What are you doing for summer carving?

[DiLeon]

Summertime is here. Do you move your work to outside? If so where? And do you have some summer projects that you will be working on?

For me, the neighbors in the valley trashed their whole house and landscape in order to get insurance money to major remodel. Long story.....but they found some lazy renters to blame it on. got some really bad people down in the valley. But .... I am making a living fence of trees, sticker bushes and the works on that side needless to say, that the police told me that I can do anything but put up boobie traps. ... I decided that I would move my outdoor shop this year to that side of the yard in order to deal with construction noise and the neighbor across the street building his boat. That way ....I can make major noise along with the construction. I put up an outdoor canopy in the trees. Added fans, my music and we will be blasting it with the work crew noise. I have dragged dragon out of the to-do list. Also will be doing an engraving of ocean paddlers on a bench. Plus a few carvings practice Koi fish.....out of basswood, ....the real deal will be with hardwood for a later project. So now I can blast my arbor techs and more.....without worry too much ...we are on the go for a hot humid summer! How about you?

[Brian T]

Gets too buggy here to enjoy outdoor carving very much in the summers.
Slapping mosquitoes with a crooked knife in my hand is not going to happen.
My downstairs is cool on hot days.

I will finish hafting a Kestrel Sitka "gutter" elbow adze blade. I will get the legs/head/tail fitted into a big Green Sea Turtle.
I have three story poles to chew at. Bunch of used farrier's knives that still need a little hook work.

I'll be more than pleased to get any 2 of those finished.

[Merle Rice]

I do all my Carving in my Shop , Summer and Winter. If it gets to hot in the Summer I don't go into the Shop , no A/C., it would get plugged up with Saw Dust. On doing Projects I do what Inspires me after I finish A Piece , no planning ahead for me. Hope to see more Members showing off their Work. Merle

[Soggy]

Nothing special planned, I'm like Merle, I carve whatever pops into my head and inspires me. Right now I'm on a mini bird kick but don't think that's going to last. I can't get as motivated carving birds as I can doing caricatures. I'll take some ornament blanks with me when we go on a short camping trip later this summe.
I have completed painting my house but still have two buildings to paint as well as 4 cords of firewood to put under cover before fall so I guess that's enough to keep this old guy busy ....

[Gleber]

I wish I had a shop... I just carve wherever I can... the kitchen table and lawn chair are two places I usually work. My tools are limited to a surgical #11 blade, an Excel 107 blade (my favorite) and a 40 year old beat up Dremel with failing bearings (it doesn't owe me anything), a course burr (the gritty kind, not the blade kind) and set of finer diamond tipped bits. I'm hoping to upgrade to a Wen 2305 for Father's Day.

I have an ambitious plan for carving cuckoos and some other things, but I travel a fair bit, which makes time at home my honeydew list catch-up time. And then there's clocks and painting...

Sounds like a sob story, but I'm happy for what I can do with what I got I'll take my skills over tools and a fancy shop any day.

Tom

[lionslair]

I hear you Gleber - I have been cutting wood with chain saws, digging out old or dead plants and moving dirt from piles to build up or fill in holes. Moving about half a truck of gravel to fill in the low spots the trash truck burns as he hits the gas hard from a standing start. I may have to lay cement for his fixed axle issues. Carving - what is that ?! Got half way and got the orders of spring and outside jobs. Mean time my design is in parts sitting on the desk awaiting to be carved or broken Hope to finish it this month - summer is coming and it is getting hot. Rain next week!!! Yea. Missed a week and lots of hose moving.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I am awake by 5:30a.m. and carve inside to start the day.

During the summer I do a lot of my carving on the front porch. It faces east to the rising sun so I have to wait for the shade of the porch roof (about 10:00a.m.) to move outside. By noon Hoopin Holler temps are well into the 90°F figures, ~ then time for lunch, ~ then time for a nap, ~ then time for a gin libation, ~ then time to return to the porch, ~ until skeeters drive me back inside and end the day.

I am working on completion of a barn owl (posted in WIP forum). The daughter of a friend graduated from High School and I am designing a carving (running REAL late) for her. I am still in the design drawing phase ~ but am planning on ~ a stylized carving of a dancing bear (about 8" tall) in black walnut, ~ inside a (bleached basswood or tupelo) magnolia flower (about 6" wide and cupped up to about 3").

[Gypsy31]

I feel mostly like Earl dose, I have my summer's 'bird projects' all band sawed,
and plan to carve them in my home made work shop!
Oscar

[Randy]

Summer I am a shop dweller. To hot, humid and wet to carve out side for this old man. Putting in a new window air conditioner this week the old one died. . I have a number of shop projects for the summer. All most all my work these days is doing walking sticks and canes. I want to rearrange my shop layout for that. Making it more efficient and speeding up the process. I will also build a stick/ cane rack for the shop and nice stand for the house.

[Buffalo Bif]

The way things look right now, I'll just be reading about what others are carving here this summer. My to-do list looks like War & Peace.

[pallin]

I have kept my carving hobby portable, even though the bandsaw and belt sander are in California. So we have been in Washington since mid-April and I've made negligible progress of Escher's "Relativity." Attended the woodcarving show in Richmond, B.C. and had my brother-in-law send a recent carving to enter. I guess my main activity has been studying the Pacific NW Native carvings in museums and galleries to get inspiration.

[josegerman]

In which issue of Woodcarving Illustrated I can find the patterns fpr the Kestrel? Thanks.