I had been teaching a 4 hr workshop on carving at the USSC show in Atlantic City. I think it was my 5th year. I had all the blanks and samples for the 30 class members loaded in the van along with all the materials I needed to work in the Bull Pen. On Thurs. I drove the 5 1/2 hrs to AC....unloaded a...

Hedly,

Nice Job. Very nice!

Joe,

In the mid 70's when I started carving for dollars I wanted to introduce color into the work but to use stains, not paint. At the time I was using the usual, browntone, minwax stains which gave the work a sepia tone look. (I still do) I remembered in college we were taught that stains didn't have to...

Sorry Doug......they are on my screen?

Remember, I'm no geek....

Let me try something, check back in about a half hour.

Joe

Thanks Dan and Mike for the words of encouragement.......you're really putting the pressure on :wink: http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w244/jcieslowski/Picture019.jpg This shows the roughout completed. This is probably the most important step in any relief piece. If these aren't right, no amount o...

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w244/jcieslowski/Picture065.jpg I've put together a short step by step on the carving of this whitetail deer piece. It's made from white pine, 5/4x19"x24". http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w244/jcieslowski/Picture005.jpg After the panel is glued up (Ti...

Thanks Mike and Duncan.....I think I have it now.

Joe

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w244 ... salmon.jpg

Nope....I'll try again later......if I can figure it out

Joe

Thanks Kent and Doug..........OUCH!!!!!

Every once and awhile I need a good slap, lol.

After all.....what are friends for?

Thanks Again!

Joe

I finish my signs with four coats of clear. I like a gloss finish.

Will I get better adheason between undercoats if I use semi-gloss? Do I still have to scuff between coats? (This is why I'm really asking....can I eliminate the scuffing?)

Thanks in advance!

Joe

Rick, Just another question.....or two :). You said you finished the other side the same way....are both sides blasted? You said it was installed in a sunny location.....Do both sides get the same amount of sun? Has it cupped any? On the sunny side? If there is cupping towards the sunny side moistur...

I'm just gonna think out loud here. The moisture content of a lot of dried woods is higher in the center. Generally only about 10% of the surface of a board reacts to the changes in enviormental conditions. When the incised letters were carved and quickly sealed, it is possible that a small amount o...

Mark,

That is one sweet piece....It's hard to believe that rifle isn't just attached!

All done with house paints?........I'm sticking to carving!!!!

Joe

I'll be there Kent.

Looking foward to meeting you.

Joe

But I had fun anyway..... All HDU....hand painted, cut and carved. There are 2 pics here. The MMVI are the initials for the "Mass Mayhem 6" meet this week....and it it's the roman numerals for 2006.....neat :wink: Is the black outline better or the white? I can't make up my mind. Joe, Maki...

Kelly, First, thanks for moving the pic from the link to this page.....but there is a second pic (a close-up of the deer) also on the link you may have missed. There are two considerations when I carve something this delicate. First, I have to be aware of how much pressure I apply down on the wood w...

Thanks Danny, They just left. It had been gilded in the past and is scaling off in spots. The gold is also pretty much warn off. It also has been repaired in places with soder. (It had blown off a barn coupla) I estimated it would take 5 books of gold with 2 hrs labor to get it clean. They may be ba...

What kind of surface prep do I need to do to prepare an old copper weather vane for gold leafing?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

This one was for an interior room. It's all pine aprox. 2'x3'. The panel was stained first and the lettering was then carved through to create the contrast. They wanted it to look old fashioned so I wire brushed the panel first (to raise the grain) and rubbed on a light brown stain over the red and ...

I agree with Doug with a possible exception......30+ lb HDU may be strong enough but then cost becomes a factor. Extira my be a better solution.
This is a tough nut.

Joe

Just a quick thank you to Katie, Steve, Frank, Jason, Mike and Ernie for making the last Jam a success. It's amazing how the folks who attend these meets really set the tone rather than the host. Thanks also to SignoFoam, Everwood and Design Board for donating HDU and primer. We used up most of the ...

There are two spots left.

Last chance.

Thanks,

Joe

I've been holding a small meet just for carving for the past 8 years....this is my last. This is "Chisel Jam" IX My home studio is located in NW Connecticut in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. It will be this March 3,4,5. $70 fee includes home cooked meals and materials. I have enough to...

Thanks Kent, I'm keeping this pretty small scale for the present but I have made allowances for the movement of the wood in this piece. The wood is eastern white pine (8"x10") stained with 1Shot black thinned about 30% with low temp reducer (for penetration and quick drying). When it's dry...

Thanks John, I get it now......boy, I had that wrong! Well I don't have either the computter, the stuff or the experience to do much more than some simple painting on the glass. I've gone off in wrong directions before and sometimes it leads to pleasent surprises. Or not. I like adventures... :) I'l...

Thanks Doug. My plan is to carve, gild and outline a fancy letter. I'll then put it in a frame. The only thing planned right now for the glass is to paint a border around it.....sorta like a matt on a print. Are you suggesting that the letter outline be done on the back of the glass? Wouldn't that c...

Thanks John,

I should have something together in a week or two.

Joe

I was looking at John Studden's web site where he shows 4 carved signs mounted behind glass. http://www.johnstudden.com/ I've heard of this presentation and I would like to try it. Has anyone seen this before? What is the effect? Is the glass mounted directly on the substraight or set off a little? ...

Thanks for the suggestions Danny, My main work bench is steel and the others are old butcher tables with 3" thick maple tops......I won't be cutting any holes in any of them :wink: My "router table" is a 1/2"x12"x2' piece of MDO with the router mounted to one end and held to...

Thanks Danny, Your research took some time and I appreciate it. I use my chamfer bit in a router table and my results across the grain is better than when I cut coves with a small hand held router. (I previously sent you an example) I usually hold the panel down onto a rubber pad but it's not perfec...