We've Moved!

Hey everyone! 

I know it's been a while since I've generated some traffic here, but I've got a big announcement. SH Carving has a new home on the web at shcarving.com. I'll be transferring a lot of the photos from this page to the new site over time, but all new content will be pushed to the new site. 

I will keep this page available for the time being, but will eventually set up a forward to the new page so all traffic is directed there. Thank you for the support you've offered over the years, I hope I can keep you coming back with a few things you've yet to see!

Big News and Big Changes and a New Home

This post is going to be a doosey, so:

First things first, I want to show you the finished version of Cato. I only have the shot I took with my phone, so I'll have to get a higher res shot for the Gallery. I like the way that the carving turned out and the customer really liked the color (although I have other thoughts on the matter that I'll talk about later.) 

As most of you know (or don't know) I recently graduated with my BS in Electrical Engineering from BYU. It feels so good to be finished with college for the time being. While being graduated is great, it also brings a lot of changes. First would be my employer: I have since finished my time working with Physical Facilities at BYU (the place I've had such wonderful access to saws, paints, and stains etc) and will soon be a proud employee of Intel Corp.

 The big snag from this is that we have to find a new place to live....in Oregon. I was originally sad to find out I had to leave home, but I've come to terms with it. We'll be able to start a new home for our family and make a new name for ourselves in the Pacific Northwest. While it's great and nice to move and start over, it also means that I'm losing all of my connections I've been using to finish and dye the signs thus far. 

As of now all signs that I make will have to be a natural color. 

You would think that this would make me somewhat upset, but I'm not too bothered with it actually. I've never been the biggest fan of the unnatural colors, and it's really tough to get them to be even on the Bass Wood. Rarely did I get a color that was even and not splotchy. So for now, at least until I find a solution to this, we'll have to go without them crazy colors.

Along with no stains, I don't have a saw. (At the moment.) I'm trying to get my hands on one that I can take with me, but I may be up a river for a while. If it comes to that, I will still be carving, I'll simply have to do a different style for a while like chip carving or doing walking staffs. I don't know when I'll know about the saw, but I'll be sure to say when I do find out.

Another piece of the moving to Oregon package is that I'm going to be a DAD! My wife and I are awaiting a little girl to join our family in a few weeks. She will undoubtedly take the majority of my spare time, but I'm going to promise that I will be doing my best to keep on top of everything here at S.H. Carving. But if I do get a little behind, you'll understand why.

Now, possibly the biggest news of all. SH Carving is moving! I think I've finally outgrown the blogspot hosting and figured I'd move into my own website and spiffy URL. The new site is currently in development, so I can't unveil it just yet, but it is coming soon. The posts here will stay, but I will most likely redirect visits to this page to the new site. I'm really excited about this, I've always wanted to have my own site that isn't a blogspot. 

Posts will still be coming in the meantime, so don't jump ship just yet.

Finishing Touches

I've got the sign in the finishing shop today getting the final coat sprayed on. We went with a green, which ended up looking interesting with the way the grain took the color into the wood. I should have the sign back on Monday, so I'll give you a look when it gets here!

New Photos

I got some photos of 'Killpack' and I thought you'd like a look. I've also added this to the photo gallery.

That was Fast

Cut out already? Whaaaaaaaat? I know, I'm pretty on top of this one. I'm really excited to get started on this sign, and I've got a nice weekend to start. I'll have to first do the contour of the overlapping before I cut any shape into the lettering, which will either end up really nice in the long run, or make things a little more difficult. 

We'll see.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Ok, not COMPLETELY different, but this sign is going to be in a style I haven't tried before. 

The lines you see in the middle of each letter will be a peak, and I'll have flat surfaces at about a 30 degree angle down from that. It's an interesting idea, but I've seen it done once, and I think I can make it work. If it works out, it's going to be excellent, and I might try this style again in the future.

I know some of you were waiting on some pictures of 'Killpack' once it was done, but I was never able to get those taken. I was really rushed to get it finished and delivered, and in the process it just slipped my mind to get some photos taken.

