Thread: Oneironaught's Woodcarvings.

Originally Posted by meggyfayephotography

you should carve a picture of me

Dream on :p

That building I started is the only picture I've ever tried to carve and you see where that's at, what, 10 years later?

I haven't commented yet on the last few things you've posted.

That endless chain is really cool. I'm tying to think of how the easiest way is to do that. I started a regular chain once and it was challenging enough for me then.

I think I commented on that circular boll ana box thingie (not sure what you called it) But I think that oneis really awesome. Maybe one day I'll try something that cool looking.

And the relief looks good. Did you not finish it because it is just not as satisfying as the completely 3D ones? I think I feel that way. Nothin like holding something in your hand that you carved yourself and being able to turning it in all directions and look at it and feel it. Carving is the most satisfying type of artwork I've ever attempted.


And that 10 piece puzzle just blows me away. I can't imagine how long it would take me to do one like that.... It's so impressive.

Those are pretty good!

Yes, I've been a lasy-ass lately, with respect to carving at least. I haven't done any since I broke the tip of my favorite knife off. Hopefully the thread bump and a few more pictures will get me off my butt:

This is my very first piece ever:

Another of my earlier, less-refined pieces:

Some basic chain:

Even the failures can be kind of cool:

7 Chain links in pressure-treated 4x4 inch lumber:

Originally Posted by Oneironaut_Jeff777

Those are pretty good!

Thank you.

These are awesome! I would love to have the kind of patience required to do this.

(I hadn't ever seen carvings of chain before)

Wow, I haven't checked this out in a while, nice work! It's still as mesmerizing and cool as ever

wow so how did u learn?

Originally Posted by skuruza

wow so how did u learn?

Well, many years ago, my Grandfather (Dad's Dad) whittled a few basic ball-in-a-cages and some chain links. Then my Dad decided to try. After awhile, my two brothers asked for Dad to make them each a back scratcher (because Dad had made himself several). Well, they each ended up with a back scratcher. So I asked for one and... well, my Dad bought me a knife, sharpening stone and some homing oil and told me to make my own.

That was around 1990. In '91, I made my first whittling and the rest is history. My knowledge of how to make the basics (basic chain, rings, balls in cages) came from seeing how my Dad laid them out. He got his first ideas from a book called "Whittling and Woodcarving" by: EJ Tangerman.

Since then, we've each made many different variations on the basic principals. And we've also created our own unique "elements" over the years.

Alright, I keep calling this one my first piece:



That IS my first whittled "trick carving" but it's not actually my first carving. That honor goes to an airplane I carved for a Cub Scout Whittling project when I was about 7 years old (somewhere around 1980). I still have that plane. Though for some dumb-ass reason I threw the base away some years ago. I've been kicking myself ever since. It still amazes me how perfect the propeller turned out for being so young when I did it. Heck, I'd have a hard time making it so perfect again, even today.

I'll post a picture of my real first carving the next time I take pictures.

P.S. The irony of it all is that I STILL have never made a back scratcher.

P.S.S. The worst part is that I'm still being lazy and not working on the piece I've been demonstrating to you guys. I promise I will get back to it. Hopefully someday soon.

Those are amazing! I love the chain links. I saw a Makonde wood carving on TV (I think it was some Rolf Harris program) and there were 3 or 4 large links all interlocked. Must take some skill to craft that.

Oh... how many fingers do you have left?

Originally Posted by ouija

Oh... how many fingers do you have left?

I have 10 fingers. It's a good thing I started with 12 And thanks for the kind words.

I swear I'll get back to it someday. I really need to finish up that one piece I've started (well, that and a bunch of others).

Wow you have an amazing talent.
it's almost scary

Whoa, thats alot of talent right there.

Congrats on such fantastic work!

Indeed..you really to have a knck forthis stuff...keep it up, they really are quite good..I admire people who are able to create such works of art from hard work and raw materials.

I call this a bump for great justice!

Originally Posted by Elis D.

I call this a bump for great justice!

Why thank you! Actually, your timing is impeccable. Our annual show is the 8th of next month. I'll post a few pictures from this year's show when it's done. Regretfully, I have done no carving since the piece I was showing from start to... Yeah, it's still in the same state as the last picture of it. At least I'll have time to work on it for a few hours at the show at the show. I'll be sure to show you guys the progress I make on it. I might even put this link back in my sig after the show.

I don't even have anything new to put in for judging this year and I have enough first place ribbons now to be judged in the "professional" category

I'm glad this got bumped.

Coincidently, I found this site and thought of this thread immediately.

http://completeall.com/index.php/Art...nd-Timber.html

Not exactly the same style as yours, but still.

The tank , mecha, and uber-machine gun are my favorites.

The show was Saturday and no one broke or stole any of my - or my Dad's - stuff this year! Yay, there's hope for mankind after all. Actually, it went really well. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance to re-size them. I also got a little farther on that piece I've been demonstrating step by step in this thread. So I'll get an updated shot of it as well.

