time stuff". I got a bunch of wild cherry and have been roughing out bowl blanks. Just to prove I can turn with antiques- OK, so the next one I cheated- Safe turning and stay well

Have had this hollow form turned maybe 3-4 years and got started on the plan yesterday. Plan is a rosebud just starting to open. These first pics are my carving setup for this type carving. Using a Wecher to carve with. The stand holding the piece is a Trent Bosch carving stand. It allows flipping the piece or spinning it. Then put on lathe yo sand. Better dust collection.

Haven't had a chance to view the entire video, but it's a neat take on a carving mallet.

Just a great tip, for you woodcarvers.

Daylight Savings time begins this coming weekend. Don't be late to Sunday School!!! Our Patriot Turners- Last weeks "Wednesday's..." had a reply from @Gerald showing us some tops he made. His post generated several comments- In case you missed it, here's the link to where the conversation begins- How about that cool way Gerald hold his turnings while the finish dries! Gerald then showed us some of the other tops he has turned- Check this post for more examples- I need to apologize to @Masonsailor. I completely missed his post on the additional work he has done on the Lazy Susan Tulips. Check out the metal work and his installation progress- Member @Bob Hodge posted a beautiful cherry bowl- Bob also asked our opinion concerning finishing the inside of a turning. He received a bunch of responses. Please head on over to his post and maybe you can add to the ideas from our turners- Bob also made us all jealous with this post about his new source of turning wood! How's this for some beautiful grain- Check out where Bob picked up this gorgeous piece of wood- @FrederickH asked our opinion on some shop made turning tools. Check out Rick's post and see if you can add any information to help him out- @Woodbutcherbynight asked our opinion on a technique for turning a narrow mortice- He received several ideas on procedure and tools. What do you think would be the best way to accomplish what he wanted to do? The topic of working with textures continues to receive comments and questions. If you haven't been following along, here is some additional information- What’s Coming Up- Our awesome sponsor, Easy Wood Tools, wanted everyone to know they will be displaying their products at the Secaucus, NJ Woodworking Show. Thanks @Jim from Easy Wood Tools! Also- Click on the above images for links to more information. For The Newbies- You have seen them in the videos and social media. You have probably thought "I can do that!" Well here is your chance to give it a try. Mike Peace shows us the steps for making a small Winged Bowl. Expand Your Horizons- Tim Yoder is always enjoyable to watch turning. With this video, Tim gives us an insight into what the turning might look like when still hidden within the tree. New Turning Items- Saw this while watching a live feed from Carl Jacobson. It's not really a "new " item but it might just open up a new avenue for some of our turning endeavors- A Carving Stand that can be locked into your lathe banjo or bench mounted. It accepts your lathe chuck so you don't have to unmount your turning. Available from- https://trentboschtools.com/product-category/carvingstands/ Everything Else- Well, I finally finished up that hollow vessel (spaceship). Two applications of brush on gloss poly and an application of black acrylic paint on the inside. The black burned rings on either side of the gold leaf aren't as pronounced as I imagined they would be. Live and learn. I am more please with the photo results from the Mike Peace imitated photo booth. I do need to be more careful in making sure all of the dust is removed before taking pictures. I have on final piece of that walnut log. But, this failure is going to mean a different, smaller turning. Just have to figure out how to remount it- Also started an elm bowl from the old tree we had taken down last year. Roughed out and now soaking in the liquid soap/water solution. Safe turning

Folks, I was talking to a young man the other day and he sat in on a Native American bowl making class briefly, back on the east coast. He did not remember what this method of bowl making was called, and I am unable to find anything online about the method. The method of carving a bowl by Native Americans goes way back, as old as our land is. Apparently the Natives would take the timber, char or fire the center of the timber (bowl blank) as to make it easier to carve out the center of the bowl because the center is black and soft. They used the same methods for their dugout canoes, burning the center, to soften the timber or log, and dig it out with implements. Has anyone heard of this method of bowl carving? And if so, what's it called so I can research it, thanks!

This magnificent huge carving was posted on FB without giving the artist credit. It does show him but I hope he gets recognition for such a wonderful carving.