Woohoo! I finally have contribution for this column.
I have been out of the carving business for about 20 years. I have messed with a lot of decoys, burlapping, painting, rigging and the like, just not plain old "carving". Well, with my present health condition, and being out of work and on disability, (read here- sheer boredom), I decided to get back into it. Again, due to my present physical limitations, (I have a very achy and weak back), I am a bit limited in how I am now able to proceed, so some slight adjustments are in order. For example, I used to rely heavily on draw knives, spoke shaves and rasps. Now I don't have the ability to pull a draw knife, or push a spokeshave, and am limited with the rasps. No biggie, I believe that's why God invented the Foredom. I just need to learn a little on exactly how and when to use it.
To start. One if the reasons for the hiatus, was the band saw. I had one, but the motor went bad and I just plain procrastinated about getting it fixed. Jump to present day, I found an almost perfect one in the Facebook Market Place nearby. Delta 220 v, 14" with a bunch of extra blades, circle cutting attachment, and more. Very affordably priced. It now sits proudly where the old one used to sit. As I had a few moments here and there, I dug out the rest of my hand and power tools, which include many rasps and files, the above mentioned draw knives and spokeshaves, the Foredom, several other power carving hand held machines that quite frankly, I forgot about over the years, several books of sandpaper, box of carving knives and a whole bunch of other, misc. stuff.
After a little reaquantance with all if this, here is my first attempt to re-enter the realm. This particular bird will be given as a gift to a young man who has sorta taken myself and my good friend Vic Sutek as his mentors. He recently purchased a shiny new Bankes 19 foot Duckboat. We affectinately call him "Bufflehead" hence the species. (I don't think he's a member here, but if so, the surprise just ended, hehe).
I am a firm believer in "run whatcha brung". The body is from an old Western Red Cedar telephone pole left on my property after the power company replaced it. Being here in NE Ohio, we do not have Red or White Cedar redily available, and it was free so it works for me. The head is Basswood. It was left over as a rough cut piece from long ago. I hollowed it out, and certainly intend this bird to be hunted over. I am certainly no Bob Furia or Pat Gregory, but I think it will do. It will be tossed around, shot over and at, and most importantly, used for what it is indeed for.
JoN
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