# I've been asked if i could do this....



## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

I have a BM1 that I drill with that asked me to make a wall hanging of a boatswains mate symbol to hang in her bathroom. She'd like it to be between 12" and 18" top to bottom, and there is no preference on wood species. Also, this will not be finished, and it will need to be hung by keyhole routing. The wood species is totally up to me, as are any methods/processes of making this. If I accept this challenge, I have to have it done by April 10. 

What do you guys think? Got any tips on how to do this, or suggestions on wood types?


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*Looks like a lot of carving to me!*

Go for it! :sailor:


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

According to BM1, this is no longer a "will you", it is now a "You WILL". I'm thinking I'm kinda screwed now. I really need advice on how to do this. I'm thinking pine (for ease of carving), and maybe a little Walnut. And a butt-load of glue!:laughing: All kidding aside, I need all the extra advice I can get. I'll take all I can get...


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I can turn the handles, ring and shaft for you. You can then carve the anchor heads.

What dimensions? I can likely make these in walnut.

Not sure about where the keyhole would go, perhaps mount the design on a backer board e.g., piece of oak, and rout the keyhole in the backer board.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

*Do you own a lathe?*

I would think that most of it can be done on a lathe, except the bottom of the anchor (the hook parts).... That would have to be carved for sure. I also like Dave's suggesting about a backer board.. perhaps route a decorative edge on it, or frame the whole thing with a contrasting wood, with an open front (shadowbox perhaps).


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

Yes, I have got lathe, albeit a small bench top one, but it's a lathe. I figured I'd add another picture for terminology sake (for me mainly!). I figured I could do the bands/stock on mine, and I'm thinking of routing the mounting keyholes there. She wants nothing behind it, or around it---heck, she wants it without any finish of any kind. 

She says 12" to 24", but preferably 16"-18" overall size. She also said that her house is mostly done in knotty pine, with cabinets and portions of trim in Hickory (to which I said I wouldn't carve this out of because I don't own a chainsaw!).

I'm thinking about making each of the 4 palms as separate parts, and the fasten them to each of the arms, but I'm not sure how that would look, or if I need to rethink that. I'm also contemplating steaming the arm/crown portion, and then fastening that to each of the shafts, using the shaft as a kind of "carved-in" dowelled plug that is dead ended as the point of the crown . Not sure if that makes sense, but it that seems like about the only "easy" way I see to get the crown, short of a lot of carving or sanding. 

Dave, I'll likely be in pm contact with you this weekend, if not way sooner (as in tomorrow or Thursday...) to get an idea on price.


Thanks guys, I'm feeling much less overwhelmed now!


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## Rockerbox1 (Jan 21, 2011)

One word.
Intarsia.
Nuff said.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

schnitz said:


> I have a BM1 that I drill with that asked me to make a wall hanging of a boatswains mate symbol to hang in her bathroom. She'd like it to be between 12" and 18" top to bottom, and there is no preference on wood species. Also, this will not be finished, and it will need to be hung by keyhole routing. The wood species is totally up to me, as are any methods/processes of making this. If I accept this challenge, I have to have it done by April 10.
> 
> What do you guys think? Got any tips on how to do this, or suggestions on wood types?



What is a "I have a BM1 that I drill with that?" What does it have to do with carving that Boson's Mate "plaque?" 

Are you good at carving? It seems the majority of the work will be carving.

You are going to be extremely lucky to be able to use keyhole hanging and get it level. You will have to have a keyhole on each side.

George


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would first make a full size drawing on blank paper. It can be the cheap brown or white wrapping paper you can get on a roll...sold in the stationery sections of drug stores, office supplies...even grocery stores.

When you get the drawing to your liking, all the pieces you cut should fit right on the drawing. Allow some length to those pieces that will have a tenon. When it comes time to glue the pieces together, you can do it right on the paper.

If you are a good carver, you could just glue up blanks, and bandsaw, jigsaw, or scroll saw, all the details, and carve/chisel the rest. If you did that, it would be one piece. Doing that though, all the grain would be going in one direction, if that would matter. Here is a piecemeal suggestion...
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.


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Schnitz,
You have several good suggestions. I won't presume to add to them. I just want to see it when you have it finished.


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

I'll answer now in the order of response:

just Josh: Intarsia? I've never done it, not sure I want to make this the project I use as my first attempt at it. Of course, I've never carved anything good yet either...

GeorgeC, the BM1 I referenced to is the First Class Boatswain's Mate who I'm doing this for. The way I figure it, I needed to explain that I wasn't trying this for my health. Or my sanity... :laughing:

I really can't answer anything at all about my carving skills, because as of yet, the only thing I've ever carved was the couple of slices I took off a block of balsa about 5 minutes ago. Since I didn't cut myself (yet...), I guess that makes me a pro. Or, maybe a rookie, depending on how you slice it!

As far as the keyhole luck goes, I hope to have some luck of any kind left after finishing the rest of this. Because I'm thinking I'll be "lucky" to have it done her way, to her standards, by her deadline.


cabinetman, Thanks for the paper idea,and for the drawing/sketch. I think I'm going to go to Office Max and see if they can blow up the image onto some construction paper for me. From there, I should be able to calculate the needed dimensions.

Gene: I think a lot of people will want to see this when I get it done!


