Just a tad too ambitious

[uvawyo]

Lookin good, keep it up, learn from mistakes and the next one will be much more to your liking

[JBright11]

I think that we've all been there and bought that T-shirt! In my opinion you have three options.....#1 - Keep going and just finish it up as a sort of prototype. Now that you've got a rough idea of what you did wrong you can try to correct it on the next one. #2..... Cut both arms off plush with the torso and glue and peg a couple of pieces of new wood in their place. Then carve them to your liking. #3... and then my least acceptable is to chuck the thing in the trash and try again. To be honest Forum is my choice. Attached is a photo of a bear I carved recently for my wife. I attempted to carve the arms as one piece with the torso but I screw it up and ended up gluing a blank piece of wood for the arm and then carving it in a raised position as intended in the first place.

image.png

For me, it's always been option #1....I'll just keep going and make the best of it I can.
Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement!

[pallin]

Woodcarving is difficult because it is "subtractive," meaning you keep taking away material until you reach the stage or form you intended. There is always some uncertainty as to when you've gotten there. It is even tougher on months-long, big projects. I have to avoid looking too closely at carving I completed years ago, because I'll find something I'd do differently today.

[Claude]

Good progress so far. Keep it up. I agree with Eddy's suggestions. To expand on Brian's suggestion, Take a piece of 1x 4 or 1x 6 several inches long. Drill a couple of holes through to where the feet on the character would be. Drill a hole in each foot about 1.5 inch deep, probably a 1/8 or 3/32 drill bit. Use a dry wall screw about 2 or 2.5 inches long, and screw the feet to the board. The board can then be clamped to your workbench or table with an "F" clamp or two. Put a piece of that rubberized shelf liner between the board and the table/workbench - it will keep the carving from sliding or turning when using the tools. BTW, you can use a mallet on palm tools, as long as you are not trying to hog out major amounts of wood. The mallet gives you greater control of the depth of cut. A few gentle taps will be much easier than trying to use your shoulder and arm muscles.

Claude

[Nebraska]

You can also DYI a vise.

https://forum.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/woodcarving-illustrated/woodcarving/woodcarving-tools-technology-sharpening/1164225-diy-carving-vise

[Glenn Jennings]

Looking good. I use small rifler files and sand paper glued to very thin slivers of wood for some of these hard to get at places. Also often just slip a thin strip of sandpaper through the gap and use it like emery cloth strip. About 3- 5 mm wide works fine.

[mpounders]

Piercings like that always add to the challenge. If there is enough of a gap, I try to drill a hole and then extend that out with a knife. I also find that skew chisels of different sizes will let you push cut in areas that you can't just slice with a knife. On arms like these, try to keep as much wood on the outside of the arms as possible. Then when you start on the piercing, taking more off the torso can help you keep the arms a little thicker. I remember this was one of my first carvings also!

[JBright11]

Well, this is where I'm at so far. Just picked up a burner, so I'm playing with it as well.
HBilly_Burned.jpg

[Glenn Jennings]

Love the facial features you have managed to capture with this piece. Looks good.

[NoDNA]

J Bright.. Say , that wood burning doe's a great high lite job for you. I don't think ya need any paint IMO, I wood just burn a bit more and coat this guy with some Bold Linseed Oil.
Great carving, and like your small detail, as Glenn said.
Chuck

[Scott78]

I think that is a very nice carving! Good Job!

[JJF]

nice work JBright11