Chuckwagon Biscuits

With our wagon trip to Coffeyville, Kansas coming up next weekend I thought it might be a good idea to make sure I haven't forgotten how to make some good looking and great tasting biscuits. Also, I wanted to try out my latest invention to keep from burning holes into the sponsor's yard. Years ago I took an old scrap tractor discus disk and a real nifty Fahita pan. Being iron it really conducts the heat evenly. Having some other disks on hand I thought if I welded some old horseshoes on the bottom for legs and a handle I could put my coals there so they'd be above ground. As you can see it worked out great.
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Well, I can hear the Chicken Fried Steak sizzling in the skillet and the gravy is hot and tasty so its time to set down for Sunday dinner.....Cowboy style!!!

Pancho-Part 2, Roughing Out The Head

With this post we will rough out the head. We're going to take our time on this one as we want a positive result. Old Reliable is my "Main Man" here as that sharp and thin blade can really remove the wood cleanly which is just what I want. A carvers main goal when removing wood is to get the chip off without having to go back a second time. The more you have to go back the more roughed up your carving becomes and multiple cuts in the same areas really weakens the wood.
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So take your time and have some fun.

Derby Dingus McGee & Cowboy Bob

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Continuing to clear off my carving table of excess heads, I put these two yahoo's together today. As these are a little larger than the normal Bottle Stopper they should make really nice looking pieces once painted. Someone said the other day "Why do you always stick cigarettes or cigars in your figures mouths?" Well.....I think it rounds out the figure, gives an otherwise static display a little action, and no doubt most cowboys partook of a little tobacco when they had the money or opportunity.

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In other news, Cowboy Coffee has packed up and left for his new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Boy! He sure didn't hang around long! He won't be lonely though, one of his Bottle Stopper buddies went along with him.

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I've started a new snow scene which should really be a winner if it turns out the way I hope. If I can find the thumbnail sketch I made a couple years ago of the idea I'll post it so you can see what I'm up to.

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I guess that's it for the moment, hope you like these two wranglers ... there are more photos in the Gallery and comments are welcome.

Pancho - Carving The Bottle Stopper

How about a Mexican Bottle Stopper? This project was originally scheduled to be a magazine article but after thinking it over I've decided to do it here. This way you'll be able to see many more photos than would have been available otherwise.
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I used a piece of 2" Basswood for all the parts. While you might think doing the hat will be difficult don't worry. If you follow along I'm sure you'll find it is quite easy. It will be a good lesson on how you can use the grain to make the job simple and easy.
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This first post will just give you the pattern and show how the various parts are cut. I didn't give any measurements. Just take full advantage of the 2" thick piece of wood. The hat brim will take a pretty large piece to cut the side profile but that piece of waste can be used for other things. I've left the photo on this page quite large so if you click on it you can really get a good view of the carving.
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So, let's get started. Lots of photos in the Gallery.

Carvings In The Raw

I was doing a little Computer file maintenance this morning...going through a lot of the photos of my carvings and I thought it would make a good post to show a few as they looked before they were painted. Individually they look fine but as a group they look really impressive.....at least I think so. It's too bad we can't keep them both ways, painted and unpainted, so we can handle and judge them both ways.

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I take a ton of photos of each carving I do...a lot of them are posted on this blog. The reason I do this is.....well, just take a moment and check out old Charlie Red Hawk over here. Charlie's setting on a display shelf somewhere in someones collection, I'll probably never be able to see him or pick him up again and admire his good looks and sly smile. However, because I took so many photos of him from just about every angle possible as he materialized from a raw block of wood, I can still reflect back on how much fun it was to bring him to life and send him on his way. So, take a tip from me, don't wait till you finish a piece before snapping a few photos....keep that camera handly on the workbench so you can photograph the entire experience of producing your carvings. You won't regret it. And just like I did this morning, you'll be able to go back and relive that experience.

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Anyway, in the Gallery are photos of a number of carvings I've produced over the past several years before the paint was applied. I hope you enjoy looking them over. And as always comments are always welcome.

Making A Bottle Cutter

I was asked to do this as a magazine article but I just don't have the time at the moment so I'll do it this way so my Blog readers get the first crack at it.
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This little rig is easy to build and works quite well. A commercial one will cost you around $50 while the only real expense I had was the bottle cutter which is just a couple bucks if you have to buy one. The other parts were just made from scraps around the shop. I didn't give any measurements as the bottle you use might be different than mine just as your taste in the beer inside might be different than mine. I don't think you'll have any problem figuring out the sizes.
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There are lots of photos and explanations in the Gallery to help you build it. Good luck. Comments welcome.

