Wood Carving Illustrated Index

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Thank you Yorkarvers of York, PA!

This is a video I think you will find interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxVElGPpG48&feature=youtu.be&a

keep carving...Ed

Master Modeller Builds Unique Matchstick Armada

79-year-old Phillip Waren has spent the last 62 years of his life creating incredible ship models out of old mtachsticks and the wooden boxes they used to be packed in. He started building his amazing matchstick models when he was just 17, using the things around him, and since matchsticks were much more common back then, finding large supplies was a very easy task.
The master modeller, from Brandford, Dorset, has created every ship built in the Royal Navy since 1945, as well as 60 other ships from the US navy and other impressive floating fortresses from 18 other nations. One of the largest ships in his collection is the famous USS Nimitz, the largest aircraft carrier in the world.

Ironwood's toxins help it outlive termites

Today's question: Reprinted from The Arizona Republic
I do woodworking and use native Arizona ironwood sometimes because it is similar to rosewood and quite beautiful. But it is highly toxic and I must wear a respirator to keep from inhaling the sawdust. What makes it so toxic? Is it safe to burn in a fireplace?
Ironwood is pretty interesting stuff. Did you know it's a legume? I didn't until I started looking into this question. Being a legume means it enriches the soil with nitrogen.
Anyway, about its toxicity. Do want to know how toxic it is? It is so toxic that it takes 1,600 years for a hunk of ironwood to decompose because the termites and other critters that might chew it up can't handle the chemicals.
I couldn't find a full list of ironwood's toxins, but they seem to mostly be toxic alkaloids that probably are hard to spell.
On top of being toxic the leaves of some varieties are hallucinogenic.
As for burning it in your fireplace, that doesn't sound like a good idea.
Ironwood is just about the heaviest, densest wood you can find, so much so that it doesn't float in water.
On the Sonoran desert it serves as a nurse plant. That means its foliage protects the seedling and sapling of some other plants from extreme heat or cold and from solar radiation. The oldest known ironwood was determined to be around 800 years old, but their average age is about 200 years.
Ironwood may grow as a multi-armed shrub or as a tree. The largest known ironwood tree grows near Gila Bend. It is about 49 feet tall and 14.2 feet around, according to the Arizona Register of Big Trees.
Reach Thompson at clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8612.

 More information: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/claythompson/

Kachina Dolls and Carving Them...

Hopi, (literally translated) means a person who behaves in a polite or peaceful way. The Hopi are a communal farming people who reside on and near three mesas in northeastern Arizona. More than nine thousand Hopi live on a 1.5 million-acre reservation that encompasses a dozen villages.

The word kachina (kah-chee-nah) has long been used by outsiders to refer to any of the hundreds of spiritual beings central to Hopi religious life as well as to the dolls that depict them. However, according to the Hopi, katsina (kahts-ee-nah) is more correct and preferred. In English, the plural of kachina is kachinas, but in the Hopi language the plural of katsina is katsinam.

The first known kachina dolls were obtained by traders in 1857. From then on others were picked up sporadically until about the end of the 19th century. Little is known about these except that they were basically simple in style, with slightly detailed masks and simplified bodies. 

How Kachina dolls are made

Kachina doll making today involves both tradition and artistry. Kachina dolls are traditionally carved from the roots of cottonwood trees which once were abundant on and near the Hopi lands. The Hopi word for cottonwood root is paako, which means water wood, and the cotton-wood root's ability to seek and find abundant water mirrors the ability of the katsinam to do the same for the Hopi people.

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The Importance of the PENCIL

The importance of the pencil sharpener has always been underrated.
I remember a story about Werner von Braun when he was working for Adolph Hitler designing the V1  rockets during World War 2. Money was very tight and only available for items vital to the project.
One day he ordered a "milling machine" to be used for shaping small wooden dowels. When his request was approved he went out and bought a pencil sharpener.
Al Limiero

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening

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"Little Shaver" Pencil Sharpener

A century ago, pencil sharpeners held a much more important role in daily life than they do now, since the pencil was then the predominant writing implement.   Read the rest click here

 

His illuminating hobby -- lighthouse carving

Originally published: November 10, 2011 5:46 PM
Updated: November 11, 2011 9:15 PM
By LIZA BURBY  Special to Newsday CONNECT TO NEWSDAY CLICK HERE

Photo credit: Gwen Young |  Vincent Keating, 81, of Stony Brook, has spent the past 15 years or so crafting dioramas that are built around a lighthouse. He donates them to those whos spirits need lifting. (Oct. 13, 2011)

Vincent Keating's woodworking skills have earned him a nickname from his friends -- Geppetto, after the fictional woodcarver who created a wooden puppet named Pinocchio. But the 81-year-old Stony Brook resident doesn't mind a bit; the only thing that matters about his hobby is that it makes people happy.
After retiring from his career as a Long Island Rail Road ticket agent, Keating combined his love of woodworking and his fondness for Long Island lighthouses into gifts for friends, as well as strangers.
Each wooden lighthouse is set in a box frame and surrounded by miniature holiday scenes and popular themes to please adults and children alike. There's a World War II scene, complete with tiny airplanes ready to take flight, a snow-covered Christmas theme, and pieces that are inspired by popular children's movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean," "March of the Penguins" and "Cinderella."

H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N !!!

Carving a Pumpkin: CLICK HERE