Tag Archives: balsa wood

Citizen #182

9 Apr
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Citizen #182 from all angles

After a four and a half months break, 26 Whales, two Monuments and nine Gnomes later, I finally carved a Citizen of Gigglesville. What a long break. I had almost forgotten how to carve a Citizen on balsa, taking a longer time than I normally would with #182, the first one for 2019.

But it looks good, I must say. It was awkward to hold, being so small and the balsa being so soft; I have forgotten what it’s like to control my strength. Despite all these shortcomings, I am pleased because there’s no strain at all on the left gripping hand and I can play golf without any nagging pain.

Maybe I should continue with more Citizens on balsa instead of the others on Meranti to preserve the hand. Reaching 200 population count is not impossible if I keep at this.

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Killer Whales

12 Feb

Actually, carving on Meranti wood is not good for me. While it may be satisfying to channel my energy into it and then feel the joy whenever a lovely piece is completed, the choice of the wood is the culprit that adds to my Wrist Tendonitis woes.

I was carving a lot of Meranti whales in December and they are much bigger pieces than the Gnomes and Citizens, which unfortunately have not increase in their population count. And being bigger pieces, it magnified the Wrist Tendonitis on the left hand because I have been gripping the wood block too tightly, looking back at the situation now. Sigh.

Although I have a vise clamp albeit a mini one, it cannot clamp the block for me to work on. And I have not been using my workbench enough to ease the situation. It is not the repetitive motion that’s causing the flare up because the repetition is on the right hand, the carving hand, and not the left hand – the non-working but gripping hand.

If I am not carving daily, the situation can be contained because with ample rest, nothing gets aggravated and it’s fine. The therapy sessions, which concluded, helped but I must not overdo things that can cause a recurrence. That something obviously being carving, of course. And I guess I overdid it in December. Oops.

Then in January as we were busy preparing for M2 to leave, carving took a backseat. But after M2 left, I was back to carving whales full swing AND playing golf before Chinese New Year, double whammy you could say. I felt a teeny weeny set back. Uh oh.

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The whales, cute as they may be, are really killer whales. And I’d better take care especially if I want to play more golf this year. Perhaps I should go back to balsa instead of Meranti or get a bigger vise clamp if setting up the workbench is too much? Something to seriously consider.

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Leader of the Pack

10 Jan

Besides buying hubby a gift for his birthday last month, I also asked him if he would like his own personal Gnome, carved on the same date as his birthday. Of course, being my biggest fan and supporter, he said yes.

But he wanted his Gnome to be different from the rest and this complicated matters. Haish… Why put me in a spot? If it were to be different he would have to wait until his next birthday because I need to develop my characters and this takes time. Can’t just happen overnight, what more on the day itself and not earlier considering it should be a birthday Gnome. Hmm…

So we compromised. Carved on Meranti and not balsa, it dons a golden yellow cap instead of the usual red. And although it’s shorter than the other Meranti Gnomes, it is taller than the balsa Gnomes. Sounds complicated. Nonetheless, he loved it and decided that his Gnome will be the designated leader of the pack. Cute little fella I must say.

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Nothing Goes to Waste, Part 2

26 Nov

When I carve my pieces using Meranti wood, the wood blocks are all at different sizes. As such, I have to cut them to the proportions I want and there’ll be wastage. Hubby felt that it’s such a waste to throw away all those excess odd pieces.

So he experimented with the leftovers, using them as a prop or base for his air plants. And with just coat of acrylic paint, no gesso, they became simple and eye-catching tabletop pieces.

I wonder if the next piece should be a bit more elaborate. Hmm? Well, there’s plenty of wood to fine tune the overall look. From balsa where the odd ends become little Gnomes, and now Meranti as props for air plants certainly nothing goes to waste.

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A Sudden Spurt

2 Oct

Within a few days, I carved up several Gnomes at the pace of one a day. It’s a pleasant change from doing the easy peasy Citizens on balsa wood. The best part is the supply of the Meranti blocks are all about the same height, so these newbies are consistent in height.

Also I have gotten the process down to a routine and this helps in getting the carving done up fast. I just hope I can keep the momentum going. With Gigglesville’s population at 180, it’s Gnomie-wood turn to have a growth in its population. However, it’s a long long way to go as the Gnome count is a mere 21 only as of today.

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Painted but not varnished, gessoed and, carved & patched with wood putty

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I’m Loving It

27 Sep

My latest tool, the wood plane is one awesome tool. I’m loving it! It worked beautifully to smoothen the surface of the latest piece that I am working on – a second home for the Gnomes.

I even used it on Gnome16 to smooth out the surface of its tall cap and I am very pleased with the end results.

The usage is only possible if the pieces are the Meranti wood and big in size, and certainly not practical on the soft balsa pieces of the Citizens (of Giggglesville) that are usually 26mm in height. It’s the beginning of new frontiers as far as carving and shaping is concerned.

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The making of a Gnome home

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Gnome16’s cap was planed beautifully

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Empty Nests

7 Aug

The trays that I use to house all the Citizens of Gigglesville look so empty these days despite a population of 170. Well, when so many of them migrate, 90 to be exact I am bound to have empty nests. I need to step it up to fill the void.

Forget the big Meranti pieces for the time being, just focus on the Citizens and I shouldn’t have any problems to fill up the trays again.

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The Giant Citizens, Superheroes and Baby Whales decided to take one tray to fill the void

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The Trophy Owl

6 Aug

A friend recently requested for a white colored Citizen of Gigglesville. Now I have never done a white one as the end result because white is always the base before any colors are added.

But I obliged her for special reasons and voila! I now have what I call the Trophy Owl. This could be the beginning of something new or a whole new category by itself. Hmm…

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Stuck Yet Again

3 Aug

After that creative run to carve up 36 Citizens of Gigglesville, I now find myself suddenly stuck for ideas. I have been staring at this two-piece glued Meranti block for some time already but just cannot figure out what to carve. Another Gandalf-like Gnome? Or perhaps a Gnome abode, something totally different? Hmm…

Actually I am caught in between wanting to start a new piece on a Meranti and wanting to play more golf. Knowing that working on big Meranti pieces will aggravate my tennis elbow will inadvertently affect my golf, the balance is tough.

Then again the itch to carve is strong. That’s why I have continued with more Citizens on soft balsa to preserve the elbow after the 36 Citizens was done.

The block beckoned again. In the end, I opted for a one piece Meranti and started on Monument 11. The block would have to wait.

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Nothing Goes to Waste

22 Jun

Carving was in full swing two weeks ago. I created a record of sorts when on that Saturday, I carved up seven Citizens of Gigglesville in one seating. Yes, seven! Quite a feat I must say.

And when the tail end of the foot long balsa has an odd height to be a Citizen, it didn’t go to waste because a Gnome was carved out of it.

So after a couple of giant Gnomes, Gnome 13 stands the shortest among the lot. A cute little chappy.

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