Tag Archives: Meranti wood

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

My Silly Dog

25 Sep

Official pet number one, Rooney, is one silly dog. Every time when I am set up at the garden terrace to do my carving, he would be my little vacuum cleaner. I know it’s bad for him but sometimes he gets to the wood shavings much faster than me!

Two weeks ago, over the three-day weekend when I was working on two pieces of Meranti simultaneously, the mess was everywhere on the floor and he just took the liberty to crawl under my workbench and helped himself. One silly dog indeed.

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Hmm…. tit bits! I like….

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Gosh… they taste soooooo good! Ohm nom nom…

 

Box of Joy

6 Sep

Box two of my online shopping arrived yesterday when I least expected it. Yay! I can almost say my carving setup is truly complete with the addition of this block plane tool. Now all I need is a proper permanent work space.

This new toy, tool I mean would be used solely on Meranti wood to smoothen the surface when I work the shape. The current mini and cute plane that I have just doesn’t cut it because the holder does not push down the blade to sit snugly and keeps misaligning, thus rendering the tool useless.

So with the two long weekends ahead and having to stay put, I will definitely make full use of this new tool.

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Arrival of the new tool, and comparing the cute and the practical

The Gnome’s Home

21 Aug

Over the weekend, I had a really good opportunity to work on the two-piece Meranti block. After sending M2 to school for her activity early in the morning, I came home and set up the carving station. Initially I thought of warming up by carving a Citizen but changed my mind and dived into the Meranti at 8.00am, early by my standards.

Two hours later, I nicked my finger for the third time but it did not deter me. I had my warm green tea in the Thermos, the weather was lovely and although official pet number one was snoring away by my side, the focus was not disturbed by his loud snore.

Another two hours went by and I nicked my finger again! Dang… either the Meranti is too hard or I am not doing it right. I have not nicked myself so many times in one carving. Then again, it’s been a while since I started on a new shape/character, what more on a Meranti.

Eight hours later, the Gnome’s home was done. I was pleased with my efforts but suffered the consequences soon after, not just with the four cuts on my index finger.

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The third and fourth cut. Ouch

The right tennis elbow flared up and the left hand was sore at the thumb and wrist. The left index finger throbbed from the fourth cut and the strangest thing, the fingers of my right hand tingled at the tips, a sensation I’ve never experienced before. It became more pronounced when I typed on the phone. And this sensation lasted six hours passed the carving.

Have I pushed myself too far this time? Then I looked at my end result, the Gnome’s home, and all that pain was forgotten.

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A Quick Job

9 Aug

Within less than a week, Monument 11 was completed! I ought to give myself a pat on the shoulder as it took less time than I anticipated with the usual steps (after carving) of sanding down to shape, patching any unwanted gaps, painting the base coat and applying the finishing colors.

I am finalising my thoughts to begin the glued two-piece Meranti. However, with several golf games lined up this month, one being a tournament, I will only begin after all the golf in case I aggravate the tennis elbow whilst carving away on the hard Meranti.

As for the idea, I am actually contemplating something new, a Gnome home! I hope I can pull it off.

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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

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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A Sudden Burst

8 Jun

I have forgotten what it is like to carve balsa having worked on Meranti so much last month. Last night I pushed myself to go back to my Citizens on balsa instead of Meranti Gnomes. And my goodness! It’s so effortless.

So much so, the sudden burst resulted in four new Citizens – one in the morning before going to work and three in the evening after dinner. Yay. Maybe I should stop the Gnomes series for the time being and just focus on Citizens of Gigglesville. After all, their population count remained stagnant at 132 since Apr 24th.

Honestly, working with Meranti wood has aggravated the tennis elbow again. Not a good sign especially if I want to go back to playing golf. I shouldn’t allow this to flare up and if I want to also continue carving I should stick to balsa, a much softer wood. This may be the best balance to have the best of both activities.

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Unfinished and ugly for now but that’s the process

Bigger and Bigger, Part 2

21 May

The carving seems to have taken a toll on me. Lately with all these bigger pieces that I am working on with Meranti wood which is harder than balsa, I could feel a slight pain especially on the right elbow when I exert some strength. The tennis elbow problem! And this is evident when I try to play golf. Sigh…

When an injury hits, one never truly recovers. The body is weakened, the game suffers and the confidence drops, a vicious cycle. Add in the lack of playing because of my other problems (the Infectious Colitis and the laparoscopic surgery recently), I simply have not had much opportunity to go onto the fairways.

I need to find the right balance to carve and play golf without one activity suffering at the expense of the other.

Ten Little Gnomes

7 May

The Gnomes of Gnomie-wood are taking over my life! Citizens of Gigglesville took a back seat last month as I found myself carving up Gnomes instead. With so much Meranti wood at my disposal, I was glueing pieces to make big blocks to carve into giant Gnomes.

And each one gets bigger than the previous. With the latest Gnome 10, standing at 5.5 inches tall, I now have 10 Gnomes in Gnomie-wood! But Gnome 10 is not the tallest; it comes in second. Gnome 9, a two-piece Meranti stands the tallest at 7 inches, while Gnome 2, carved from balsa, is the smallest and shortest among the lot at 43mm tall.

It’s been so addictive and fun. More Gnomes to come is all I can say!

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Family group shot

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Gnome 10 before the paint job

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The beginning of Gnome 10