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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

Something for myself

Now that I'm finished with existing orders, I have some time to work on something for me. This sign has been sitting around for a while, as some of you remember. I started, but got caught up in school and other orders which left this piece sitting inside the tool chest. I had some good time working on it last night, and it's turning out well, even if the butternut isn't as easy to work with as the basswood.

I'm still searching for a place where I can find some materials, but once I do I'll be able to start up the order process again. Until then, I'll keep pictures of this one coming.

Sisters: (Almost) Finished!

After a long wait, I finally was able to find my camera and get some pictures taken of the Sisters before I painted them. They aren't totally done, but I figured that it's been a little too long without an update. The colors turned out fairly well, I just wish that Tana's pink would have been a little lighter. Check back sometime next week for the finishing touches!

On a side note, a few of you may have noted that I have suspended orders for the time being. Having just relocated to Portland OR, I don't have access to the tools and supplies that I have had previously in Provo.  I will be doing my best to get in contact with someone who will let me use their equipment, but until then things may be a little quiet around these parts. Just stay tuned I suppose.

Sisters: Almost there

We're on the downhill slope of the project here. I finished the carving on Gracin and will be doing the sanding later this weekend. Tana and Ella will be getting their color today, with Gracin in tow (probably Monday). Looking at the three I feel like they are turning out well, despite how long it took to get them done. 

I'm personally off to Vegas for the weekend, so I'll give you an update once we're back.

Sisters & Location Changes

This will just be a short update. I'm half way done with the finer grit sanding on both Ella and Tana and am planning on finishing up today. Gracin is underway, but I didn't have the forethought to take some photos for you all to see. I figured Tana and Ella would just be more of the same, and held off on those as well. I need to have these done by next week, so expect some big updates soon. 


For those who don't know, I will be temporarily relocating to Portland OR for the next 4 months. This will not affect current orders, but shipping may need to be changed for the time being. More on that at a later time. 

Sisters Gracin: Been there, sawed that.

After regaining my freedom from finals earlier this week, I hunkered down and cut out the last of the sisters. It is nice to have all of that work done and now I can sit down and work with the knives. I've got a fair amount of time this weekend, so check back Monday for the excellent progress that I will make...

Sisters Gracin: At long last

This one has definitely been in the works for a while now. I actually had this done, but decided to erase 90% of it and start over. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the branch off of the G at first, but I think it fits. It also provides a little more structural support between the R and the A.

I'm still waiting for the final OK on this one from the customer, so I won't be cutting anything until then. I also might make a few tweaks to the leaves on the bud before I get this one to the saw. Either way it won't be too dramatic, or noticeable. I'm just happy it's finally done.

Sisters Tana: The Sanding Edition

Did the same thing here as I did with Ella. I'm fairly sure at this point I'm just putting off Gracin. I just can't get a few of the letters the way I want them to look. I may have to go to some outside help to get a design that looks good. But anyway, stay tuned as always, color and finish sanding is coming up soon.

Sisters Ella: The Sanding Edition

I figured that since I was done with carving on Ella, I could just do some initial sanding to see how it was going to turn out when it is done. This was just 80 grit, which means I still have 120, 150, 180 and 220 to go. Thankfully those all go by fairly quickly since the 80 does all the hard work.

Sisters: Tana

Not much to say here, Tana is cut out and ready to start with shaping. I still haven't decided on a design for Gracin, but it looks like the time is running out for me to put it off. We'll see what happens later on this week.

Sisters: Ella

Had access to the scroll saw earlier this week and took the liberty to get these two cut out while I had the chance. I've already started on shaping Ella, and am actually almost done. It is a little refreshing to have a name that isn't too long or complex, especially after such a long hiatus. Check back in a few days and I'll have Tana cut out as well.