Fan bird - from 'A fun challenge'

[Jaymzflood]

'in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king'.

I love that.

 

[Elines]

I love that.

...... except that I heard a radio play once about a sighted man who stumbled upon a lost valley where all the people were blind. As I recall he couldn't fit in so in the end they blinded him.

 

[mousey]

Wow those are really impressive.

I've never seen anything like that before. also looks 'relativley' easy to make.

I think I may also try this, but as with anything I do it will take me a long time to get round to....

[at least i'll have a load of kindle for the fire]

 

[Kepis]

How about a flock of birds, just a few of the ones i made last summer

this one lives in Canada now

 

[Harvestman]

I hate show offs!

On the other hand I have enormous respect for people with more skill than I have.

Great work Kepis.

 

[Elines]

Thanks for posting these Kepis they really are good- perhaps people can see now why I kept emphasising that I still have a long way to go

I should also say that Mark (Kepis) has been really helpful and supportive in gettiing me started on this form of carving, so I'd like to say a public thank you for that too

 

[Kepis]

I hate show offs!

On the other hand I have enormous respect for people with more skill than I have.

Great work Kepis.

cheers mate

 

[Kepis]

Thanks for posting these Kepis they really are good- perhaps people can see now why I kept emphasising that I still have a long way to go

The large one on it's own actually has the feathers going the wrong way, they should have dihedral, but these ended up with anhedral, but i have to admit it did look pretty good, almost wish id kept it back now, still tis another excuse to make another

I should also say that Mark (Kepis) has been really helpful and supportive in gettiing me started on this form of carving, so I'd like to say a public thank you for that too

No prob Chris, but if you are thanking me, i have to thank Sean Hellman for putting me on the right path with these

 

[Elines]

..........

I've never seen anything like that before. also looks 'relativley' easy to make.

I think I may also try this, but as with anything I do it will take me a long time to get round to....

[at least i'll have a load of kindle for the fire]

I thnk that if I can make them then anyone can as I am not generally good with my hands.

The good thing is that you don't need any special tools to have a go and you probably have a scrap of wood lying around that you can use - softwood about 6" x 0.5" x 2.5" or thereabouts. Tools are: saw, sharp knife for carving (I just used a Mora), thin knife for splitting. I also used a mini gouging chisel but that is not essential.

If you take to it you could then invest in some other stuff: draw knive(s), gouging chisel(s). Potentially the most expensive thing might be a sawing horse but if you make one like the bloke in the American video:

http://flash.unctv.org/woodwrightss/2800/wws_2808.html

you may be able to make that out of scrap too (I want to have a go at one based on what I think the dimensions are - it couldn't really be more basic and it works for him)

 

[Jaymzflood]

Just to let you know, the one I am making at the moment is on the boil. Ive used an old stiar spindle, but have realised half way through that its not the best of wood, and its a little bigger than anticipated. But hey ho, its my first go so I cant be too hard on myself.

Kepis - in your opinion, what is the best wood to make them out of?

 

[Kepis]

I make them from Scots Pine, Ash & Hazel, but i love making them from Red Cedar, unfortunately though, not a lot of that around here so i have to be patient with the timber supply yard as to when he might have some.

 

[Jaymzflood]

So do you boil yours aswell to make the wood softer for cutting the feathers?

 

[Kepis]

certainly do

 

[Jaymzflood]

Ive read 90 minutes is best (page 1), is that about right?

 

[Elines]

I've boiled for 90 minutes and then left it it the saucepan (an old one which Higher Management let me have solely for the purpose) overnight. We have a cooker hood and I now have to (ie HM insists) have it extracting the fumes during boiling otherwise kitchen stinks of pine resin.

I've now done five and I think that as long as the wood isn't rotten before you start then you will have difficulty in over-wetting it.

I did my first four by boiling them before I started carving but - for me - I think it is best to carve (but not riving) and then boil, with the riving done after boiling - but this may well be personal preference.

I think that even then it is a good idea to wet the wood before you start spreading the feathers and again during actual spreading.

 

[Jaymzflood]

Right, i royally cocked mine up. I knew i was going too, because I made a bigger one than the dimensions. The feathers are humungous and were falling apart and I was using the wrong wood...

BUT...

It managed to be saved and now doesnt look a half descent xmas tree decoration. Will get pics up shortly.

 

[Jaymzflood]

Pics turned out to be smaller.... oh well, i wont kill myself over it. Off to the timber yard tommorrow to get some proper wood to do a tidy one.

 

[robin wood]

Off to the timber yard tommorrow to get some proper wood to do a tidy one.

skip wood is good, often very slow grown old pine.

 

[Elines]

......................
It managed to be saved and now doesnt look a half descent xmas tree decoration. Will get pics up shortly.

Quite right too - you've got something there to be pleased with - be interesting to see how you get on with your next few goes.

Which tools did you use that you thought didn't work? Be useful to know to see what gives good results and what doen't

 

[Jaymzflood]

As a carpenters apprentice, I get to see first hand that its very rarely a tool that messes up the job, its always human error. All the tools i had were great, proper wood carvers and I even used a jigsaw at one point. The error was me and the wood I used. (An old staircase spindle)

I cant wait to crack on with today's one If i get the chance.