Hey, does anyone know what the picture limit is on a Photobucket account? Or is there one? I've got a bunch of pictures on mine and I have no idea how close I am to reaching my limit - if there even is one.

Originally Posted by Oneironaught

I don't even have anything new to put in for judging this year and I have enough first place ribbons now to be judged in the "professional" category

Actually, I did enter something this year. And I misspoke; I meant to say that I could move to the "intermediate" category. For some reason I thought I'd been in the intermediate already. What confused me is that I could have entered intermediate as of about 6 or 7 years ago and didn't realise it.

You only need 3 first place ribbons to move up from amateur and I got my 4th around 6 years ago with an awesome Monopoly set I made. And yes, it was awesome. I don't usually brag about how cool my things are. Nor do I like the game Monopoly. But, yeah.

Hey, I did that Monopoly project as a commissioned job so I have sold at least one item I made But that still doesn't qualify me as a pro. "Professional" is only for people who carve for a living, or at least sell their carvings on a regular basis. I've given pieces away but I don't do it for money (normally) so... I'm not a pro. [EDIT]: Oh, and I sold about a dozen simple balls in cages and some chain links a long time ago, at our first two shows.

Anyway, I got a first place ribbon on the piece I did enter for judging. The rule is that it has to be something you've made within the past two years and it can't have been entered for judging at our show at any time in the past and can't have won a ribbon at any other show.

Originally Posted by gregash

I'm glad this got bumped.

Coincidently, I found this site and thought of this thread immediately.

http://completeall.com/index.php/Art...nd-Timber.html

Not exactly the same style as yours, but still.

The tank , mecha, and uber-machine gun are my favorites.

I tried to look at the stuff and only got to see the first 6 or so pictures because the stupid site keeps jumping to something else automatically. What I saw was pretty cool though.

Originally Posted by gregash

I'm glad this got bumped.

Coincidently, I found this site and thought of this thread immediately.

http://completeall.com/index.php/Art...nd-Timber.html

Not exactly the same style as yours, but still.

The tank , mecha, and uber-machine gun are my favorites.

Is your name Greg Ash? Or just gregash? lol

I don't think there's a limit on how many pictures you can upload in Photobucket. Heaven knows how many pictures I have in mine! There's size limits to the files, though, and not all formats are compatible, but that's usually not a problem unless you have some crazy .fqpd@w2 file or something.

This is a video take by my Dad at Saturday's show. The table on the right is mine and the one on the left is his. I'm the guy in the green shirt taking a snapshot of my Dad taking the video. He didn't stay still long enough to see anything too well but, I can't do anything about that now.

You can see my current project in there too (34-36 second mark).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2dyvbhNu8

And I took this one of him working on his current carving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEV5Evmf6ls

Just had a quick look through all you're carvings, and i've got to say, very impressed with them!

Thanks, guys (and Gal).

So, here's where I left you guys hanging:



I got the next segment done. I couldn't decide which pictures to use so here's a bunch of views of the current state. Hopefully this will get me to finish the piece up soon so I can move on and start something else, something even cooler.

















As you can see, the cage that I had made inside of the larger cage is now at the top of a shaft that runs through a loose ring. The ring has a two tabs to give it a little character. I don't want every ring to be a simple, even round ring. So varying the shape is often a welcome change.

You'll notice that I also removed the wood inside where the main cage makes its 1/4 turn twist. I had deliberately left that wood there until now for support. That way I could handle the piece more easily while working on the ring and shaft without it being so fragile. You need to be able to grip firmly enough to work so it helps to leave strategically located support wood at times until certain parts are done. Especially when you have long cross-grain sections, like that cage twist.

Also note the two anomalies in the lower cage bars. Two opposite bars have an open loop. They are there, if you remember, because the wood had two dents on the corners. So I needed to alter the regular cage bars to accommodate the damaged corners. As is the nature of carving, you don't need to start with a perfect piece of wood.

Sometimes it's surprisingly pleasant to have to work around flaws like that. It gives way to new twists and ideas. In fact, the entire design of the last segment was largely dictated by the fact that I made a mistake on the previous segment.

That's my favorite part of this style of carving. There's very few ways to actually mess up. You only "change your design".

Now, none of what you see in the current piece is completely done. I'll still go back and do a little more detailing and rounding out of the square edges.

And here's the one I won the first place ribbon on this year. You've seen it before but here's it dressed in blue at the winners' table:



And I see mine and my Dad's winning pieces are on the club's site now. Check out the bottom of this page (it's a slow loading page):

http://ridgewoodcarversclub.org/2008_carving_show.htm

At the show

In one of those videos I linked to you can see me taking a photo. Here is that photo:



That's my Dad. The table is my stuff. I don't really like the round tables we had this year. We weren't even able to fit all of our stuff on them.

I like that big chain on the right, that's cool.