Questions for Kathy Wise

[sheltiecarver]

Gosh, Kathy!
What a fine looking panel! You really nailed the musculature on the deer - in some patterns (NOT yours!! ) the muscles are a bit (or more) off, and that just ruins it for me. I guess I am a bit too picky - I have tried and thrown away several intarsias.
Yours is absolutely a winner.
Thanks for showing it to us.
Sandy
PS How thick is it? Those leaves look WAY above the other elements - or is that an illusion??
S

[CanadianScroller]

I concure with Sandy's observation.
I do like some intarsia that has the "colouring book" look
But if a project is to look realistic then musculature is important.

[lucky788scroller]

Kathy, that is the most amazing intarsia mural I have ever seen! Just out of curiousity, how many hours are into that? And, how much would that pattern sell for for someone with enough time to tackle it? I love it!! Dale

[Kathy Wise]

Thanks Rolf & Dale & Sandy!
"Whitetail Woods" is one of my custom mural designs. I originally designed the pattern for my sun room floor, I was going to make it out of tile during my ceramic sculpture stage. I never got around to doing it in tile, but I thought it would work out very well in wood. The Dr. who commissioned it was decorating his new office with a wildlife theme and it fit perfectly. He is extremely happy with it, although he said sometimes it is hard to get the clients out of the waiting room and into the exam rooms because they like looking at it.
The mural goes from 1/4" thick wood at the top to 2 1/2" thick wood at the bottom, much of the depth is achived by using risers. Most of the wood cut was from about 3/4" - 1" thick stock, although the leaves were cut from 1.5" to 2" thick white oak and ash....slow cutting there!! I like the over lap effect of the leaves and ear on the frame... gives more depth to the entire piece.
The pattern took about 60 hours and I completed the piece in about 5 months. I figured around 770 total hours into the mural. I used Cedar, Beech, Poplar, Cherry, Oak, White Oak, Ash, Black Walnut, Ebony, Cocobolo, Maple and Hickory. Much of the wood was cut from our woods. This was the biggest piece I've done so far, and I think one of the nicest things I've ever made. If you get to Yale, MI make a point to go see it.
Glad you liked the deer, I have sculpted dogs and animals in 3-D for the giftware industry for over 20 years, it was a great background for intarsia designing.
This complete pattern is not for sale, but I will be doing some smaller sections of it for a series of deer patterns. The two fighting deer will be one big pattern and most likely 3 or 4 other sections slightly redesigned to fit in a 20" x 30" area. Keep an eye on my site [url="http://www.kathywise.com"] www.kathywise.com to see when the new patterns are available. Thanks for your wonderful comments!
Kathy

[lucky788scroller]

Im looking forward to seeing you and your patterns in WI in Aug. And, if your going to Branson, Ill see ya there too!!! Dale

[Kathy Wise]

I'll be in WI this year and will be giving seminars at the Fox Chapel Open House in Sept. Hope to see you there!Couldn't work in Branson this year.
Kathy

[ChuckD]

After seeing your deer I am a complete beginner in intarsia. Great great work, art passion, whatever you want to call it.

[Old Dude]

This is a pretty old thread, so maybe I'm shouting into the wind here.

Kathy...

Said it before, I'll say it again...love your work. Eye-popping.

I see in your book that you have an 8" pneumatic drum on one side of your sander, and a 2" on the other side. At first blush it would seem that one is for coarse grit, the other is for fine grit...why the different diameters? I'm setting up a sanding station that will be similar to this, and I'm tempted to put two larger drums on it. But then everything I know about intarsia you can write on your thumbnail and still have room for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thanks for your help.

Regards.
Ed

[greatdane2]

I will jump in here, I have a Grizzly drum sander with 3,4 and 6" drums. I use the 4" the most as it has a curve that seems to work for me. I use the 3" but not much and the 6" has a wobble so it is not used much but I find the curve to large for day to day use.
The larger diameter sleeves cost more so as said I use the 4" a lot. I even use it to sand flat stuff. I have a 6x48 belt sander to do real flat stuff but again the belts are more $.
If you want to do intarsia you could also look at 1" belt sanders. they are cheap and with practice it is amazing what they will do. My Delta 1x30 has a bit of flex and I use a curved stick behind the belt to force the belt into curves etc. I started doing this with my fingers and other than friction burn that works. Point is that will give you an idea what size and shape your stick should be. I also bought a cheapy 1x42 belt sander and that gives me a lot more flex on the belt. If you are doing a piece that has slots in it like a fish fin you can cut the groove with a thick blade and then slide the belt in and the belt will follow the curve. Now twist the wood and you can sand the top and bottom of the slot to widenen it. I will look threw my pics and see if I can find on showing what I meen here. This is an amazing trick to get a lot more out of a small belt.I also use a steel file to dull a new belt to do this as a new belt on edge will cut its own groove. I save my old belts for this.
The pic is not very good but the fish fins are all sanded on both sides of the slot with this method.

Alan.

[Old Dude]

Thanks for the input Alan. What causes the wobble in the 6" drum?...is it a bad fit on the arbor or just the shape of the inflatable drum? btw, what do you inflate those with?
Cheers.