Carving from Belgorod

[korablik1979]

Now the breed is wood. Basically all my carving is made from pear or apple. One more time I cut from the plum. Why exactly from these breeds are dreves?
1. An apple tree or a pear is well suited for such work. They cut easily. I do not need to make much effort to work. And at the same time this tree is of sufficient density to easily hold any shape. 
I can make the smallest hair curls and the wood will not be relaxet, broken off and spoiled. Very convenient in work.
2. Both apple and pear tree practically do not have sharp transitions in color in fibers, as for example in beech or walnut. They do not have grooves, cracks, ulcers, like oak trees. It is very important. There are so many places where a well-pronounced texture adorns the carving and makes it unique.

 

 

But for the figures on the models of ships, this effect is unacceptable (I only express my opinion, I do not want to impose it on others and if someone thinks differently, I always respect another opinion). In my opinion, the scale of the sculpture is too small for a bright texture. Any small cracks drevisiny immediately become huge on the ship and break the scale of the model. This applies to any parts of the model: deck, keel, mast. And for sculptures, even more so.
For Russia this has already become an almost unofficial rule. Practically everyone makes of these kinds of wood. Even when a whale is made, only beginners take the workpieces out of the box, almost everything remakes everything they can. And this is the third reason that I make from this type of tree.

About Paduk, I can not tell you anything, I never worked with him. The reason has already described. But I can express my opinion about boxwood. I do not work with him, and I do not accept orders from this breed of wood. Once I tried it and I did not get anything good. This tree is very hard, solid. My micro instrument very quickly fell into disrepair. His tiny dimensions proved too soft for a tree of such hardness. I studied how other carvers make carvings. I looked at the work of those who work with boxwood and noticed that they do not cut, but are milled with micro drills and burs. I have such an instrument. I use it, but very, very, very rarely. Only when I can not get anywhere by a chisel. I do not really like to do all the milling work. 

 

I would like to stress once again that all statements about different types of trees are only my personal opinion.

 

That's all I can say about the tree in my work. Now I'll go to bed and let the Google translator cool down the ,  he's already smokes ...

[vossiewulf]

Thank you very much Alexander, scratching boxwood off my list and will look for apple. I can get Swiss pear. I also am going to try the holly, the pieces I have are very white when cut and has almost invisible grain, it's the closest wood gets to white marble. It seems to cut smoothly in what I've done with it so far, I would be tempted to do a copy of Michelango's David statue in this wood 

 

You don't like basswood because it's too soft, right? I also think it's softer than optimal but I'm perfectly comfortable using it as I have with all the chip carving. In fact my standard of sharpening is that it has to be sharp enough to cleanly carve basswood before it's done. 

 

I make these testing edges while sharpening. The rules of the game are 1) totally clean cuts, 2) minimal connection between pieces. The second one doesn't have much to do with edge sharpness and more to do with me being competitive with myself.

 

 

Here is the next one starting for the next sharpening session.

 

And ok, I agree on the larger sizes too. Sometimes hard here to find 2" thick stock that isn't super expensive, but I will do some looking in lathe wood suppliers.

 

[vossiewulf]

Oh by the way, both of those carvings are beautiful and I'm not sure how either was done, particularly the driftwood one. On the horse, the guy must have used wire wheels across the grain to make the wave pattern and then clean with sandpaper.

[korablik1979]

Hello, Jay.
I completely agree with you about the lime tree. I know this kind of wood well. It really requires an ideal sharpness of the blade.

Talk about different breeds can be conducted indefinitely. I am sure that each carver will have his own preferences and opinions. And it's good that the choice is huge and you can find different options.
When I was a student one of my teachers told us at the lectures:
It does not matter to me what and how you will do it. For me, what matters is what you get. If you can paint with a green paint so that everyone will understand that it is orange, then I will call you geniuses. Try it! Experiment! Look for different ways and approaches! I have long taught you how to properly hold brushes and pencils, but on examinations I never ask how exactly you held them when you drew. I do not care. Even if you kept your pencil on your feet, I will not say a word about it. I will speak and evaluate what you have done. Only this is important! "
I still remember these words. I try to stick to this view too.
I wish you success in your work.

[vossiewulf]

I'm wondering if anyone ever figured out how to do the green paint/orange paint switch

 

Ok one step forward, this was one of the screwdriver sharpeners I bought for experimentation, it's $8.95 on EBay and if nothing else, these will provide perfect sharpening for the straight chisels.

 

It is just a mild steel axle between two unsealed bearings with an outer size that doesn't make sense in any measurement system, 1.025"/26.05mm.

 

However, putting a straight chisel in up to the ferrule through the hole in the axle results in an angle just a little more than 25 degrees, I'm guessing 27 and the screw holds the chisel firmly. I think somewhere in the 22mm to 24mm range for the outer diameter of the bearings would give 25 degrees with the hole cut through the axis center.

 

I figured out that I needed to keep my finger even closer to the edge than that, because even at that distance the tool was bending and giving very slightly uneven results that got better once I had my finger literally on the cutting edge, so I was sharpening my fingertip too.

 

But once I understood that it went quickly, it works fine, just would be much nicer if we had a weight keeping consistent pressure instead of trying to do so with our hands. Bevel is straight and flat and it's sharp enough to pass the basswood end grain test, all cut cleanly.

 

 

 

 

 

[vossiewulf]

To be clear, I still plan to make something myself, and if it works I'll make one for you, and this week received some brass and screws and things for my version.

 

BTW, American basswood is same family as lime but not quite the same, it has less variance in color and hardness but in general is even softer than lime, so the clean-cut end grain test is even more challenging. That's what my experience says at least.

