What's on your workbench - February

[size 4]Painting finally finished on pintail deadmount, and now working on the restoration of the panel that it's eventually going to hang on. Looks to be salvaged from an old dresser. Trimmed out the center recess where a mirror once was set, using some beaded strips, and repaired the carved accents. Will do some hand sanding now and probably prime over the whole thing. Parts of it were beautiful, solid birds-eye maple; but, alas, mixed in with too many other veneers and species - thus the need to paint over all of it. Still searching for what to add to the whole tableau.



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You're right, Bob, a hodge-podge of very nice wood. It still holds the eye well though. I wonder what it would look like with everything stained in a light cherry finish ? The odd geometry of the recessed mirror's outline is likely why this parted company with the dresser it was attached to.

Bob, you can take solace in the reality you don't have to shovel rain!
 
[size 4] Rick,

We have had a break from the rains the past few days. I even got on the River for the final day of the KY goose season yesterday, and believe me it was up and rollin'. Got way back up in a slough where normally it would be all mudflats, and had to tie off to trees near the shoreline that still must have been in 10 feet of water [:/]

Thought about the possibility of stain, but decided that the end product would be far too "busy" and probably detract from the pinnie being the centerpiece. Matter of fact I've already sprayed 2 coats of primer on the panel, and will make a decision about what color will look best somewhere down the line.

I'll consider using a dark paste wax to antique the color, and there are some "rattle can" finishes that integrate a texture that could be interesting with the right color.

"Odd geometry" is stating it mildly when it came to the recess for the mirror. I had to bring in the wife ( ....a former honors calculus & geometry teacher) to try and help me figure out what angles the chop saw needed to be set at in order to make all the mitered "corners" for the trim fit correctly. Even she was perplexed, but we finally worked it out.



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Well, the global warming model predicts both more marked and more frequent weather extremes in oscillation; one of many salient points of factual information lost on the Golf Course Developer in Chief... Look at it this way, at least you are still hunting!

The UP 200 Sled Dog competition was shortened to finish east of Munising in Wetmore last night, due to 'extremely difficult trail conditions'. Too much snow, and three feet of soft low water content snowfall in the interval immediately prior the race start equated to a soft, sharp-snow trail that the groomer and subsequent snowmachine "packers" couldn't stabilize well enough to not make it a "death march" for the mushers and dogs, despite good low night time temperatures that are easier on the dogs. Be glad that this snowpack will flow out via the St. Lawrence when it melts !!
 
Not fair guys, I can't hammer a nail. You guys make my day every time. The gifted hands you all have to mold nothing into something. Only God himself could give you that still. Thanks for all your wonderful work.
 
Very nice! I have been using 1x on the tailboards and think I'd like to try to go a little smaller on future birds, thanks for the info.

I've made lots of progress on a few things but not very close to finishing anything. We'll see what the last couple of weeks brings.
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I have used 1x (3/4") for tail boards. I find tempered masonite works better - usually 1/8" thick. Varnish both sides heavy and insert into tail slot then weight it for a day until it hardens.
 
Joe Daly

I could but I guess that wouldn't be very sportsmanlike.

BTW - great job as usual and great gesture to recognize what SSWA does and all about.
 
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Good morning, Rick~


I've been trying to play DU's "Marsh Watch" with your batch of heads. I think I see mostly Broadie-beaks (Greater Scaup), at least one Drake Can and maybe an Oldsquaw? What the brown-eyed one in the upper left? What else have I missed?



I always stand in awe of you carvers who undertake such big projects. More power to you!


All the best,


SJS

 
Should I insert the obligate DU qualifier somewhere in my response, Steve? How about a gonzo approach fueled by some French press coffee, since we both don't sleep well anymore and are likely the only two here?

Or,IF you are a Hunter Thompson disciple, You may see other species as well!

Schoepfer has a discount on eyes on now, so I picked-up the 12mm eyes for those sandhill silhouettes I made last fall. I am going to set them in some colored gorilla glue to achieve the correct eyelid effect. Overkill? You betcha!!

That "brown eyed girl' is a hen redhead, among a three:two split of lowhead redheads that I epoxied cheek inserts to get them full enough, they will all need at least one thinned epoxy coat to seal them. I have one alert can head to go with that head up feeder, a low wigeon drake, two breast rester scaup, and three more of a Jim Wicks head pattern drake scaup as well as the nearly finished hen without eyes. Plus, I have a full size loon to finish up carving and texturing before a wedding this summer.

Finally attacking that partially canted body preening redhead I have wanted to try...without any body pattern. I carved the bill a littler shorter to eventually insert a hardwood dowel in the tip to imbed in the tan cork body.

I figure if Tony Homer can attempt to pass a wigeon off as an oldsquaw, I can attempt to do the converse!

Take care!
Rick
 

Made me smile at your reference to Hunter S. Thompson.


" I am the prototype, the perfect American. Half out of control, violent, drunk, high on drugs, carrying a .44 Magnum. Rather than being strange, I may be the embodiment of the national character... all the twisted notions that made this country the beast it is." Hunter S. Thompson

Quote from the article - Surviving Hunter S. Thompson by Craig Vetter
 
I came of age reading Mark Twain, Richard Brautigan, Ken Kesey, Hunter Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom McGuane, Tom Wolf, and Jim Harrison- although I always thought his novels were too formulaic, preferring his poetry as a more noteworthy personal legacy..

Yes, Thompson's self-determined declining personal relevance eventually cost him his life. Brautigan, Thompson, and McGuane would be my choices for dinner guests at a gathering I hosted with Mark Twain as guest of honor. That would be a "meal" to remember... Had Thompson only garnered enough foresight to peer far enough over the horizon to see that Donald Trump would scuttle out of the shadows to run and win the highest office in the United States of America; truly "fear and loathing" applicable subject. matter!
 
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