March means Saint Patrick's Day whittlins!

I've been whittlin' up some decorations and door prizes for this year's Saint Patrick's Day celebration.

While many Americans treat March 17th as "Irish-American Mardi Gras," with green plastic beads, dyed green beer, and giant foam shamrocks, my family has always looked at it as "Irish-American Thanksgiving." In addition to great food, drinks, and music, we hold a trivia contest with prizes for our guests.

So far I've made a horse, some fridge magnets, and a handful of leprechauns. Prizes for the kids and grown-up kids alike!

Raised Leg Horse

Here's one I'm really happy with. I've been sketching variations on my wooden horse design, looking for a way to give them the appearance of movement. One raised leg seems to accomplish this well.



I made the other three legs wider to make up for the raised one, and shaved off a little more material from the left side than the right in order to balance it away from the weak side. It sits very well and is actual self-righting when tipped.




The funny thing is, under all the shellac and blue paint is three coats of salad bowl finish! It looked fine as a brown horse, but I changed my mind and felt like giving this one a little more pizazz. I think it looks great.

Toy Horse- from start to finish

Here's some photos of my latest toy horse project. From rough sawing with a coping saw, to carving, sanding, and finishing with lindseed oil and acrylic paint. The final step is to apply a few coats of shellac. This horse will be a gift at an upcoming baby shower.

Review: Case XX Seahorse Whittler

I really like my Seahorse Whittler. I purchased it a couple of years ago on a visit to the Case/Zippo headquarters in Bradford, PA. (About one hour south of Buffalo.) It's a nice drive especially in the fall. The Zippo/Case museum is well worth the trip.

The Seahorse comes equipped with three blades: a pen blade, a coping blade, and a wharncliffe master blade. The master blade does the heavier carving, while the two smaller blades are excellent for detail work and for getting into tight spots such as carving a ball-in-cage.

For this knife Case uses it's "tru-sharp" surgical stainless steel, which is as good as any stainless I've used. I find it easy to sharpen and maintain, and while I'm not as hardcore about steels as some people, I do wonder what a difference a Seahorse in Case's classic Chrome Vanadium might be. They have yet to release a CV Seahorse, and there's no word of any plans to do so.

I've done plenty of carving with my Seahorse and have few complaints. The master blade's wide spine gives my thumb a comfortable place to press, and it's straight edge is a snap to sharpen. It is a folder, so it's grip size is small compared to my larger fixed blade knives. Small grip size can contribute to hand cramping during long-term use. My solution to this is simply to take frequent breaks for stretching. Also, holding a hot cup of tea or coffee seems to ward off muscle fatigue.

Murphy's Rattle

Here's one I'm especially proud of. It was my first ball-in-cage carving, and also my first chain link. Two moving parts!

Step one: blank out a rough shape. I had originally planned for the chain link to look like a capital letter "M."


















Here you can see the spokes beginning to form. The square shape on the left will become the chain link.


















The ball breaks free within the cage. This is the most time-consuming part of the project. It can be tough to move the blade around between those spokes!



















The chain link is now free. I cut the link in the shape of a shamrock (instead of a capital M)w/Murphy's birth date inscribed. Shamrocks are luckier and less pointy.


















All done!. I left it unfinished except for the green shamrock (which I painted) The rest is plain, sanded, basswood. Early reports indicate that Murphy really digs his personalized rattle!