Whats on your bench? Other projects and creations

good lord, nicely done.

got these played with today.

GD I heated and blued. I was going for the prismatic effect and got it initially, but the blue was too thin and splotchy. two additional layers later is dark enough to satisfy me. it'll go into white paper micarta scales if I can ever get any cut and shaped decently. I have another one I've french pointed that'll get the same treatment, so I can have a couple of bulletproof travelers I don't have to worry about.

the Fredrick Reynolds was a crusty black rust bucket that I cleaned up today. I still need to take some scratches out, I'm leaving the pitting that remains, then to give it some shoes.

After a 20 or so year break, I'm finally going to start playing guitar again. Small problem, I don't have a guitar. My lovely wife and children got me a nice kit for my birthday last month. A semi-hollow body electric. Mahogany body with a carved top and a very nice quilted maple veneer. So far I've been learning about dying and finishing. Done with the neck and just about done with the top of the body:


The top is water soluble wood dye. The neck and back of the body minwax red mahogany stain. Rather than making an enormous mess with a spray lacquer, i went with Tru oil for the clear coats. It is a wipe on varnish made for gun stocks but often used for instruments. Very easy to apply. Adds a slight amber tint. Can be anywhere from fairly glossy to a matte finish. Need to try oil the back and sides. May polish it up some. Then assembly and relearning how to play.

I also don't have an amp so I got a little headphone amp but I plan to build a little half-watt practice amp soon as well.

Nice - thanks for posting this, it's inspiring; now I think I need to get my practice amp out and fire it up.

Glued the neck on today. Now it looks like it's coming together

I like the fact that the hole for the selector toggle switch is low, and not up high.
Is the output jack hole going to be on the side or at the endpin?

Starting some carvings for a new home.
The medallions are 2 " X 4" and in mahogany. They get inlaid into a facia panel along a vanity above each leg.

The Keystone is in Basswood and is roughly 4" X 4" X 8". I have some similar coming up to do that will be 3 ft long. The area where the Acanthus leaves are is about 3" X 3" so this is getting pretty small.

Wow!

Nice mark... I know when mark goes quiet from the forums for a bit he comes back with something beautiful!

Amazing projects guys, its great to see so many talented folks! Sadly, the only non-edge related project on my bench is another work bench in progress. You can never have too many clamps or workspaces.

Thanks guys. There is a quite a bit of carving in this place. Then again a 45,000 sq ft house just eats up everything.
i also have piles of razors on my bench and I'll get around to posting them in the usual forums.

I have another family wedding coming up. So back to the shop to make what has become a standard wedding gift for me, a fruit bowl. This one was a chunk of walnut fire wood until a couple of hours ago. Turned out to be nicely figured but still a bit plain, so I textured the rim for a little more character. At the time of the picture there is one coat of undried Danish Oil finish on it. It ended up 13" diameter and about 2 1/2" deep.
Please pay no attention to the cluttered shop in the background.

I too have a wedding to attend. Tomorrow actually. It's my sons !
Some time ago he said what he'd like is a family crest like the one I carved for myself for his new Yundt family. Little did he know I was already carving one for him. I can date this design to around the year 1410.

not knowing where his would be hung I made it so it can either sit on an archway as mine does or just be hung on the wall. It measures 17" w x 12" h.
The second photo is mine which sits on an archway between my LR and DR facing the entry door. It's nearly 4 ft w x 1 ft H.
Both are basswood, painted and antiqued.
The 3rd photo is the carving I did that sits in the opposite wall of the archway facing my DR. I left this one natural.

Congratulations, Mark! Outstanding work again! My daughter got married on the 1rst of this month.
My best wishes to the happy couple!

Thank you!
And congratulations to you as well.
Wow. Just realized my daughter is married 10 yrs now. Egad!

mycarver said:

I too have a wedding to attend. Tomorrow actually. It's my sons !
Some time ago he said what he'd like is a family crest like the one I carved for myself for his new Yundt family. Little did he know I was already carving one for him. I can date this design to around the year 1410.

not knowing where his would be hung I made it so it can either sit on an archway as mine does or just be hung on the wall. It measures 17" w x 12" h.
The second photo is mine which sits on an archway between my LR and DR facing the entry door. It's nearly 4 ft w x 1 ft H.
Both are basswood, painted and antiqued.
The 3rd photo is the carving I did that sits in the opposite wall of the archway facing my DR. I left this one natural.

Click to expand...

Very cool!

More metal to polish!
this 3' Sanctuary lamp is in need of some help. I'll strip and polish it. The counter balance ( the fat tube) was filled with lead shot. Rather than deal with that much weight I found the plug and poured it out. Now I can lift it.

The 5 ft. Plaster statue will get redone as well. Several of the Cherubs are missing arms, feet and hands so I'll just make new ones before re-painting and gold leafing the piece. Statue resto count is around 300 now.

This makes it easier. Shades of "American Restoration".
A bit more metal to polish than on a razor.

Dammit, Mark. That pedestal you're on, just keeps getting taller and taller!

I've been working on these hand carved brackets for some time now. They're for a private home. 3 ft long , 14" wide done in basswood. The swags as well as the leaves at the bottom scroll were carved separately and I coped the leaves into the scroll. That was a fun trick! That's a full size chisel resting on the one for scale . Originally they were one massive rectangular block.

Wow.... wouldn't I love to be able to afford a home that got to have those in it.