I'm going to see if the recipients (It was ordered as a gift for someone else.) would be willing to take a few shots for me and the site, but I won't hold my breath.

I have one other project coming up very soon, a BIG project too. I'll get some teaser photos of what I'll be working with to give you an idea. ;) 

Forgot

I forgot to take a picture of this earlier, but this is a sign I'm doing as a favor for a family member. It was originally intended as a Christmas present, but that didn't work out. 

It shouldn't take much to finish this one up, so give me a week or so and it should be done.

2013 Great Salt Lake Woodcarvers Competition and Show

This show was really great! I had two pieces in the competition and they were both able to bring home a first place ribbon in their categories! 

The rest of the show was wonderful. The other entries were incredible to look at. Here are my favorites from the show:

This Owl got 'Best of Show' for good reason. The detail in the owl and pulley is incredible.

                                        

                        

                                              

                                       

These leaves looked so fragile. I spoke with the artist and he said it took over a month to get all the wood cleared out under all the leaves and branches. This is the level I hope to one day achieve. This took best of division and people's choice. Very well deserved.

This bird had several of the categorical awards (Birdwatchers award etc.), very nice detail here.

And the rest!

A Year in the Making

I can't express how happy I am to finally have this project done. It's been almost a year (to the day) since I started this project. It only took 2 semesters of school, moving out of state, moving back into state, being broken in half, glued back together, and a mad rush over the last month to get it done. 

I know many woodcarvers who have shelves of projects that were started but never finished, most of which were pretty much finished. I didn't want this sign to turn into weight on my shelf, especially since it was for me. It isn't perfect by any means, but I learned a lot getting it done. Now lets see what the judges think this weekend!

This took entirely too long

Well stage one of sanding is finished. It won't change in terms of looks too much after this point, other than the walnut stain I'll be applying next week. I'm going to wait to post anymore until after everything is all finished, that way you'll have something pretty to look at.

It turned out alright, better than I thought to be honest. Lets just hope I can get one last ribbon at that competition.

Sanding = Bane

Like I told my wife tonight: "The more I carve, the more I realize that I hate sanding." But we're getting closer.

Kinda Finished?

Ok, I know it took me forever, but I have tests ok? I'd like to say that the hardest part is over, but it's really just going to start pretty soon. Now that the carving is done, I get to spend an eternity sanding this up to get ready for the stain. In the meantime I'll have to round up a piece of maple to use as the backing. 

There are still a couple places I'd like to clean up, but it's definitely looking pretty good. Here's hoping that it just keeps getting better.

Something!

I know this isn't much, even after as long as it has been since I've had a post. There is a carving show coming up in a little over a month, and I decided that I need to get something in before I leave the valley for good this summer. I'll keep the updates coming, at least I hope to.

 Progress has been good over the last few days, so I'll take that as a good sign.

Explanation and Further Delays

I'm always surprised at how long it can get between posts when I get busy with other things. One thing that I often forget is that I'm a Senior Engineering Student trying to finish college. I have the greatest ability to make myself think that I have all the time I need to do what I want. 

Things have picked up quite a bit since I've returned from Portland, which was expected. The main reason I haven't been carving much was that my latest project took a turn for the worse. It was one of those things that I knew was bound to happen, but I didn't expect it to happen to my own sign. To sum up a long story, the sign was knocked off my tool chest and it snapped on the 'h' in Hampshire. It wasn't too bad of a break, but it was just demotivating to see something I had worked so long on to just be broken in half.I have since had it repaired, but am nervous to start working on it again, thinking I might break the weakened joint while carving. But I'm sure I'll get over that soon enough.

For now it looks like I'm going to have to wait until the semester winds down to get any work done. There is a carving show coming up in the next few weeks that I'm going to try and cover. If I make it, I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures for everyone. I'll try and keep everyone a little better informed from now on.

Goodbye Portland

I really did it! The sign is done and that will be the last project I'm working on while being in Portland. It was definitely interesting trying to get things done without all the tools that I'm used to using  back home. The biggest issue I ran into would be the finish, which I've totally taken for granted. I couldn't find a good gloss coat to put on the sign, so it turned out a little more matte than I'm used to, but it still looks alright.