Cowboy Coffee - All Done!

Have you ever had Cowboy Coffee? By that I mean poured into a tin cup from an enameled pot taken directly from the Chuckwagon's cooking fire. If you have you'll probably admit that it was a cup you will long remember whether it was drinkable or not. The saying goes that the coffee is ready when, after dropping the horseshoe into the pot it floats to the surface. Now I've tasted some pretty strong java but never that strong.
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The biggest problem I had with this crusty fella was picking the design to paint on the flour sack apron. I like to paint a design that is unique to each figure but I also have to take into account that the person purchasing him will want something that's recognizable. As this one will probably be sold at the Dayton Show vs. a Cowboy event I went with the latter. If you want designs for flour sacks just go to Google and type "Flour Sack Art" and you'll get all kinds to choose from.
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Back a moment to Cowboy Coffee, here's how I fix it we we cook from our wagon. I have a 2 gallon pot that I fill almost full with water. I bring that to a rolling boil and then put in a heaping cup of ground coffee and give it a good stir. After the water is back to a good boil I give it a minute or two before I slowly pour in a cup of cold water and then set it back from the fire. That cold water will take the grounds to the bottom. Sure, you'll still get some grounds in your cup when it's poured but they'll settle to the bottom and besides...that's part of the experience. And that experience is something you'll never find at Starbucks no matter how much they charge you for that cup of joe.
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Anyway, I hope you like this piece and if you're in the neighborhood of Coffeyville, Kansas on October 4 you can drop by our Chuckwagon and I'll pour you a steaming cup of real Cowboy Coffee! Might even throw in a Dutch Oven biscuit!
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More photos in the Gallery.

Cowboy Coffee

As I haven't carved a Cook for quite sometime and as the wife and I will be heading up to Coffeeville, Kansas with our Chuckwagon the first of October for Dalton Defender Days, I thought I'd whip out another little piece to set on the Chuck Box lid. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to sell it!
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Not much new with this one as I've pretty well explained the process of making him. The cup is made from tin roof flashing which I polished up after soldering and gave a coat of clear laquer. I decided to just use the horseshoe mount to keep the cost of the piece down. I haven't decided on what type of design to use on the apron but will try and come up with something unique to make him different from the others.
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Anyway, hope you like him. A few more photos in the Gallery and comments welcome as always.

From Wood to Bronze

Several years ago I thought I'd have one of my pieces cast in bronze to see whether the wood medium would transfer over to bronze. For those of you unfamiliar with the bronze process here is a link that will fully explain just what is involved. One of the most important things to consider and remember before you start is that dealing with bronze is not an inexpensive process. Normally the foundry you choose will want it's money up front. They will give you a cost for the molds and for another for each casting. Have you ever wondered why the artist always offers a "precast" price on a piece before it's cast? Well, this is why......he doesn't have the money to do it on his own. Anyway, here is that link:
www.artworksfoundry.com/process/casting.htm
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Here is how this process worked for me: I paid a visit to the Bronze Horse Foundry in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to talk over my project and to get an idea of just how much this was going to cost. I wanted to have 20 castings made to keep the edition small enough so I could afford it. They gave me the figure for the molds and the first casting, after that each new casting would be made on demand. I then completed the set of boots and turned them over to the foundry along with the money for the molds and the first copy.
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When the first wax casting was complete I checked it over, found it okay and gave the go ahead again for the first bronze. You can just imagine how I was feeling at the time.....Wow! My own bronze!
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A month later I got a call from the foundry saying that the cast was complete and ready for my okay and the final step....the patina. I would have loved to have been able to watch them pour the metal into the mold but Pawhuska is a ways from Jay so I missed that step. Anyway, on arrival I found my little pair of boots a bright and shiny piece of metal with a few weld marks where they were permanently fixed to the base. The foundry owner, an artist himself, placed the piece on a platform and with a torch started applying chemicals to get the look I specified. In short order the process was complete and I was on my way home with my little piece of artistic immortality. Someday I hope to have one of my Cowboys reproduced in bronze but that's a ways down the road yet.
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Oh......and those twenty copies? I have two left! If you think you might be interested they're $450.00 each.
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More photos in the Gallery and I've left them big so you can really see how the detail was reproduced.