Jack12477

Looks realistic, Nenad, glad I could help.

Nice results, Nenad.

I picked up a couple of packages of Alpha Abrasives brand foam sanding sticks about 1/8 square x 6 1/2" long at Hobby Lobby - they come in a variety of grades one side is one grade opposite side is another grade, example 100/180, 120/240 - they come 12 to a package and are color coded for ease of identifying. They are good for small work. About $4.00 a package.

Very nicely done, Chuck

Nice job, Bob.

Denis, congrats on the addition to the family. You and Tom seem to have gotten the brunt of that storm which passed well to the north of me. I did get rain last night and all day today but nothing like what was reported up north.

Welcome back. - Nice work on the ship.

Michael, what about the braided electrical wire used in wiring telephones or model railroads, would that be small enough? Of course you'd have to strip off the insulation.

Michael, never thought for a nanosecond that you would even consider it. Makes for okay flotation in an RC model if you leave room for expansion while it cures but not a closed boat hull.

Pulling up a seat also, Michael. Druxey: "expanding polyurethane foam" ? ! ? WOW how much did that distort the model? Seen that stuff used are door jambs to the point where the door wouldn't close anymore.

Kleenex brand facial tissue works to simulate canvas. Just saturate with diluted 50-50 white glue, fold the tissue to increase thickness, ten lay over hatch, form with fingers to fit hatch, then let try. Paint when dry. I use to use it to simulate tarps lashed on model tanks, half-tracks, etc.

Ordered mine thru Mary. Thanks

This DVD by Everett Ellenwood on Sharpening is highly regarded by many experienced woodcarvers as a Beginners guide to sharpening. He also has a DVD for Beginner Carvers which compliments his book which I referenced in Post #3 above.

I agree with what Chuck is saying. I've carved basswood in larger scales (starting with a block 2" x 2" x 6" or 3" x 3" x 6") and carved it down into a large figure. For the type of carving I've been doing basswood is the wood of choice, an example is here . But I have not tried carving anything in basswood (/limewood/linden wood) as small as what Chuck's describing. I'm waiting for the kits to become available so I can experiment with his design.

Thanks.

Chuck, have you had any experience using Aspen or Poplar or Maple (easily found in Lowes/Home Depot) as the base instead of cherry?

Most definitely.

I agree Chuck. My Pfeil chisels would be extreme overkill on this. The DockSide micros would be more appropriate. In fact I think I use my knives a lot more that I use the chisels/gouges. You're right about the control with the knife. With the knife you are using your fingers and wrist more for "power" while with the chisels it's more the forearm muscles.

I'm interested in seeing how the large Lyons knives work on your small carving. I plan on trying both the #11 and the Lyons. The two on the extreme right and left in the above photos are for fine detail.

I have that "whatcah-ma-bob" Chuck and have used it a lot. Works better on the V and U shaped gouges. For my knives I prefer a long stick with a piece of old leather glued to it and some sharping rouge (like chalk dust) dusted into the leather - use the back side (rough) for stropping. The flat surface area on the Flexcut strop is too small for me.

I have not tried Chuck's #11 knife blade for carving (yet); mainly because the type of carving I do - figures and caricatures - would probably snap the blade on the first cut. Haven't tried the new Flexcut micro gouges either; I recently got a set of the now discontinued DockSide micro chisels. I am looking forward to trying my hand at Chuck's miniature carving project. I am a self taught woodcarver. Picked up a book (see my post here) and started reading and practicing. My first knife was the "bench" knife shown on the extreme left in photo below: I found this knife very frustrating to use and after joining a woodcarving club and consulting with some of their experienced carvers and trying out some of their knives, I switched to a style made by Dave Lyons called the Lyons knife (naturally) shown in the 2nd and 3rd photos. The design of the handle is more ergonomic and fits a lot nicer in the palm of your hand without fatiguing your hand after hours of carving. I might add that Dave's knives came razor sharp right out of the box and required no additional honing on my part - something I spent hours doing with the bench knife. Oh, the 2 knives to the right of the bench knife in photo #1 are chip carving knifes. For finger protection I recommend the finger guards shown in the photos below. They are leather on the bottom and an elastic material on the top and come in small, medium and large sizes to fit all finger sizes. The one on the right in the photo fits over the thumb while the one on the left fits over the forefinger And finally I constructed a bench hook as shown in these photos, the design is shown in Ellenwood's book referenced above. The notch in the back allows the piece to be placed in a diagonal position against the side stop. The gap between the side stop and the back is to allow chips to be removed more easily. I can get into a discussion of chisels and gouges at a later time as interest dictates.

This book Complete Guide to Woodcarving is the book I used to teach myself woodcarving about 8 years ago now. It is a step by step guide to everything from knife selection, sharpening, layout, even step-by-step carving projects. It is available thru Barnes & Noble. Ellenwood's book is consider by many carvers to be an excellent beginners book. Another excellent book are the many books by Harley Refsal, while not nautical in nature, he teaches the Scandinavian Flat Plane style of carving. This book Art & Technique of Scandinavian Style Woodcarving and Woodcarving in the Scandinavian Style both contain excellent step-by-step instructions for the beginning carver. Both are available thru Barnes and Noble and I have used both books to teach myself carving.

Looking forward to it, Chuck. I'm also interested and have some carving experience.

Bill Hime, I believe it's his laser cutter.

Yes, the smaller/smallest sizes do tend to break easily. But I generally use them in the WeCheer micro drill which accepts all of the Dremel collets and I use a lower RPM with these and very light hand pressure.