Toolerlass

Before sewing

I still don't know much about carving and tooling. This is my 1st sheridan practice piece (i never practice on small scraps, i kinda just dive in lol and see what happens, warts and all) and only my third attempt at carving in total so i'm learning as I go. I did the same design on both sides just for the practice and noticed a difference just from doing one side to the other so if i do something else in future hopefully there'll be more improvement. Because it took a while, i couldn't bring myself to antique it even though i really want to. Because my first few attempts at staining have gone weird i didn't want to accidentally destroy it :-/ so i opted for a half finished look instead of completely wrecked :-/

Great tutorial. This was one of the first stampers i bought, i really like it.

Thanks for the link glockinator i like watching leodis vids. Can't order from america again though, just not worth the extra cost

Humperdingle yeah deffo thanks, sounds a good price! :-)

Hahaha the things we do just to avoid a bit of elbow grease :-) its amazing how inventive we can be when it comes to reducing the amount of hard labour required :-)

:-) might look around and see if i can find a smaller nob. First time in my life ive ever said that lol

Woo hoo i've just found something that works okay though it wouldn't work in a tight spot. I was sitting at my desk and it was staring me in the face. Saves the hassle of trying to drill a dead center hole! Drawer nob hehe

Woo hoo i've just found something that works okay though it wouldn't work in a tight spot. I was sitting at my desk and it was staring me in the face. Saves the hassle of trying to drill a dead center hole!

Thanks ao much for all the great replies. Its really appreciated. The first thing i tried was sawing one of those standard wooden burnishers in half (cutting off the smooth handle part) and then drilling a hole down the centre of that to use. But the hole was slightly off centre, and the wooden piece too long i think. So when switched on it wood spin in a slight wonk lol and would vibrate so much it took all my strength to reach and switch the off button hahaha. So maybe i need to cut it again leaving only one usable groove and practice getting a more dead centre hole. I'll also have a try of the sand paper drum idea too. I already tried it with the ones supplied (i tried all of the wheels etc to see what would happen) but i dont have any fine grit to try yet. I also need to get some lube for the whole process it seems. All i have is gum traga for doing it by hand but it sounds like i need more than this for a better job. Thanks again everyone :-)

I'm starting to dread burnishing now and was wondering if any of the standard bits for a rotary tool can be used or covered with something or adapted? I'd love to order the wooden drill bit burnishers but can't get them in the UK, and i've just been badly stung with high import tax after ordering a couple of tools from the US so don't want to go down that route again :-(

Absolutely beautiful

Stunning!!

Welcome to the forum! I don't bother with forums much, but this is a great place for beginners, full of info, inspiration, and a friendly bunch of folks. I'm sure you'll love it here

Wow!!!

Hi Bob, I think i've just copied one of your designs to practice carving for the first time as i loved the look of it so at the very least i should get your book :-) but do your post to the UK?

That looks great :-) i'm in the middle of doing my first one too (the exact same one as yours, copied from someones pic on this website to practise) i'm in two minds whether to stain mine when its done

Superb work! I've been wondering the same thing as you since i started a few months ago which has put my off carving. I ended up making lesser tooled things because of the disappointment it caused when adding dye. All i've found useful is oiling and adding colour to the border instead but i'd also love to be able to stain 'and' keep the shadows somehow

Thanks for all the great ideas

Good idea! I have some cheap crappy punches that were already dull upon arrival and too blunt to be useful, they should work fine :-)

Thanks winterbear :-) i'll check it out. Thanks again

Is there a stamping tool available that stamps 5-6mm circles? For the centre of flowers? I'm busy looking round the house for something that fits the bill but was wondering if there's an actual stamp that does it? Like a large seeder

Yep thats the one! excellent thanks :-)

Can anyone help? I'm looking for a tool thats a thinner longer version of a pear shader but dunno what its called to look for it online. For doing flowers and leaves, all i have is one fat pear shader and its too big for what i need