What I’m working on at the moment
4 June, 2008 – 8:22 am
I think the weather is keeping people away at the moment, don’t really blame them, but it would be lovely to have some more visitors!!
But with it being quiet it has meant that I can crack on with my commissions.
I’ve 2 house numbers and 2 house names to do, they will be on my gallery when they are done.
One that I have just finished is absolutely gorgeous, ‘Old Chapel House’ I have carved 4” capitals and 2” lower case letters and its painted with a plum enamel paint, which compliments the red ochre sandstone beautifully. I buy it from the Wilderness quarry which is about 600 yards up the road from my workshop.
It is incredibly hard, I have to use tungsten carbide tipped chisels, which need to be sharpened every 10 minutes or after every letter, depending on the size of the letter.
This stone because of its hardness and density is perfect for birdbaths and waterfalls. However I have to start these with my angle grinder otherwise I would have to keep replacing my chisels!!
I am working on one at the moment which will be hour glass shaped, I’m not sure whether to sand it off smooth or leave it tooled, but that’s the beauty of what I do, I get to choose.
One of the commissions that I am working on is a head of a Bull Mastiff, it’s slightly smaller than life size, but my customer is incredibly impressed with it so far. I’ll get some images of it in progress to go on my gallery.
My customer (who for arguments sake I’ll call Al) supplied me with some photos as the poor dog is dead, I spent 2 days making a model out of clay, Al came out to my workshop as the model was nearing completion, to give me some advice as to the fine details of the dogs features that only he would know.
Once this was completed I cast it in plaster-if you are interested in the process e-mail me for details.
From this plaster cast I started the carving, blocking out the shape at first using a hand saw. Obviously this is a complicated process using callipers, squares, rulers and a lot of patience. Once I start the free carving it gets a lot more exciting as I am relying on what I see more than my measuring equipment.
