1: Bosting in Work in Progress

I am asked how actually create the carvings I make so I have decided to put some photographs on my site that show the stages I go through to make a Green Man type carving.

As I take much of my inspiration from carvings I see in buildings a decent quality camera with a good zoom lens is essential. when photographing I take shots from as many angles as I can and when possible with the light coming from different angles as this helps me to interpret depth on the carving. I then use the full face photographs to help to mark up on the timber I am using, in this instance a lovely thick section of Sycamore which was cut green by a local mobile timber mill. I use a grid to mark up the features of the face and then start bosting in, this means roughly cutting into the timber to define the features of the carving

Here you can see the start of the carving with some basic features pencilled in and the nose starting to take shape. If you move the flat of your palm to your face the first feature your hand will touch is your nose, this means that you only need to take a small amount of timber off to create the tip of the nose. I then start to shape the face from that feature, constantly checking any photographic references for accuracy, at this point a piece can get quickly ruined by not thinking about how a face is shaped. I look and feel my own face to understand how the features work together.

This next photograph shows other facial features emerging, eyebrows eye sockets cheeks and a moustache appearing.

Here you can see the starting of the right eye taking shape and how the right brow and cheek are now starting to take form.
I will continue taking photographs throughout the process so If you are interested to see the rest please visit again

Previous Works, The Green Men, Buddha and the Tideswell Wyvern

Many people have been asking to see examples of other carvings I have done so I am putting them on my blog so you can all see.
The photo above is carved from Sycamore and finished with danish oil, I did not follow any particular design as I wanted the piece to look quite natural.

This Carving was one of my first and probably the design I most enjoyed creating. It is based on a Victorian wall tile which can still be seen in Manchester Town Hall I just love the shape and the tongue. This example shows a Green man with fangs which is very unusual. The timber is Lime and again it is finished in Danish oil.

This carving is of a Buddha, I got the inspiration from a plaster book end I purchased I used a contour comb to assist in getting the shaping correct but much of it came down to looking and studying of my own face to get the right effect, the timber is Lime wood and the finish is Danish oil which I use for much of my work.

This Image is again one of my favorites it is of a dragon or wyvern and it represents the devil. This carving comes from The Cathedral in the Peak otherwise known as Tideswell Church in Derbyshire. I managed to obtain a lovely piece of old English oak and carved it mainly using Pfiel brand carving palm tools I think I used a bees wax finish on this carving

Bodging Balls and Baubles

wow this is me what seems like a age ago now a year older and wiser at the bodgers ball celebrating my third place and surviving the weekend in the smallest wettest tent I have ever had the misfortune to sleep in. I was not kidding when I said i wanted to sleep in the porta loos!

Any how it was a great weekend which started off at Mike Abbotts place as he had just launched a new book on chair making using a Veritas tenon maker and cordless drills This is a shot of his office the lucky bugger!
From what I recall that evening I drank alot of very good quality and stupidly cheap real ale and shared my table with a TV and tax celebrity . I later settled down to the first of my sleeps from hell as the rain started to fall with occasional thunder rumbles.

Saturday was wet and soggy! This is a view from Lower Brockhampton Hall which was a lovely timber framed house on a National Trust Estate in Hereford.

Fortunately by the afternoon it stopped raining and allowed the English style hewers to show how to convert a trunk into a beam.

This is Robin wood much famed for his spoon and bowl making showing off his chopper! a Japanese one at that.
The evening involved a lovely meal and more beer and stupid amounts of beer to wash away the rain which was by now torrential, sadly it did not wash away my tent tho.....

Amazingly the weather cleared up by the afternoon allowing Ben Orford to demonstrate the art of knife sharpening, I got a crook knife as my birthday present to myself and it is quite superb.

The Bird is made from a single piece of willow by Sean Hellerman who is a very clever man he made one in 20 minutes or so and it was very impressive.

This Item was from the competition I don't think it won anything but I just loved the shape and feel of it. The timber is Poplar wood and is very light.

The music stand won best in show.

All in all a fantastic weekend and I cannot wait for next years Ball in Dorset.

New Kit and Kaboodle

My obsession for all things woody have now moved on to the world of fret saws. I recently purchased a treadle fret saw which will be wonderful for demonstrations and creates some lovely work too. I use mainly recycled timbers wherever I can and at the moment I am making name plates and a heck of a lot of easter bunnies so many infact Grommit is calling in Anti Pesto.

If anyone wants a reasonably priced name plate or any other fret saw related item please send me a message.

I have also started to get the Pole Lathe I rescued from the east coast during all that foul weather we had in November fit for the public. it is made from incredibly splintery wood so I am planing it down and have cut 3 inches off the legs as it was a giants pole lathe.

On St Georges / Easter Sunday the east midlands bodgers will be whittling in the woods in Sherwood forest so I hope to use this lathe as my touring kit.

In May I am taking it off to my first Bodgers Ball so a light weight easily transportable lathe is what I need

Two by two.............

been a long time since I last wrote anything so I need to get up to date. As the winter weather has stopped me from being a nature loving bodger, I have spent my time sorting out the cellar and setting up the work shop. I am now in the process of setting up a huge Record quick release vice on my bench and installing another bench I have aquired from work which also comes with a quick release vice. I recently went on a hair raising trip to a very snowy and slippery Lincolnshire coast to pick up a pole lathe to add to my collection. This is now stored in the kitchen until I finally decide where it is going to live. Should be brillient for demonstrations and save me having to keep taking apart my Guy Mallinson lathe.
On an out door note I have recently met up with the Nottingham bodgers at sherwood forest and watched a demo of bowl turning which was magic, I have got photos which I will put on when I can find the right USB cable!

Dont let the besoms get you down

My collection of woodworking tools is getting quite out of control now. Following a trip to mothers I have now purchased from Leek Market an antique besom vice. This item is used to hold bundles of seasoned birch twigs so they can be tied together with wire or a strong length of bark to make the traditional head that makes a "witches broom". Really pleased to see one as they are pretty rare as you can imagine. 

I have also been busy making spoons from the yew wood I acquired whilst on holiday in Somerset. 

In a couple of weeks I am meeting up in a local wood for a days bodging in the woods, really looking forward to it and I hope to make a new frame for my besom vice and possibly crop some birch branches for next years Halloween.

Too busy to write!

Been on holiday so sorry that I have not written much recently. Have been making some yew spoons with timber aquired whilst in somerset from church yards. It is jolly nice timber too! There have been lots of autumnal wood fairs in the last few weeks which is very encouraging and have met more local bodgy types. I have also finally tracked down a local group to share my insanity with! will write more soon and hope to get pictures up of my lovely kelly kettle.