Monday 11 March 2013

My Kingdom for a horse Part Trois!


It has been ages since I posted anything about carving my rocking horse. For those of you doubting Thomas’ out there...yes....I have been working on him! He has been nick-named Fin by my other half (short for Findus following the horrid horsemeat scandal) and he is slowly starting to look more like a real rocking horse. Some stages I've had to skip over when I didn't have my camera handy. Anyway here’s how far we've now come....

1. The base of the safety stand has been measured, cut, champfered and sanded.

2. Wood turning tools used to make the support pillars (from bottom to top)
The ‘Parting Tool’ is used to cut narrow grooves to serve as depth guides to facilitate the turning of a true cylinder. The parting tool is also used for squaring or cutting off the ends of the cylinder to the proper length.
When using a ‘Gouge Chisel’ the round side of the gouge rests on the tool rest and is turned or rolled a little to the right, always holding the wooden handle down (see image 4).
The ‘Round Nose Chisel’ is used for concave cutting.
The ‘Square Nose Chisel’ is used for straight cutting.

3. Wood turning calipers are used to measure the depth of the pattern on the pillars to ensure they match.

4. Wood turning on the lathe.

5. One finished pillar in a traditional design...I’m so proud!

6. Some wood carving tools including (from left to right) mallet, gouges, rasp.

7. The hind quarters with my horse’s rear end drawn on.

8. Hand carving.

9. The body complete.

10. Using a rasp to smooth some of the hard edges.

11.  Using the BIG sander to get an ultra smooth surface.

Next I have to bite the bullet and begin carving his head. Ah well....once more unto the breach dear friends, once more....


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