Author Topic: Pointer dog woodcarving  (Read 25110 times)

Offline micktoon

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Pointer dog woodcarving
« on: January 13, 2014, 07:59:22 PM »
Good evening all.
      I have started the latest woodcarving project its a pointer dog pointing, I have copied from a project in a book which I think is an English pointer but I am adapting it to be a German Wirehaired Pointer if all goes to plan, it is being carved from Lime wood again.
  It was first drawn out then band sawed from the blank of wood, then drilled and fret sawed where the gaps are between the legs etc. I have then carved with gouges , then microplaned then rasped and sanded to reach the rough shape.
 The photos show the progress so far, now it will be a case of keep checking what it looks like from various angles and carving more and more away until it reaches a stage where more fine detail can be added once the over all shape is correct......still plenty to do yet !


























 Its getting late so not too much text to go woth the photos but I will put more in my next update,
  Cheers Mick.

Offline AussieJimG

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2014, 08:42:54 PM »
This looks like being another good one Mick.

Jim

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2014, 03:49:09 AM »
That's shaping up very nicely, Mick!  :thumbup:

David D
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Offline Pete W.

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2014, 04:36:29 AM »
Hi there, Mick,

That pointer is looking good.   :thumbup:   :thumbup:   :thumbup: 

Where do you get a piece of lime wood that big?

 :offtopic:   :offtopic:   :offtopic: 

At the time of the October gales, I was living in Romford, Essex.  Lots of the residential streets were lined with lime trees, usually on the edge of the footpath nearest the road.  They were visually attractive but not much fun to park under because of the sticky sap.  If you tuck a new Spring lime leaf into your cupped hand and then whack it with the flat of your other hand, it makes a very satisfying 'POP'!   :D   :D   :D 

The October gale brought many of them down, blocking the streets.  The Council guys turned out with chain saws and cut the fallen trunks into 2' lengths, small enough to be man-handled out of the way so the milkman and Postman could get through.  I thought it was a tragedy for all that timber to be cut up that small (but then it wasn't MY car that got crushed by the fallen trunks!).
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Pete W.

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Offline micktoon

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2014, 06:26:07 PM »
Thanks for the comments lads  :thumbup: , what a waste of chunks of lime Pete  :bugeye: I got this bit from a stall at the Harrogate woodwork show but there are more places selling unusual woods than most people think, if you search for your local woodturning clubs they normally have links to places in the area.
  This carving will be about say 7 inches long x 5 inches high x 4 inches wide roughly, the base is all part of the carving this time and should look like the dog is standing in rough grass.
  I will post a few photos of my dog who is a German Wirehared Pointer to give people an idea of what one looks like, they are called Deutsch Drahthaar in Germany from what I can gather. They are not a very common dog in the UK compared to the German Shorthaired pointer. They are HPR breed , that's Hunt , Point and Retrieve dogs so will point at game , hunt it down if shot but not killed and retreive it back..well that's the theory anyway, Otto has a habit of point, hunt, catch kill and eat. They are very clever loyal and robust dogs but need lots of running and outdoor type life really.

 Here are a few photos of him pointing, these photos are a few years old now, it looks like he is left handed here but he does point with both feet.

 This is general idea of the rough coat , he does not have as much beard and bushy eye brows as some. This style of point stance is more of a waiting to see where I will throw something.
 

 This is a good point for game , when you see him locked on like this its 100% something is in that long grass or bush, he will stand for 10 minutes if you let him.


 This bottom point photo is a 'maybe still in there' stance but a rabbit may now be down its hole or moved away leaving  some scent.


 I have been laid low with a cold or could be man flu today so nothing more done to the carving.

Cheers Mick.

Offline micktoon

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2014, 07:08:58 PM »
 I have managed to get some more done to the pointer carving, its been hard trying to make it look like a German Wirehaired Pointer rather than just a pointing type dog in general and it might not end up looking like one yet but this is what stage its up to now. There has been lots of delicate carving , filing and sanding and its starting to get there.









 The photos have not come out very well I think I have the camera left on the wrong light setting ? , I will check before taking the next shots.
 There is still lots of tricky bits to do to get final detail done and also I am not sure of the best way to do the base, its really meant to look like the dog is standing in rough grass hence the bottoms of its legs going into the ground.
  I willnot get back to it for a few days now so hopefully will see it with 'fresheyes' when I look at it again ans spot what needs doing better .
  Cheers Mick.

Offline awemawson

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2014, 02:31:17 AM »
 :thumbup: Very nice Mick  :thumbup:

 :bow: That's a heck of a skill that you have there  :bow:
Andrew Mawson
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Offline krv3000

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2014, 01:23:33 PM »
well dun i will av two

Offline mattinker

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2014, 01:47:23 PM »
Mick,

That's great! You've really caught the pose and it's tension!!

Regards, Matthew

Offline JD

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2014, 02:49:58 PM »
Mick, another cracking piece of carving, whats next a Gun (man or woman with a gun on a shoot) to accompany the dog?
watching this with interest.
John W   
If you cant fix it hit it with a bigger hammer

Offline micktoon

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2014, 05:44:20 PM »
 Thanks for the comments Andrew , Matthew and Bob ........Bob it will cost you a tenner for two mind  :lol: are you sure you still want two ? .............I am not sure what will be next John , I have a wren half done but will need to do that in my shed, not at the carving club as mostly dremel type tool and burning detail in. I think the next project to do at the club might either be a human hand full size lol , or a human head say half to three quarter size maybe ? but I might spot something else in the meantime too so who knows what it will end up, so keep checking back to see  :thumbup:

 Cheers Mick.

