It's been a while since I posted any makes - even though I have been busy carving spoons and scoops etc...
I have been inspired to make one of these from the handful of posts on here (and the subsequent sources), and it was my neices birthday - I wanted to give her a hand made piece of mine as I don't buy plastic crap
She enjoyed the flying butterflies I once made her, so I reckon after getting this (fan bird) craft down I will attempt to make her a butterfly using similar techniques.
Making these is fun, atleast by bird three! The first one I didn't carve the notches deep enough or the feather/hinge shallow enough so lots of splitting and misaligned wings... The second one went alot better, but I suspect that I rived the feathers too thick and the piece of Pine I used was too 'tall' - I ended up with 3 sets of wings (or main wings, a tail and a set of middle wings)... But the third one went a little better, even though I went in too hard with the knife I was using (only used a Mora 511) and chopped the birds bottom edge off... however, after the three I made today, I know the next ones I make will get better and better.
Just a word on how I made these. I carved the first one dry, then boiled it up for the riving and wing assembly. while number 1 was boiling I also had 2 other pieces of Pine boiling (for about 90mins). I carved & rived these post boil, then popped back in simmering hot water to loosen up for the wing assembly - from my limited experience the pre-carve boil has left me with cleaner edges and even though I suspect these were kiln dried pieces of Pine - they seem to have worked OK. I hope to have a go at some more fan birds with green wood soon, although there is tons of Pine in the woodshed for practicing!
I know that these are far from the quality of others that members here have posted, so any tips and pointers would be great.
First attempt:
From the rear: (note the many cracks, splits and lack of grace!)
Second attempt: (cleaner, more balance, but still too many feathers!)
Topdown:
Rear shot: (A few feathers didn't sit well as I hadn't carved the back edge of the head/body to accommodate a wider feather spread)
Third attempt: (Tired hands (note the plaster!) and dying light reduced the quality on this one)
Topdown:
And a family shot:
Not a patch on Sean Hellman's or Kepis' work, but these are my first 3 with an unfamiliar material, one knife and lots of coffee. A huge amount to improve upon here, but as others have said these can get quite addictive! Thank you to those (new and old, dead or alive) who have shared their technique and thoughts as well as examples.
Does anyone have any thoughts/input on making a butterfly with this technique?
I'm thinking that an equal amount of feathers (like the bird but instead of wings/tail, just both butterfly wings) along with a butterfly shaped body along with a cleverly rived & carved 'top feather' to make the antennae should do the trick, but surely it's not gonna be that easy?
I have been inspired to make one of these from the handful of posts on here (and the subsequent sources), and it was my neices birthday - I wanted to give her a hand made piece of mine as I don't buy plastic crap
She enjoyed the flying butterflies I once made her, so I reckon after getting this (fan bird) craft down I will attempt to make her a butterfly using similar techniques.Making these is fun, atleast by bird three! The first one I didn't carve the notches deep enough or the feather/hinge shallow enough so lots of splitting and misaligned wings... The second one went alot better, but I suspect that I rived the feathers too thick and the piece of Pine I used was too 'tall' - I ended up with 3 sets of wings (or main wings, a tail and a set of middle wings)... But the third one went a little better, even though I went in too hard with the knife I was using (only used a Mora 511) and chopped the birds bottom edge off... however, after the three I made today, I know the next ones I make will get better and better.
Just a word on how I made these. I carved the first one dry, then boiled it up for the riving and wing assembly. while number 1 was boiling I also had 2 other pieces of Pine boiling (for about 90mins). I carved & rived these post boil, then popped back in simmering hot water to loosen up for the wing assembly - from my limited experience the pre-carve boil has left me with cleaner edges and even though I suspect these were kiln dried pieces of Pine - they seem to have worked OK. I hope to have a go at some more fan birds with green wood soon, although there is tons of Pine in the woodshed for practicing!
I know that these are far from the quality of others that members here have posted, so any tips and pointers would be great.
First attempt:
From the rear: (note the many cracks, splits and lack of grace!)
Second attempt: (cleaner, more balance, but still too many feathers!)
Topdown:
Rear shot: (A few feathers didn't sit well as I hadn't carved the back edge of the head/body to accommodate a wider feather spread)
Third attempt: (Tired hands (note the plaster!) and dying light reduced the quality on this one)
Topdown:
And a family shot:
Not a patch on Sean Hellman's or Kepis' work, but these are my first 3 with an unfamiliar material, one knife and lots of coffee. A huge amount to improve upon here, but as others have said these can get quite addictive! Thank you to those (new and old, dead or alive) who have shared their technique and thoughts as well as examples.
Does anyone have any thoughts/input on making a butterfly with this technique?
I'm thinking that an equal amount of feathers (like the bird but instead of wings/tail, just both butterfly wings) along with a butterfly shaped body along with a cleverly rived & carved 'top feather' to make the antennae should do the trick, but surely it's not gonna be that easy?
