Kevin Kenny
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Everything posted by Kevin Kenny
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She is really coming along nicely Henry. I am now putting on the channels, getting back into the model- 257 replies
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- pegasus
- Swan-class
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Ok enough carving its back to the model of the Thorn. My last piece was my attempt at carving a rose which came out ok. I had to use the Turbo Carver to get the deep thin slots between the petals and between the leaves. Not sure how this could be done with a gouge as the odds are the leaf would break. It was easy to do with the Turbo Carver. I also used a much thicker blank to be able to get the depth in the piece. The main challenge was deciding on the layering of the carving. I had to cut the leaves first and take those to the finial depth, then the next level and so on. When the basic shape was decided on i used the same techniques we learned in Annapolis to carve the finishes using the gouges. Clean up was done with sandpaper and the Foredom using some round diamond bitts. You will have noticed that i have been carving large pieces much bigger that will be needed to put on a 1/4” scale model but i felt that this was what i needed to do to understand how to develop the carving techniques. Also i used a number of different woods of which Mahogany was the easiest to carve. The Coffee wood, Juniper and Acoma with its tighter grain gave a much superior finish and allowed greater detail but was harder to work and required sharpening the gouges on a more regular basis. In total i have carved 37 pieces and can see how my basic skill level has improved. But its time to move on and get back to building my model. I will continue to carve from time to time but found that the workbench was incompatible with model making and carving at the same time. I was constantly having to sharpen the gouges. On a finial note i think i have burned out the bearing in the Turbo Carver for the second time, so that been sent off to service. Thank goodness for the use of my power tools. It makes me appreciate the work of the old masters even more when one realizes that they did not have access to modern tools.
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John here is an interesting video on getting 1/4 sawn cuts on a band saw. It is a very interesting jig.
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There are lots of the, on YouTube. that why i never did one. Here is one that explains an easy aapproach
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Hi John you need to find someone with a large table saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. The Proxxon work bench tools are too small to do this work.
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Hi John you need to find someone with a large table saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. The Proxxon work bench tools are too small to do this work.
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Hi John you need to find someone with a large table saw or a large band saw. Either will do. You need to prepare two flat sides on the saw and then it is easy to cut into planks. You can also use a large hand plane to flatten one side and then if you need make a jig to flatten the vertical side of the log. Any good carpenter shop would be only to happy to cut this for you. My experience is that when they find out what you re using it for that they may even cut it for free. Woodworkers and shop owners or operators are a wonderful fraternity . I usually cut them to 1/2” -3/4” thickness so i can cut them thinner on my Proxxon table saw. The Proxxon work bench tools are too small to do this work. Ill post some pictures
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Just watch the preparation of the standing rigging for the Tally Ho which some of you may find very instructive.
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I got mine from a friend. I am not sure that anyone sells this wood. But any dense hardwood will work.
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The passing of Jim Byrnes
Kevin Kenny posted a topic in NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD - News & Information
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My homework for the Christmas season. Then I stop and it’s back to modeling in the new year
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The journey continues as my first time to start carving a figure head. Don’t get excited , the odds are that this will not end well, but as with everything this is the journey that I stated in Annapolis in October
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Hi Mark I have been using the Foredom and the turbo carver to clean up the carved pieces and to make them look more acceptable. However the advice i am getting is to try to do the carvings with the gouges only. Once i have mastered carving using the gouges then i have permission to use anything i want. Artistic license.
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Hi Greg i am using coffee wood, Juniper and Mahogany experimenting to see how they react to the gouges. And you are right the mahogany which is quite soft is not a good carving wood. I have not tried the coffee wood, it is next on the agenda. The first fully carved piece was using Juniper. Photo below. The real challenge remains keeping the gouges sharp. I am also having great difficulty thinking in three dimensions. I feel that the more i carve the better i will get at understanding the different layers. In any case i am seeing an improvement already in how to approach certain shapes and which gouges are best suited to get the desired results. The good news is that i have been in touch with a friend who carves the most incredible birds and he has agreed to let me visit his shop next week. Finally i have someone here in Trinidad that i can discus my challenges. Its going to be a long learning curve but i am optimistic that i will eventually arrive at the summit.
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My ship modeling is taking some time off as i start learning how to carve following the course in Annapolis put on by Greg Herbert and David Antscherl.
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