Offline awemawson

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2014, 02:16:12 AM »
How about a Harrison L5  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline John Stevenson

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2014, 04:47:29 AM »
I know if I tried this it would look like a pile of dog poo.

Mind you i could always sell it as art, if that twat gets one million for a vase with paint sloshed down the sides theres hop for me yet.

Trick is to make 5 and get someone to destroy one and that will put the value up of the other 4.

Might even be able to retire then ?
John Stevenson

Offline Manxmodder

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2014, 02:16:31 PM »
John, You could call it 'Dog in the woods,in wood'.
It could be a really abstract piece bearing little resemblance to a dog and with that title you'd be likely to persuade some duffer to push a few grand your way too.  :loco:

...OZ.
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Offline tom osselton

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #14 on: February 20, 2014, 03:46:23 PM »
Just display it with a uncarved piece of wood you could call it "Who let the dog's out" 

Offline micktoon

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #15 on: February 23, 2014, 05:43:01 PM »
A little bit more done to the dog carving but been on with the lathe so just tinkered and put in some basic muscle tones, its amazing how much better it looks as detail goes in.
 I hope to get more done later in the week.





 A couple of people that have seen the photos but not the carving seem to think its about 18 inches long , its actually only say 5-6 inches long and about 4 inches tall.
  Cheers Mick.

Offline doubleboost

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #16 on: February 23, 2014, 05:48:17 PM »
That is simply stunning mate :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
My hand would make a canny carving  :jaw: :jaw: :jaw: :jaw:
It has already been well carved  :bugeye: :bugeye: :bugeye: :bugeye:
John

Offline 90LX_Notch

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #17 on: February 23, 2014, 08:16:04 PM »
Mick-

That is simply amazing.  I'd be happy if I could make something that looked like the first photo of this thread.  You have a real talent.

-Bob
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Offline SwarfnStuff

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2014, 11:44:02 PM »
Thank you for this most interesting post. I follow with interest and dare I say Envy? But, there again, my saw dust making endeavours is making furniture with my son. (I am the assistant.)
Converting good metal into swarf sometimes ending up with something useful. ;-)

Offline micktoon

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2014, 05:52:03 PM »
Hi All , I have finally got around to finishing the carving of the pointer dog, its ended up more of a German Shorthaired pointer rather than a Wirehaired like my dog but that was mainly down to time to try and get it finished . I am planning at some point on doing a bit larger carving of my dog with the rough coat.

 From the point I left off, I just had to refine the shape and contours of the dog, you can not see that much in the photos probably but more or less every part was altered. I used carving tools , riffler and needle files dremel type tools and lots of careful sanding.





Once the main body was done it was time for the head and the worst part the eyes, this is the head ready for the eyes to be done.



First I drew the eyes on making sure they looked even and spaced in the right place each side, as you can see in the background I am using a tablet to view a photo for reference.



They came out ok but I needed smaller tools than I had really so I think if I did them again I would like to have done them not quite as deep set but overall they look pointer like and the face still has the right look about it.





This was the dog ready for final sanding but I was not happy with the base , the dog is standing in what should be long grass or heather, so I decided to re do the whole surface of the base so it looked more like flowing long grass, this is it before.





This is the new base with the grass like texture, I think it looks much better than the tooled finish it had before.



A mix of beeswax and pure turpentine was then scrubbed in with an old toothbrush, then the carving warmed with an electric heat gun so the wax went liquid and soaked into the wood, this is it before being heated.



This is the finished thing after buffing up, the first shots are in the shed and the last are in the house where I thought the light would be better but I am not sure it was really.













So job done in the end, I have lost track totally of how long its taken but I bet a full week say 40-50 hours ? The main problem with the woodcarving is there is no going back once you take wood off its gone , so you spend a lot of time deciding if its safe to remove more and which bits need to be reshaped, no doubt the longer you have been carving the faster you will be able to decide.

 Cheers Mick.

Offline tom osselton

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2014, 06:16:23 PM »
She's a beaut!  Exellent job I do like the grass better too.

lordedmond

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #21 on: July 12, 2014, 02:37:14 AM »
Mick

Great piece of work you have done


Tom
I think it's a he with it's under carrage  :D

Stuart

Offline SwarfnStuff

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2014, 03:24:30 AM »
Thank you again for posting this inspiring thread. Congratulations for job well done. Love it.
 :beer: :clap:
John B
Converting good metal into swarf sometimes ending up with something useful. ;-)

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2014, 04:09:18 AM »
Gorgeous!  :bugeye:

Blummin, well done, Mick......  :clap: :clap:

David D
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Offline Pete W.

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Re: Pointer dog woodcarving
« Reply #24 on: July 12, 2014, 04:48:20 AM »
Yes, Mick,

I agree with all the others - very well done. 
Best regards,

Pete W.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you haven't seen the latest design change-note!