Tag Archives: Meranti 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, Part 2

18 Feb
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The big and the mini vise clamps

A week before Chinese New Year, I bought a bigger vise clamp and put it to good use immediately over the weekend purchase. And in the midst of working on two whales back-to-back, I injured myself. But on the left foot! Huh? Where’s the connection here?

Let me explain…

The vise clamp worked beautifully and held the block well; I was able to shape the block without exerting any strength on the left hand which was good. But in the midst of the carving action, I got up too fast and caught the edge of the table so hard with my left foot. Ouch hardly describes the excruciating agony.

The shooting pain was right on the Lateral Malleolus, the bone bump and it bruised beautifully. What a sight to behold…

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Top (L): the day after, Top(R): after golf, a week later and Bottom: four days after the knock

 

 

 

Those cute whales are such killer whales I tell you. It was a good two and a half weeks before the bruise subsided. As for the pain, it is still there.

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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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Like a Celebrity

27 Dec

Recently I carved Monument #11 from a block of Meranti wood, a four-tier piece meaning there’s four Citizens stacked on top of one another. And I shared the finished piece in a public owl community group in Facebook.

I was amazed and very flattered at the responses and numbers it garnered within 24 hours. There were so many likes, positive comments and shares, and it made me feel like a celebrity, totally great and very motivational.

But now I wonder if the stats increased after that moment of stardom died down. I should revisit to check… Hmm.

Carving-12

 

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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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Whale of a Time

19 Nov

Sometimes doing the same thing over and over again can be quite mundane. I am not saying Citizens, Monuments and Gnomes are getting boring but once in a while, I’d like to do something different for variety.

That’s why there are Superheroes, Dinky the dinosaur, Halloween Owl, giant Citizens, a couple of Gnome Homes, an Apeach and whales in the collection. My latest challenge was carving another whale but a much larger one than the four that I have carved.

Larger because it will double up as a smart phone holder as well. The idea came about after a dim sum meal with a girlfriend. I totally had a whale of a time (pun intended) carving this new baby on a glued two-piece Meranti. So much so, I started another one in between some other efforts.

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Hubby’s Samsung A6+ sitting on the whale

 

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Ciabatta No More

5 Nov

I managed to rework the second Gnome Home and am pleased to say that it’s a ciabatta no more! I added more Meranti wood pieces to the top and sides to give it more height and volume.

Then I painstakingly carved and filed down the addition to blend with the ‘roof’ so that the overall look is proportionate to the base. Areas where I couldn’t get it to look smooth, the wood putty did the job.

And after adding gesso to the overall shape, you can’t tell that the whole piece is actually made up of big and small pieces. Once the final touch of colors are added, my Gnomes have another home. Yay.

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It’s Not a Gnome Home

15 Oct

The second Gnome home has hit a snag, in fact a big snag for it does not look like a Gnome home at all. Instead it’s looking like one big ciabatta with a stump. I’m not sure whether to cry or laugh…

I need to go back to the drawing board and salvage this to become a proper home for my Gnomes. With their population count now at 25, they need homes!

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From a two-piece block to a ciabatta!

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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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