My shop-made tool set

I made this little set of carving tools. I was needing some really tiny ones, so I decided to make them. I used allen wrenches for the chisels and needles for the gouges. I am hoping to use the tools for making a giveaway, having passed 100 followers. Stay tuned!

This is what the backs look like.

 I used two different sizes of allen wrenches. First I put the end in a vise and slowly, carefully pushed to "unbend" it  some. I covered it with my jacket because I was afraid it would snap, and I was much less afraid once I couldn't see it :) Then I ground the profiles.

The assortment is two sizes of straight chisels, one ground on top, one on the bottom. Then I made a skew.

This picture shows the different sweeps on the gouges. The needles I used have a little dip around the eye and I snipped the eye off with a wirecutter and then made the dip deeper and longer with a diamond cutter in my Dremel. Then I ground the edges.

I love the grip I have on these tools.

Here they are in action.

OOOOPS sorry....

I am so sorry I forgot to put the price of the ducks on my website! DUH!!! It was very late and I was struggling with a very glitchy HTML editor...I built my own site... off to fix it right now. Thank you for your understanding---

Now in season!

A huge welcome and a sincere thank you to the new followers of this blog!

Pin tail drake decoy

Catherine's post about the pin tail duck has generated a good amount of interest in my carved wood decoys.

Thank you for the emails I've received in the past few days.

Black duck drake decoy

I am currently researching European antique accessories, exploring new techniques to carve/create them, making new tools, and will be sharing what I've come up with soon.

Bluewing Teal drake decoy

It is not necessary to email me concerning the availability of the decoys. I've added them to my website with the option to buy. You may purchase them at

http://www.miraclechickenminiatures.com/Dollhouse_accessories.htm

Mallard drake decoy

 Every duck is individually hand carved and hand painted- one of a kind -and may vary slightly.
Again--thank you!

A pair of dovecotes

These two 1:12 scale dovecotes are made from wood and were separate custom commissions. The top one is three sided to go on the side of a barn. The second one is free standing and is six sided. I carved the little pigeon also.

Here is the photo I worked from and was inspired by:

This is the three sided dovecote before I painted and aged it:

Finished!

1:12 scale duck decoys-the first 3

Here are the first three antique duck decoys finished and painted. I did not put any wear on these. I think they will make nice accent pieces for a 1:12 scale library, den etc. I am going to be making antique European 1:12 

scale furnishings. Very exciting!

A 1:12 scale Blackduck drake decoy.

Here is the Pintail drake decoy shown unpainted in the previous posting..

A Mallard drake decoy.

 

 

Here the Blackduck in shown in my hand.

1:12 scale antique duck decoys

I am now carving a series of antique duck decoys in 1:12 scale. Hand carved Jelutong wood, fully feathered. Here is a preview. This is a pintail duck and will be painted.

 

  I thought that they will nice accent pieces for 1:12 scale rooms- a library or den. The next decoy I am planning will be a mallard, and maybe a swan. Some decoys will show more wear than others.

Esmeralda and goat

This statue, Esmeralda with goat, was a custom commission. Hand carved wood with faux bronze finish. This was an exciting project because I didn't have **a picture to work from**, but several general idea photos that I put together to come up with this interpretation.

The statue measures just 2" (5cm) high. Carved from Jelutong wood.

Bonsai Tree Houses by Takanori Aiba

 How incredible are these!!!:

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"For nearly a decade since the late 1970s artist Takanori Aiba worked as a maze illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE. The following decade he worked as an architect and finally in 2003 decided to merge the two crafts—the design of physical space and the drawing of labyrinths—into these incredibly detailed tiny worlds. Using craft paper, plastic, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and other materials Aiba constructs sprawling miniature communities that wrap around bonsai trees, lighthouses, and amongst the cliffs of nearly vertical islands. I would love to visit every single one of these places, if only I was 6 feet shorter. See more of Aiba’s work here. (via design you trust)"

"Granny"

This is Granny  from "The Beverly Hillbillies". She was a custom commission. Apparently they made a movie and Jed was carving Granny. 

She is holding a jar of preserves but speculation is that it's White Lighnin' moonshine! Of course.

She is carved entirely from one little block of wood.

Some different views as well of photos of the real carving.

Tiny hand carved Buddha

I carved this Buddha from Jelutong wood. It's a little over an inch high. (3cm) He has 6 arms! This was a custom order.

Needless to say this was a challenge. I was intrigued.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas everyone!

Vintage 1940's miniature skis

 This is a re-post from a few years back, on my first blog, but I thought I'd post it here too.  

              

 1:12 scale vintage skis

I thought this was going to be easy, but the original idea I had morphed into one of the most intriguing projects I've ever done. I thought, carve the skis, even with their contouring and grooved bottoms, easy enough, put some metal for boot bindings and done. No way!! It became evident early on that this was woefully inadequate, certainly not something I'd like to be represented by. Even as I went along, I kept pushing myself. Get more detailed, figure out how it works. As luck would have it, I dragged home these very skis (full size- circa 1947ish) from a junk sale. I was annoyed at myself because they were cumbersome and kept getting in the way, but now, I'm so grateful to have them! See, like I always say, the junk I drag home ALWAYS comes in handy!

**selecting the wood**
First I cut my wood to size then rough shape. Here are some prototype and cast offs.

I went through my metal stash and settled on this .016 brass. I didn't like the idea of shiny brass so I "aged" it in ammonia fumes.

***forming the top of the boot bindings***
I used these pliers as a bending brake and made the first part of the boot bindings. Then I drilled the holes for the nails.

***the finish***
I painted the skis with brown acrylic, then rubbed them with a piece of paper bag. For added realism, I waxed the bottoms.

***making pins***
These pins are where the sides of the bindings will adjust for boot width.

  ***making buttons***
I used this thin brass tubing to make the pins and also  the "buttons" that the back straps fasten to.

The  boot width, adjustable, these are the sliding
sides of the boot bindings, with the straps buttoned and all slots cut.

The straps are made with real leather. Not having any really thin leather, I used an ordinary piece and "shaved" off a thin layer. Then I cut the strips for the 4 straps and used hide rejuvenator to make it soft and dark.

For the tiny buckles on the top straps, I used .002 shim brass. The buckles are movable, with the leather going through the sections, not glued.

To assemble the bindings, I pinned them in place on some cardboard to insert the top straps.

They're done!
I've used tiny brass nails to nail the binding tops. I made the poles from thin dowel and turned the hand grips, then wrapped the grips with black thread. The points are made from brass tubing and rod, and the discs are carved from wood.