Well done Bobbie. The cat looks good in black.

Why is that Joe? Did you think I was going to come down there and ask you to sharpen mine?

Joking aside, I think there are lots who would be interested in seeing you put something together should you ever decide to do it.

Could you mask off the stars with frisket or other thin film, gild and back up and then remove the mask when the backup is tacky, reclean and gild your silver? There may be a problem with edges if the film is thick, but you could counter that by cutting in your backup just shy of the mask. Whatever ...

Thanks for the link Erik, I ordered the video. It's 1hr 52 mins long, I should be pretty smart after that. ;) Kelly.....I thought you had taken Shane Dunford's class!? Did he not delve into this arena? It's the single most important part of carving. It's interesting to note that until recently all t...

Okay, I get the part about the bevel, makes sense. I have a veritas honing guide and angle jig for my regular chisels, same principle. Is there a difference in shaping the tool for carving in the round versus incised carving, or are they different tools completely? I bought a couple of Henry Taylor ...

Joe, With all respect, the problem with trying to learn something like that off a forum is two fold. First, there tend to be conflicting opinions, and if you are starting at square one it just confuses you further. Secondly there is usually a fair amount of other "stuff" to sift through. I...

Thanks for chiming in Doug. I know diddly squat about sharpening tools. I have a couple of carving books with instructions in but they don't jive with each other. I looked up Chris Pye on You Tube but there was just a trailer to a larger video. For over 15 years my fathers lathe has been sitting idl...

I finally listened to a couple of smart fellows and replaced my carving tools with some good Swiss and German ones. Fortunately they came sharpened and ready for honing. I was looking on the net to make sure I remembered my sharpening lessons and didn't mess these nice tools up and I came across thi...

That's really nice Jerry. If you are still having trouble deciding on colours for those corners, cut some coloured paper or vinyl and slip it in behind the glass and see what grabs you. I like the woodgrain background, it pulls things together. As for those things you call faults, that's character a...

You're welcome
I looked for that post a couple of times myself and had a hard time finding it.
Sometimes the titles aren't quite self explanitory.

The mural is about 6 hours drive from here in Brooks, Alberta, Tony. It's in the industrial area of the city on a main road where it should get lot's of exposure. It's titled "Making the Connection", a play on the oil terminology portrayed in the largest panel as well as the connection of ...

Very nice Erik. Let's see a close up of the domed abalone in place.

Sleep

Looking good Erik. I'm curious as to the polyurethane coating. Could you have done it before painting? Did you use it under the smalts? Is it possible to use a flattening agent in it so it doesn't have as much gloss? Or could it have been lightly sandblasted to break the sheen? Then again, you may h...

Congratulations Tony. You've sure got those watercolours figured. It's not an easy medium to work in, and I like the strength and authority with which you use them. You manage to create strong colour while still keeping that transparent and moody look to your work. Well done.

Thanks Larry, I think I may take a couple of weeks off. Well, as soon as I get done a couple of other projects. ;) Pat and Ruth, thanks so much for the day you and Graham helped, your visit gave me the strength to push through finish the job on time. :) The pipes panel was one committee members favo...

Loved working with the Aura paints! http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq332/keltgrafix/DSC_0999-1.jpg We loaded it up and off to Brooks. It's hard to believe that much work fits into this box!!!! With three of us working it took a combined total of 50 hours to install it. http://i461.photobucket.co...

Your work is always too much to absorb in one sitting Dave!
I'm super busy working on a mural right now, but once I get some down time I'm going to revisit this post and soak it all in.
In the meantime, do that poor puppy a favour and teach it not to chase parked cars.

Hi Larry, It was real nice chatting with you the other day. So this is the monster tree. :) It looks good. Will there be any problem with the little plates showing though if it is two sided or will the plates be mounted on both sides? Two sides of sandblasting look pretty opaque, but when the plaque...

Well my sales bill says Aluply, but the backing has alucobest printed on it. I don't have the protective sheets anymore, but I think they said Aluply as well. If you google it you get a foreign site. But, yes, they are a composite panel like Dibond. I also used one sheet of Komalu and it seems to ha...

Yep, pretty ingenious!
Now that we have seen a picture of the mirror hole, let's see a picture of the whole mirror.

Update: Confident from the results of my experiments with Dibond and Fresh Start Acrylic Primer, I primed 12 panels of AluPly using the BM Fresh Start, assuming that I would have a indestructable bond - not even close. Thinking the "tinted" Fresh Start was the culprit (it used a deep base...

Thanks Joe,
I'll print that formula out and take it in with me when I go to get the extender.
I did find that if I use the textured rollers when the paint is just past tacky that they grabbed OK - That breaks the 4 hour to recoat rule, what does that mean to me - a possibility of blistering?

Mark the mural consists of 11 panels (16'x16', 12'x12', 8'x16', 8'x12' etc). It's going to take a fair amount of paint... I'm committed to the Aura line now and am somewhat reluctant to experiment with different primers, so I think I'll have to make this combo work. With the broken ribs the idea of ...

Well I guess I'll either double coat the red or I won't. :) I've got two gallons of black mixed up here, Joe, I don't know if they would replace them for me or not, I guess I can give it a try. Mark, I'm painting on aluminum composite panels. That is a lot different than painting on a rough wall and...

one word of caution, do not mix Ben Moore Auras with any other Ben Moore exterior latex... ain't good for yer health I was warned about that by my dealer. Wonder what happens? In any case I won't try it, I sure don't need any more bad health - two months to get 'er done and I broke two ribs last we...

I'm about to start a large mural project using Benjamin Moore Aura paints on Aluply primed with Benjamin Moore Fresh Start. They are getting pretty high reviews here for their coverage and fade resistance. Tony I know you used them on your last mural and I was wondering if you had any feedback. I se...

Griffin Alkyd colours are a Windsor & Newton Product and are oil based. The vehicle is a modified alkyd resin which makes them faster drying, but they maintain the characteristics of other tube oils. They are slightly more transparent than regular oil paints and dry to a more even sheen. I don't...

The price of the figs at .32 ea seems strangely out of proportion to 1lb of black smalts at .10/lb, and what does $4 per 5% mean?
Never mind I just figured that part out 6 doz @$4/doz=$24-5%=$22.80.
Sounds like a real expensive remedy....