[korablik1979]

Hello, Jay.
A good machine. I'm glad that you decided for yourself the task of sharpening. Have I translated your phrase correctly that you want to send your jig machine to me?
If I translated correctly, then I want to tell you many thanks for your concern and your proposal. But I do not think that makes sense. It will be too much trouble, it's like asking to pass a saltcellar with salt from one corner of the planet to another corner.
It even resembles a story for an easy comedy, I imagine how this story may look in the movie: the parcel gets into a storm or is confused with another address. She travels for a very long time, and eventually arrives at last to her destination after many years.
It's not difficult for me to make the machine myself, I really like to make and in this process there is a special meaning. I am sure that any man with his hands in the right place understands what I want to say.
If I do not forget, then when I make my version of the sharpening machine, I will show the photo and it will be possible to compare and exchange opinions.

P.S. At times I can not respond quickly to comments. Sometimes you have to go to the doctors for treatment. In such periods it is difficult for me to write with the translation through the phone. So if I do not answer for a long time, it probably means that I have just such an event. Therefore, I apologize for the long silence, do not be offended by this, do not think that I'm ignoring someone's letters.

[vossiewulf]

No Alexander, I understand perfectly. I look forward to seeing your sharpening machine also

 

And I also understand health concerns, I have a few of my own. So don't worry about that part either, if you're away getting treatment we will just wait until you get back.

 

And I also get delayed with work. Because of crises I worked 15 hour days Wednesday through yesterday. I'm a little tired today

[vossiewulf]

Hey Alexander, these appear to be very expensive but also potentially VERY nice for roughing out. There's a video on this product page showing the use of an NSK ultrasonic cutter on thick leather, and I don't see any reason it wouldn't work just as well on wood. I haven't done any real research but it appears to be basically an X-Acto knife that they are vibrating along its length like a saw with a very short cutting stroke at 20,000 rpm. Logically, that should work to make any cut easier. I am not sure how good it would be at precision cuts, but it looks like it might be very useful in removing the excess wood before you start the real carving.

[korablik1979]

I hoped that photos of this work will appear much earlier. But I
to publish it turned out just now.
I already mentioned in one of the past posts that one and the same character for the same models are different. I consciously try not to make duplicate copies, especially when there are no exact data and drawings for work have only an approximate image. In this work, all this is clearly visible, I tried to go a little different way and created another image, so that it was not the same as the first time. But I was surprised that when the customer sent me the sizes they were also different. It was impossible to take measurements from the previous order and on their basis to do this work.

[Jack12477]

Magnificent carving!

[dvm27]

This is a beautifully executed carving Korablik (what is your name?)!

[korablik1979]

Many thanks for the warm response and appreciation of my work.
My name is Alexander. A "korablik" is a Russian word written in Latin. In Russian it means a small ship.

[Jim Rogers]

Alexander you are a Master. Stunning carvings. I wish I had a sliver of your talent.

[korablik1979]

2 hours ago, Jim Rogers said:

Alexander you are a Master. Stunning carvings. I wish I had a sliver of your talent.

Thank you very much for such a high rating. You clearly overestimate my skills.

[Jim Rogers]

I believe the majority of this board would agree with my evaluation.

[korablik1979]

[Chuck]

Wonderful work!!!  Beautiful!!!

[korablik1979]

Thank you, Сhuck.

[korablik1979]

I show the next work. Sculpture for the French ship "Le Commerce de Marseille"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[korablik1979]

Thank you. I was very pleased to work with this sculpture. Very beautiful. As soon as I saw her, I immediately decided that I would have to cut out this image. I am very pleased that I had this order. I very much regret that now it is over.

Edited August 11, 2017 by korablik1979

[albert]

Hi Alex, very very wonderful carving, bravissimo.

[Dziadeczek]

Would you, Korablik, show and explain the process of the carving of your small wonders, rather than showing the end products? I have a hard time imagining how you do it! What is the scale of the last figurehead?

Regards,

Thomas

[korablik1979]

Good afternoon, Alberto. Thank you for appreciating my work.

[korablik1979]

Hello, Dziadeczek.
In the process of work there is nothing special. In this topic, I have already shown how the sculpture gradually changed in the process of carving. Gradually, an ordinary bar appears. Here you can see the main points of my work. First, in a wooden bar I make a groove, for which a sculpture is needed to be mounted on the stem. Then I do a rough cleaning of the workpiece. I used to do this with a circular saw, making it cut. Now I'm using a band saw. It's faster and more convenient. After the machines comes time for chisels. First a large set, and then a small chisel and knife. I already laid out the photo with the workflow, please see the previous pages of this topic.
Now I do not take pictures during work. I do not see the point. I'm doing everything the same as before, I did not come up with anything new. I do not know how to describe the process of carving. I make small details with the help of small chisels. There are photos of my instrument. There are a lot of video clips in YouTube, where you can see the work with cutters and knives. I'm not fit to be a teacher.

[dvm27]

On 8/11/2017 at 10:45 AM, korablik1979 said:

I'm not fit to be a teacher.

You could demonstrate your techniques step by step and very few of us would achieve results remotely close to your work Alexander. Either you have this gift or you don't!

[korablik1979]

I do not know if it will work or not. What is interesting for you? Ask questions about what you would like to see and I'll try to show you how I work.

[korablik1979]

I also would like to ask for help. Tell me, how is the profile adjusted? How do I have more information under my comment, like many do. For example, links to their topics and forum threads?

 

[mtaylor]

Have look here for setting links in your profile so they show in your posts.  

 

[korablik1979]

Thanks for the help, Mark.
But I did not succeed. After I enter the address appears this card. Do I have any limitations? Am I doing something forbidden? Or am I doing wrong?

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by korablik1979