Holiday Stuff

[Shimmy]

Jerry,
What kind of wood did you use? Really nice carvings.

[jdukes1]

Good Morning everyone, I hope you had a great Christmas.
Cards #2 and #3 were made out of walnut. The rest were made from African Mahogany. #1 I tried with just a tung oil finish. The others I used a 50-50 mixture of brown mahogany stain and water with tung oil as a final finish. The mixture of stain/water seemed to work the best at bringing out the texture/worked areas. I put the mixture on and then wiped it off of the flat unworked areas. That seemed to give a good contrast between the design and the texture. They were all made from 6" wide by 1/2" thick board. I am going to try 1/4" thick wood for the next ones I make. It's still an in progress idea. I am going to try them with other types of wood and finishes to see which combinations work best. So far I like walnut the best. If anyone has any ideas or wants to try other combinations, please pass along your results.
It's amazing how well these turned out for just a quick simple idea.

Jerry

Oh, Jerry, WALNUT? I'm sorta' scared of hard woods.

But, I suppose it doesn't make any difference .... I couldn't get those clean, even lines in Ivory soap.

[jdukes1]

Nancy, from what I have seen on your site, you do wonderful work. I used a Flexcut 1mm V-tool to get the sharp even lines. I went over all of them with it, and then took a larger V-tool and went back over the lines that bordered the background. Now, I can't take a pencil and paper and draw a straight line.

Jerry

[don]

Just got back after christmas and those "cards" are great. The textured background is very effective at making the picture stand out.I especially like the freeform of the reindeer santa card. So put me on your christmas card list too,please. Maybe by next year I'll be organized enough to join a swap. (Somebody remember this line about september and give me a kick to get me started)

[will8989]

WOW, Jerry, they are fabulous. Although I do scroll-sawing, I did ask for and Santa brought me a small carving set. Looks like a card would be the ideal item to use these new tools on. Think I'll slice my wood and prep it this week-end and then look out! Course, my husband wants to know when we're moving next to the ER! LOL. He has no confidence in me. So I guess I would draw my pattern, do the background work first and then move onto the rest of it? I want to try a heart with your background, nothing too fancy. I'll be using Cherry wood, as this is my favorite and I have an over-abundence of it. but can a woodworker really have an over-abundence of any wood? Sound good? Any tips from anyone are greatly appreciated!! and how do I get the smiley face waving, or better yet toasting mugs of beer? THANKS!!!