Ed Twilbeck

I have carved a fair amount of Bass Wood, and if you are using knives and chisels ,make sure they are sharp and if they are with a little more practice you won’t have to file or sand so much . Sharp tools leave a better finish than one that is not as sharp. Do a little more honing on your tools for a smoother cut. I use both a leather strop and I have one with leather glued to wood and I use the wood side to finish my honing. the small one is wood and leather.

What I do is to use their carving to guide me . A lot of the old antique are out of Ivory, so if you use wood for your carving,it will be different and look different. I would not try to make my carving look exactly like anybody’s else carving. If I used another’s carving as a guide for mine I would let anyone who looks at it know that I used it as a guide. What the copyright laws , rules are I do not know . I do a lot of insects carving and they are my guide , if someone has a famous carving of one and you carve one also , I don’t feel you are , or could be making a copy of theirs.

J all I can see is to finish with some sandpaper with fine grit 240 or finer.

Looks like loaded dice . Great work. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent work, fantastic ,would love to see the sword. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome Francis

That’s a good idea , I will have to remember that and try it myself thanks.

Fantastic carving and thanks for sharing. Gave me some ideas and inspiration for my Dragon. On polishing I use a string with white polishing compound. Should work on your carvings. Any questions, send them to me.

Please post some pictures. I would love to see I have a couple of Tagus nuts been thinking about carving them . I have carved a twisted Dragon out of wood , my granddaughter claimed it before I took any pictures. Would love to see yours.

Francis ,welcome, I mostly do wood carving , and I use a homemade tool to polish. Mine is a string and you can just use the edge to reach the hard to get. The other is chamois , a soft leather. I cut it in strips and attached to a sanding drum . The nylon string was untwisted and attached to the drum. These are Dremel tools. Or you can use a threaded with 2 nuts and washers for a drill . Using high speed let the string hit the compound ,then use the ends of it to reach where you need to polish. I mostly use the white on wood, I have used jewelers compound on metal.

Welcome back, will be watching for some pictures.

I got the COVID virus and my wife has it to. Please wear the mask, and keep away from everyone.not a picnic not fun . pain ,fever , body aches. we worked hard to stay away from our friends,but somehow we got it. Tested positive Tuesday ,got the Bam infusion Wednesday, home waiting for it to get better.

Yes it is leather glued to a block of wood. Use it a lot inside and outside.

Well the Ebony leaf is somewhere in the studio,can’t see it or find it. So I started a new one. Trying something new. I have a 3/4 x3/4 piece of yellow heart, carving a pendant for a necklace, a small leaf. The black and white Ebony one is somewhere, it will show up one day. With my arthritis in my back , hip and spine can’t get down to find it .

Same to you. Have a Happy and a Good New Year.