Oskar

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Nicely done!

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Sorry to see about the accident. That Santa came out nice! Do you have a bench hook? When things are small and have a flat back, that's what I use.

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Yikes, square needles. Those are too funny!

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Those are pretty neat!

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Mumbles, "I bought it from his estate." ...

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Nice! I know a few of those characters.

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Nice! Giving carvings away is where I'm headed. No place to put the things in the house.

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Nice little Santas! I haven't been camping in almost two years. If/when we go again, I should take my tools.

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It's long enough ago that that part is in the dim and misty, but probably. He's 7-3/4" tall, and made out of sugar pine. It was a piece off the end of a 4" X 6" board that someone had cut off and dropped in the trash at a wood store because it was split. It was good enough for me though,...

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Yes, a head indeed! ...

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No problem! I post as Dark_Lightning at Lumberjocks.com. We had a discussion over there about gouge curvatures. I measured a bunch of them and ginned up a spreadsheet. I'll go look at it again to see if it is worth posting here....

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Here is my version of "Oskar", from Harvey Refsal's book. First flat plane carving, from about 5 years ago. I started on "Sara", but needed to add wood for her head, and misplaced her. I'll have to start again....

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I went and checked my gouges. I have one of each of these. They fit exactly. I'd've expected a little manufacturing tolerance difference, but the smaller gouges were right at home in the cut made by the #9-15....

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Thanks, folks!

I generally leave the tool marks, or at least try to make them as smooth as possible with the tools. Sanding takes away the carved look that I like....

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Thanks guys!

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Thanks, folks! JoeB, it's raw wood. I probably should oil it to preserve it.

BTW, this is a Lora Irish pattern; just want to be sure credit is given where it's due.

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Thanks again!

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A simple bas-relief rose in a live edge basswood plank. No finish....

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Yeah, the "5 minute wizard" is more like half an hour. I guess speed would come with practice. My rate of completed carvings is about 6 a year. Some go quickly, like the dog I posted. That's about 4 hours total. It's an early carving, so maybe a repeat would go quicker. Though speed is...

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Thanks guys! I guess I could pull something out of the firewood pile.