Hand Carved Acanthus Clock (Work in Progess)

Hi Everyone! I started my Acanthus clock for the San Gabriele benefit. This design is based on clock by Rolf Taraldset. I saw his preview video on youtube and was blown away by this piece. If you purchase the video it comes with a pattern for the clock and in the video Rolf shows you how to carve it. I’m broke (and cheap) so I didn’t buy the video or the pattern. I made my own freehand. I would really like to buy the video in the future just so I can see “The right way” or the most efficient way to carve this piece. I’ll post a link to the preview below or you can check out www.norwegian-woodcarving.com to see it there and for info on purchasing the video and pattern.

I’m using basswood for my clock and my deadline is February 17-18^th because the event is on the 20^th. I began by cutting the blank out on the band saw after I transferred my design. Now I’m chipping away at it. I hope you enjoy!

Here is the preview for the Norwegian Wood Carving DVD

More WIP pictures

I love cherry!!!!!

I am getting ready to begin working on an Acanthus style wall clock I was commisioned to do for the annual San Gabriele benefit in february. I was going to go ahead and use basswood as usual but my father in law suggested Maple. He had a scrap piece in the workshop and although it is beautiful, it was harder than hell. Becuase of the deadline I decided working with the maple would take too long so back to basswood.
"how about cherry?" my father in law suggested.
Now, cherry is not only gorgeous but also very expensive. He happened to have a scrap piece in the shop. I started carving through it and although it's hard, the cherry wasnt as hard as the maple. I fell in love. It carves beautifully and despite the hardness of it, i found it easy to work with and very forgiving. The beautiful grain makes it easy to carve the right direction. I kept slicing away at it and after a couple of hours, i made a relief flower. Ill post the acanthus clock soon. Because time is of the essence I will use basswood for this project and then later I'll make another with cherry!

Nursing a fever

Due to a nasty cold i had some down time. I got real sick of being sick so I went out to the shop, sharpend my tools, and finally finished this piece for one of my girls. I used the SSW method to finish it (Sand Seal and Wax) I learned from Bill Judt. I was able to get it so smooth by starting with 100 grit and working down to 220 and finally hitting it with a piece of brown paper bag. You wont believe how polished the wood starts to look after you work it with the bag. I cleaned it up with a brush and then went over it with leather to get it even smoother. Two coats of wax finished it off.
I plan to make a matching one soon.

Sent from my HTC smartphone

Sent from my HTC smartphone

Happy Father's Day!

It's quarter til one on sunday morning, father's day weekend. I'm at St. Joseph's in the Hills on my annual retreat with the six-three group of Men of Malvern. If you've never visited here before I suggest you do. It doesn't matter what race or creed you are this is strictly about spirituality. The second you pull into the property you get this overwhelming feeling of peace. Any stress or frustration you carry is left outside. You can't help but be inspired by the surroundings here. The last time I had a free minute to carve was one year ago...when I was here. I brought my tools with me again this year and started carving. I was thinking about maybe doing an angel and veered off into a little girl praying. Eleven hours later with a few smoke breaks and some walking around, here's what I have so far. I'm pretty rusty but it's starting to come back to me. It's not finished and it doesn't look like it's destined for greatness but I am so excited to be able to carve again. Hopefully I can finish this carving soon and as soon as I do I will post more pics. Happy Father's Day!
Joe

Thank You! I'm still here

Just wanted to say thanks to all the comments and emails i've been getting. I do have some projects lined up and some I've started and will be back to posting soon so please stay tuned. We are in the process of moving and I will be setup in my new shop in August or September. Among some of the projects are St. Joseph the worker and an eastern dragon, two sides of the spectrum. I will take lots of in progress pictures and work on posting a more "how to" style. Keep checking back as I may be posting some smaller projects real soon.
Thanks Again!
Joe