Wet Birch Wolves (3D wet branch)

[scottp55]

Considering the quality of the previous cuts.....I can live with it
Now...Fluting toolpath or Moulding for the top cut out...Hmm....bark or no bark..........

[sharkcutup]

AWESOME Results there Scott!!!

Sharkcutup

[WNC_Ed]

Scott,
Wow, that looks astonishing!
Glad to see you are keeping Robin from going over the falls
I am patiently but anxiously awaiting your next post.

[scottp55]

Thanks Guys!!
Going to let it rest/cure for a day or so...put it to bed with a thick coat of Butter that I removed this morning.
Females forehead has a soft fuzz that feels like crushed velvet....as it dries I'll keep hand rubbing and hope as it polymerizes it'll stiffen and fall off.

May be a candidate for VERY mild flame from my Blazer mini-propane torch...Guard hairs are Black..right?
Not quite as planned, and crack down by her Nose worries me...drove an Ebony wedge into the spacer wedge this morning to even out the Shopfox pressure.
Whole thing is kind of a wait and see...as the wood is so wet...and will start drying faster now:(
Wishing I had put 3 coats on end grain instead of only 2 Oil/Wax

STILL thinking offsetting the boundary vector by an inch/drawing 1 and 2 inch polylines arraying along the curve, and then Fluting to spoilboard may look OK?
Need to draw it out, and try to visualize the curve of the trunk, and it falling off the wood though.

Be a couple days though.
scott

OH...Note to Self....When you start scrunching/stretching Ovals....Curve/Fit VECTORS!!! All those Nodes are going to cause a PITA when sanding wall in tight spaces!

[scottp55]

Fluting toolpath cut well and left .08" so could scroll saw it out.

Back is still a reasonably pleasing shape.

Going to let oil/wax dry out a couple days before shaping/sanding top...cleaning Fuzzies with either torch/radial bristle disc and sanding the interior to 600G.
BUT basically how it will look(minus a lot of finish coats:)

NOW I remember why I like Hard and Dense woods for 3D's
(It's less Work!)

[scottp55]

Last night I was kinda thinking this was just a Plain Vanilla result..because I made model too large for the piece,AND went .4"deeper than expected because of the bark inclusion:(
Left it on the black granite countertop...at Dawn turned on a kitchen light to make espresso....and saw the reflection!!!

I thought that was kind of Nice
Searched for a wood that might give a similar reflection while sipping java...and had almost given up..when I ran across the C-90 Torrefied Ash that we multi-coated with lacquer, and tried using as carrier boards for buttons but just didn't work! Hiding behind the door, and hadn't seen in years.....Pretty darn close

Maybe some kind of reflective stand? Gotta think about it some more, and see what I have left in 5/4.
"As Above...So Below"?
Thoughts on shape of reflective surface for a standing person(not wheelchair height)?
Think it might make it less Ho-Hum?
scott

[scottp55]

They finally found a home yesterday:)
RX delivery young lady who had only delivered once...gave me a phone call and had just picked up the
prescriptions...and Called me to ask if she could pick up anything else I might need:)
Very considerate thing for her to do!

Asked her if she liked anything in particular "Dragons/Angels/Critters.....?"
And she immediately said "Wolves!"

So grabbed this one, and when she looked at it and handled it she almost cried...
and then when I said "Merry Christmas..It's yours!"
I ALMOST got an impromptu hug
(before she remembered we were both masked and the current situation:)

She almost tripped going down my ramp,
as she never stopped looking at it and running her fingers across it

Made me feel good that it's found its owner:)
scott

Now to make another one...as I Like that model:)

[bravesoul1950]

Scott, That was so nice of you, I end up giving half of everything I make away and it does feel good.

Joe

[scotttarnor]

Very Nice !

[scottp55]

Thanks Joe...It was totally spur of the moment from when she said "Wolves"
to when I saw her face(even in a mask) when I said Merry Christmas
A lot was because the expression on the Wolves reminds me of long term love...
And as I turned to go grab Wolves. I bluntly asked "Do you have a Significant Other?"...
And turned just as her face looked a little sad and wistful and got a very timid "no".
I Should have said to her "Well... well see how long That lasts Now." like a palm reader
I still considered it a work in progress as the base had a blip in it
because heartwood didn't shrink as much...and I hadn't sanded top edge to fair it in(or sign it).
But I miss it now, so that meant it was a good gift!
Looked yesterday through my branches, as it's a good piece for crotchwood figure...
nothing sprung right at me...so I'll have to look and cut some more branches for next year's cutting!

I learned a lot on that piece(and the next Paper Birch piece Boat Camp)!
That makes 2 Wolves cut/Loved/given away...definitely a Carve Again

Thanks Scott!

[highpockets]

Well done Scott.... A beautiful heart warming gift...

Thanks for sharing...

[scottp55]

Thanks John:)
I got to thinking about it today...
and probably not a bad idea considering I always forget Something when Online shopping.
Have to be Careful not to expect anything and not abuse a privilege!
Her face when she handled it was worth all the putzing and PITA cleaning I did on it!

[Idahospaz]

Wow, your work is truly amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your process.

[scottp55]

Thanks Idaho!
IF you want to read another one on playing with a soft/perishable wood like Paper Birch...
Here's another one that turned into a full blown experiment in a search for faster methods;
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34138

No problem at all to surface even wet Paper Birch and sand to 600G and seal to speed drying
(oily bark holds the moisture In if only endgrain is sealed...may let fungus take hold).
But does LOVE to split on endgrain while drying even with Anchorseal or oil/wax multi coats...
so cut wet wood extra long so you can trim it down later.

Paper Birch would NOT be my first choice for 3Ds, BUT I have a lot of it,
and like the looks of it AFTER it's finished
MUCH prefer dense, close pored woods, as when you finish,
you barely have to do anything except put the finishes on.
scott