But otherwise that's it! I'm packing up my stuff and heading home later on this week. On a different note, I just got word that Stelter made it to Germany safely in one piece! My faith in the USPS as been restored.

Running on Steam

Here is the last shot I've taken, but I'm well into the sanding at this point. I'm hoping to get the seal coat on tonight so I can start building up a finish and have a good coat by Monday night. This is going to be a stretch to get it done on time, but I'm still pushing forward. More pictures to come in a few days!

Where do I start?

I guess I should start out by saying that I'll be doing one last sign before I head back home to Provo in the coming weeks. But this has an interesting story, so sit back and enjoy.

This sign is actually a gift to a coworker that I have been closely working with over the summer. The way things work when you get to Intel (where I have been interning), they give you a "buddy", which is really someone who is experienced and can answer all of those questions that a newbie would ask. In my case, I feel like I asked my fair share of questions, and probably drove Deepika up the wall sometimes. I don't know if I will be returning to work full time to Intel, but I thought I'd show my appreciation in one of the best ways I can.

I had made one sign already with my current setup (Stelter), which worked out fairly well. The saw I was using belonged to Ken Carlson, a member of my church congregation that I met one of my first weeks here. He was more than gracious about letting me use his tools, which was great news for me. The first sign went off without a hitch, so I expected the same for the second.......NOPE!

If you look closely, you'll notice the small clamp that holds the blade to the arm of the saw is broken off. Marvelous. I was 95% done with the sign and I went to remove the blade to cut a inside piece when that clamp snapped off. Much to my dismay, I called Sears and found out that they no longer manufactured parts for this saw, this would be due to the fact that the saw is ~20-30 years old. So I talked with Ken and came to the agreement that I would help pay for a replacement saw. Luckily this model is only ~$110 and it was in stock at the local Sears in Portland. I picked it up and it looks surprisingly similar to the original. It actually cut a lot better than the old model, and will accept both types of scroll saw blades.

All in all, I feel good having left the situation the way I did. My father taught me to always bring something that you've borrowed back better than it was given to you. In this case I just helped buy the guy a new saw! He actually made the remark that he is going to try and make a replacement piece for the original, and if he does, I could just have the new one if we end up back here. I don't want to say here's hoping, but here's hoping!

I have to get this sign finished before I leave on the 24th, so I'm on a tight schedule. I don't know if I'll put updates up through the week or wait until it's finished, so just wait and see I guess.

Stelter: Everything you want to know

I know that this has been a long time coming, but there comes a point when something is so late, that you might as well put it all in the same post. Besides, MORE PICTURES! :)

While there were some difficult parts to carve on this name, it was fairly simple to get it done, most of it was just time and the lack thereof.

Since I'm away, I had to spray it myself. After first purchasing the wrong finish (good thing I did a test piece first) then getting the right kind, I think it turned out pretty good. I would have put more of a gloss on it, but  I couldn't find a good gloss in the time constraints that I had.

And here she is! I like the way the pink flowers turned out, even though I was fairly skeptical at first. I feel like I've become a little rusty this summer, but I've got two more to finish before I head back to Utah in 5 weeks, so that will give me more time to get back into the swing of things. 

Overall it was great to get the knife back in my hands, and to get to know some new people out here that would let me borrow some of their power tools. It's a good picture of what is to come when we move for good.

Back in Action

I know it's been a while since I've been able to do anything, but I've finally been able to get in contact with the local wood supplier and someone with a saw. I've got another order from Europe that needs to be finished fairly quickly so the pressure is on. 


The wood that I got from the guy up here is great. Carving with this stuff is such a breeze compared to some of the wood that I've had to deal with down in Utah. Maybe Oregon is the place to be after all? Either way, just watch out for some more updates on progress, this one should be done quicker than usual.

Great Wood Turnings

I stumbled across this video the other day, it still blows me away how big these sculptures are. It's definitely worth your time to watch.

Big Wooden Ball Project from Mike Leuis on Vimeo.