Hello from the Northern Rocky Mountains

[Robson Valley]

Lurked a little and should show up honestly!
I'm a wood carver, living in a llittle village tucked away in the western Rockies of BC
53N, we are about 2 hrs by car west of Jasper National Park.

I carve mostly western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and some birch (Betula papyrifera)
and yellow cedar (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis). Sizes from 9-30" and subjects from
fish and birds to feast dishes. Very strongly influenced by the art and carving of the Pacific Northwest
native groups all my life (but with my own & unique design elements, I don't copy their work.)

Besides the conventional wood carving gouges and mallets, I have 19(?) crooked knives,
most of which are my builds. Also a Baby Sitka elbow adze and a D-adze, which I built with blades from Kestrel Tool.

 

[ozzy1977]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Junas]

I am also new to the forum. Welcome mate!

 

[andybysea]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[rorymax]

Good to have you here, welcome.

rorymax

 

[crosslandkelly]

Hi, welcome and enjoy.

 

[John Fenna]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Kerne]

Welcome - and VERY jealous of your location!

 

[Robson Valley]

Thank you all very much.
My principal reason for joining is a curiosity about the Mocotaugan-style knife.
But I don't have the time, tools or appetite (yet) to consider making a blade.
The designs and applications of the wood carving tools of the Pacific Northwest keeps me busy.

When you have an idle moment, Google mcbride bc and select Images to get a look at my place.

 

[Harvestman]

Welcome. Can't wait to see some of your carvings. I will look you up, but feel free to share on here too.

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks, Harvestman. Carvings. I get the sense that I have to cough up 10BPS to buy the priviledge
of posting pictures?

The most consolidated postings and threads (carvings and tools) are all in the Carvings Forum of Woodworking Chat.
Fairly new site and conveniently small. There aren't enough days left in your life to find all that in the Wood Carving
Illustrated website forums.

http://www.woodworkingchat.com/

 

[Perrari]

Hi & welcome to BCUK.

 

[vizsla]

Welcome chap, when you get a minute feel free to google my place just type chatsworth house into google images,

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks vizsla: Most impressive and so is Belper. There is nothing here of even a century's age.
Interesting to note that the house is at 53N, about the same here.
My local hills run some 7,000 - 9,000'. It has been snowing 1"/hour since yesterday. Literally knee deep in front of my house.
Managed to get stuck in the street snow this morning. Not a plow or grader in sight.
Ah well. It will be dark quite soon, I'll try again tomorrow. The mountain ranges run sort of NW - SE so on the solstice,
we will lose the sun at approx 1:50PM, whatever the theoretical sunset time may be!

 

[Toddy]

Firstly, welcome to the forum It sounds like you live in a lovely bit of the world. Is it not a damp climate ? much like our own.
Secondly, you only need to cough up if you advertise or try to sell here, or link to sites that do so. The folks who do cough up as Full Members, Makers and Traders help keep the servers running, and those privileges are kept for them as a "Thank You".
Posting your photos is fine

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Robson Valley]

Thank you Toddy. I'm in the west slope of the Rockies.
The implication is that this is the relatively "wet" side, sufficient for western red cedar (Thuja plicata) from
which most totem poles, story poles and mortuary poles are carved.
So yesterday a very large, slow moving Pacific weather system came onshore, dumping
massive amounts of snow all across British Columbia.
Next weather change should give us clear skies and -20 to -30C in whiich we will(?)
attempt to dig outselves out of this.

 

[Toddy]

Not so much like home then Snow is not guaranteed here. Indeed it's rare enough that we get in an enormous fankle when it does come down on us
It's not unknown, indeed it's more usual, for our weather to be so changeable that a day that starts out frosty, then heavy cloud and snow, ends in rain and slush.

Keep safe in your snow and cold.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Robson Valley]

I run a Harman PP38+ compressed wood pellet stove (downstairs) to heat my home in the winter.
So I'm not cold, even if it does cost me 5 tons of pellets.

On a forum matter, I note that I am unable to post pictures of my carvings and tools.

 

[Toddy]

The forum needs you to link to your photos on a hosting site, like flickr or google, and to link to that here. With tags it shows up on this site.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Mesquite]

Hello and welcome to the forum