Wisemen are Shaping Up

I spent the day yesterday working on the wisemen. I have started shaping on all 4 of the pieces and they are looking great. I decided to go ahead and complete the shaping on one of them, so that I could use it as a pattern for the others. The picture on the right is of the completed one, with final sanding and ready to receive it's first coat of varnish.

I came across some interesting problems with the red heart that I was not expecting as I was sanding. Three of the turbans have to be re-cut because they had some fracture lines in them that became exposed as I sanded them. I think that if I try to use them, I run the risk of the piece splitting in the future.

I also had one to the main body pieces with a hidden knot in it and there is now a hole near the bottom. I guess that I will be re-cutting that piece as well.

Tammy came into the shop while I was sanding, and just started laughing. I try to be very aware of the sawdust and precautions not to inhale to much of the nasty stuff. I also wear my eye protection of course, since the sander has a tendency to try and rip the workpiece out of my hand and throw it about the room. I also have started wearing hearing protection. I am not sure if I do it for the noise, or just to be able to hear my music or book on tape better. The result is an alien looking creature, covered in dust. Just remember that this is fun!

7 Pieces Cut On November 10, 200
44 Total Piece Cut

Wise Men Project - Cutting Nearly Finished & Shaping has begun

Yesterday I had a great day in the shop. I went to the local Woodcraft store and bought some wood that I needed to work on my wise men and the eagle project. I decided to work on the wise men fist since I need to get these done by Christmas time.

One of the boards that I picked up at Woodcraft was a nicely grained piece of red heart. I had always used bloodwood in the past for my red, and it makes a really nice red. The problem is that it is like cutting bricks. Red heart on the other hand is fantastic and easy to work with. If I am pleased with the finish on the final product, I think that I will switch over to using red heart for all my reds. There are a lot of projects that I have wanted to do with red in them, but with the bloodwood I had always avoided them.

So I cut out a total of 16 pices yesterday, so the only pieces left to cut are the hands and the chest that carries the gold.

So I dove into shaping the pieces. It took about an hour and I had the first wiseman roughed out. It was a pretty straight forward shaping process and I am very pleaseed with the way it is turning out. I started with the yellow robe and thined it down using the table belt sander. I used this a reference point for the main body piece. I feel that the main body needs to come out and be rounded, like a belly, and the yellow robe needs to be lower.

Once I had the main body shaped then a worked on the sleaves and the collar. I made the sleaves taller than the main body to give it the feal that the wise man has his hands outstretched and is holding the chest of gold.

Finally, I finished up with the head and the turban, bringing them down to the right size and rounding the face equally on all sides to provide for a nice rounded shape. I have a couple of touch up areas to complete today on the shaping, and I need to figure out how I am going to make the chest for the gold.

Well, I am going to get in the shop, time is ticking. More later!

16 Pieces Cut on November 8, 2008
37 Pieces Since Bloging

Current Projects - Intarsia

I am currently working on two different Intarsia projects.

The first project is a Bald Eagle out of the Creative Woodworks and Crafts, January 2007 issue. I started this project bout a week ago and have several of the pieces already cut out. As of today, I need to finish the second talon and figure out what wood I am going to use for the feathers.

I have been trying to select and Eagle pattern that I could do for the office and thought that this would be a nice piece to hang up there.

The second project that I am working on currently is four of the same wise men for the annual Christmas nativity gifts that I make each year. This years wise man is the one how brings the chest of gold.

I have had a great weekend for cutting intarsia pieces.

21 Pieces cut this weekend - 21 Total Pieces cut since bloging.