I did not include a pattern for the Right Arm. You should be able to make this on your own. It's the same as the left, just bent at the elbow. You can see by the photo just what we're after so it shouldn't be that difficult.
Here is where doing an arm as a separate piece becomes important. See that arrow on the arm? That indicates the direction of the wood's grain. If the arm was cut as part of the body's blank it would be running opposite of the arrow. So, when finished, it would become very fragile at the wrist and run the risk of breaking off. People have a habit of wanting to touch things, especially woodcarvings. By doing it as a separate piece we have solved the problem of it possibly breaking off.
Then why did we do it on the left arm? Why not? Sure made it easy did't it. It also allowed us to get that coffee pot hanging just right. Cheating? Maybe to some. Not to me. I look at a piece of wood as if it were a block of clay. While I can take some off I can also add some back on if I need to.
When you're finished with this step the body, aside from a hole for the head, is finished.
To be continued.......
Brian...As I use a disc sander to mate up my joints they are usually invisible once glued. On the rare occasion that there is a space somewhere or a defect in the wood I use a wood epoxy called Tuf-Carve or Tuf-Fill to fill the void. Regular wood filler will not hold as well. You can get it from Wood Carvers Supply, Inc. Look at the top of the coffee pot closely and you'll see a light spot. I filled that in.
ReplyDeleteOn the photos...that's my hand taken with a digital camera.