Team effort...

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That turned out nice!... thanks for listing the colours you used.
Wayne...

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Here he is painted up ( I will still add a finish coat of Tried and True ). Honestly I couldn't see any difference between basswood or poplar when it came to the painting part of this project. All in all , I couldn't see much difference between the two woods, except as Scotia Carver pointed out, the...

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Great job of both carving and painting. I especially like the expression on the face .....well done!
Wayne...

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Actually the poplar wasn't bad at all. It was a bit harder than the basswood that I have been presently using, but I didn't have any trouble carving it. I did have to turn my burner up by one setting to do the highlighting ,... I usually have it set on 6, but had to turn it up to 7 to get the same results....

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Just thought I'd pass this along for the neck of it.... Recently Scotia Carver asked me if I had ever carved poplar and I hadn't so he offered to send me some that he had on hand. Now SC lives in the northern part of the Province and I live in the southern part about 200 miles apart. Fortunately he...

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I know the feeling ,.....and I'm sure we have more inclement weather up here than you folks in Louisiana ,..... just gotta say " what the heck!,.... if I don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow".......
Wayne...

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Difficult situation you find yourself in Joe. It's obvious that your friend wanted you to have this and he is making sure that his wish is carried out while he is still in control. Maybe you should carve one of the pieces of bark into something that signifies your past friendship/business dealings and...

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Bought 'em at the local hardware store 3 or 4 years ago . Found them in their clearance bin after Christmas....

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I'm going to make a guess here, but I believe that knife was made by Tom Ellis from Spokane Washington. The initial would fit and I know that he has made knives in the past ( I'm the proud owner of 2 or 3 of his knives)
you can contact him here on the forum as he is on here every day.
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First Bob K. had an article published in WCI showing the steps to carving a fisherman, so I had to try that. Then Steve Reede comes along and changes it up a bit to become a Santa,... so I had to try that as well. Now here's my version of that pattern representing a hippy from the 60's.... .
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Great carving and painting , also that base caught my eye, .... looks like it is an old weather beaten piece of wood that may have a story of its own to tell..???
Wayne

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NICE carving and painting Tom,..... I was going to have something funny to say, but there's no way I can come up with anything to top Rodster's post....^^^^^^....
Wayne

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Not really sure, but it may be basswood. I have seen similar looking grain in some that I buy from my supplier up here. What I have experienced is that it is harder than "good" basswood (Heiniki's basswood), but wasn't impossible to carve.....just more difficult = less fun to carve.
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Even though you are taking advice from others, I can see your distinct style developing with each carving. Maybe add a few small wrinkles to the pant cuffs, to give the impression that they are gathered up over his shoes...
Wayne...

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Great adaptation! ... just goes to show, you never know who is lurking in that piece of wood until you put your knife to it....
Wayne...

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Wow!... Joe you really captured the surprised look expression on that fellows face.
thanks for sharing
Wayne...

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Nice one Joe,.... did he bring a sample of product from the family business when he came down out of the hills ?...
Wayne...

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Eddy those pharmacists know how to prescribe medication to make you well, ...... your prescription will make them smile..
thanks for sharing
Wayne...

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No, each reindeer is one piece....... they are carved from 2 different patterns,... one pattern has the deer looking straight ahead, the other pattern the deer has his head turned.
if you try it be extremely careful while carving the horns ( lots of grain direction changes) make sure your knives...

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A couple of days ago, Claude posted some pictures of a pair of reindeer that he recently carved. Like a lot of carvings posted by others this one really caught my eye, so I asked Claude if he would mind sharing his pattern. So here is my attempt at carving the reindeer. These are 6" tall and 1"...