Originally published in September, 2009 “Just finished this first character for my Bunkhouse Stove scene. Had the wife come down and model her longjohns so I could get the folds right. I had some worries about the face and whether I could capture a yawn correctly but it turned out just right. There’s lots of fine…
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Rise & Shine – The Bunkhouse Stove
Originally published in September, 2009 “I came across this photo the other day while looking for Bunkhouse reference material. While I’ve made potbelly stoves in the past I’d never considered a box style. It’s clear that the fellas gathered around this heater are not Cowboys but it would be an easy matter to make some…
A Couple of Unknown Cowboys!
These two wranglers were carved back in the 2007’s. I’m sure they received a brass name plate but I can’t remember what they said or which was which. I was carving pretty steady back then. Nice looking little figures with the great looking Horseshoe bases. Another thing that’s interesting with these two is that you…
Waiting For A Good One
Here’s another early one. A wrangler relaxing against the corral fence, waiting for a prospective ride for the days chores. He’s got his bridle hanging from the fence, ready for that good looking Paint on the far side of the remuda. I can’t see the date on the base but it’s two digits so it…
Wild Bill
Wild Bill is another character I did back in the 90’s, shortly after we retired. This is an instance where the details make the figure. The long hair, long coat, especially the double holsters with the gun butts forward. A classic character. I read once that each morning Wild Bill would fire off all the…
Carving A Saddle – Part 2
With my Saddle now complete, I use a wood stain to color it and then paint the saddle blanket. Lastly a couple coats of Minwax Satin Finish varnish to finish. To complete the Saddle, I use some thin strips of leather and a few brass decorative nails to make the leather ties as shown. I…
Carving a Saddle – Part 1
Here is a new pictorial guide demonstrating how to carve a small saddle. While cutting out the block might appear hard to do, it is really quite easy. Draw the design onto a piece of 3″ basswood. Cut out the blank following the outer lines of the Saddle. To remove the inner area clamp the…
Chung Lee Bottle Stopper – Part 1
Ah So! I thought you might be interested in carving a Chinese bottle stopper considering that China seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. There are lots of photos involved and the unfortunate thing is that when I post them they somehow end up in reverse order! I’ve tried to find a way to…
Something New Has Been Added!
Can you buy an old guy a cup of coffee? If you look down at the bottom of this post you’ll see a newly added “Donation” button. I decided to do this to hopefully defray some of the costs in time and money to operate this site which I hope is beneficial to those of…
Cotton-Eyed Joe
Originally published on October 17, 2011 I’ve wanted to do this character for quite some time and I think this figure pretty well exhibits all the characteristics that I think make him interesting. I think everyone familiar with him knows that he’s just some country boy but they might not know that being cotton-eyed also…