I will also add, I'm now contemplating using balsa and pine to do this, for ease of carving for me.Sound like a bad idea?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

schnitz said:


> I will also add, I'm now contemplating using balsa and pine to do this, for ease of carving for me.Sound like a bad idea?


This may sound funny, but balsa being so soft, is really a PITA to carve, as the wood crushes instead of cutting. You have to have very sharp tools. A slip can take out a chunk.









 







.


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

What would you recommend then?


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## RogerInColorado (Jan 16, 2013)

Bandsaw to shape, Rasp to form, file to get rid of rasp marks, sand to erase file marks and then a knife or chisel for the "v" areas. I'd use white oak; tough, resilient and never bends. Just like a bosun.

I've used this approach before. It's nowhere near as difficult or as time consuming as it sounds. If you have a vise, you can knock this out in a few hours. Well, maybe a six pack.

For hanging, make a template, just a stick that has the same length or so of the cross bars. Drill two holes in it that hit about the center of the crossbars, and make sure to drill the holes exactly the same distance from what will be to top of the stick. Use the holes in the stick to locate the hanger holes on the crossbars. When it comes time to hang it, put the stick on the wall and make sure it's level. Mark your hanger (hole) locations. In the anchors, drill the holes at an upward angel. Then just hang the holes over the nails. If your holes are steep and deep and your nails are long, it is never going to fall off.


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## ne0h (Feb 28, 2013)

I'm thinking... 

People are over complicating this...

Now, granted, I haven't used a lathe in at least five years, and this is my first post on here. My grandfather is a woodworker. He worked for EBCO and made most of the wooden forms for their hand forming processes and after his retirement used his wood working to fund his vacations. I spent at least three days a week in woodworking shop that would make most any man wish he had 1000sq/ft to build a shop in. 

If it were me making these, I would cut everything out of a single piece of wood as often as possible, and then split them in half on the saw. Starting with the hooks, these aren't too difficult. Most of the cut and shape can be done on a band saw. Start with the rods, and use these to base the size of everything else off of. 

Take a 2x2" or 2.5x2.5" piece of wood and place it in the lathe, leaving a big enough section in the chuck to carve the eyes out of. You can notch them to interlink, with a hidden dow on the inside and a small amount of glue. The hooks can be affixed using using a notch and dow as well. Use a hole saw to make the holes for the eyes, and use the band saw to cut the outer shape, finish by carving and sanding. 

Another way of doing this Would be to carve the eyes as a single but separate piece from the rods on the lathe, starting with the out side. You could take a piece of 2x2x8" pine and place it in the lathe. Mark a center, and then mark distance "z" (the depth out from the wall representing what would normally be depth), on both sides of center. Shape the eye as deep as you can, this will probably be the highest range of "z". You can then take this piece and cut off the excess on a band saw and place it back in the lathe. Slowly, you should be able to turn out the center evenly on both sides. I've always used hand held lathe tools, i'm not sure if there's a way to do this with an affixed bit like on a metal lathe, but it would be preferable. Then you would simply flip the piece and perform the same task on the opposite side and then split it on the band saw. 

The upper parts (what look to be weights with a step to them), should be turned out of a single piece of wood on the lathe, and then drilled on a mill at center, and then split on a band saw and affixed with a small dow and small amount of glue. 

The band saw is going to be your friend on this one. Pretty much all of the components could be made as a single piece and then split with the band saw. 

And... I've been drinking, so I'm not sure if this is going to be all too helpful. I think you're going to have to take ideas from everyone on this. If it were me, I would do it quick and dirty, and then spend some time finishing the hooks right as those are really the area of detail. The rest of the stuff... It's just simplistic.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

ne0h said:


> I'm thinking...
> 
> People are over complicating this...
> 
> ...


First of all, *Welcome to the Forum!*

You have some great ideas here, and I'm glad that you finally have "signed up" to share some of your knowledge. Now that you have signed up, stop by the introductions area and tells us some more about yourself. I look forward to it. 

Oh yeah, there is nothing wrong with tipping back a few.... alot of us do that when perusing the forum... Just don't do it when working with the power tools.:thumbsup: Hate to see you in the safety section.


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## ne0h (Feb 28, 2013)

thegrgyle said:


> First of all, *Welcome to the Forum!*
> 
> You have some great ideas here, and I'm glad that you finally have "signed up" to share some of your knowledge. Now that you have signed up, stop by the introductions area and tells us some more about yourself. I look forward to it.
> 
> Oh yeah, there is nothing wrong with tipping back a few.... alot of us do that when perusing the forum... Just don't do it when working with the power tools.:thumbsup: Hate to see you in the safety section.


Hahaha, won't be doing any drinking while working. I actually lost some one to a drinking related death, kind of puts things in perspective for the rest of your life. 

I'll be sure to stop by the introductions forum when I get a chance. :thumbsup:


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I do a wood carving in pine every once in a while to remind me how unpredictable it is for splits and gross chip-outs. Don't. Just don't.
Just trying to find 'craft-quality' or 'carving-quality' pine will take more time than you have left.

Basswood, particularly from Heinecke, is very popular with many carvers. Holds amazing detail, clear, straight-grained and fairly featureless. Butternut and birch are good also and not as hard as some people claim.

Me? I've been carving western red cedar for years. Most people consider that a serious personality flaw but I've "learned" the wood.
This past year, I've been doing more and more in birch. I have a really good source and it's a great satisfaction to see the detail that it holds with little fear of splitting or chipping.


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## banginonabudget (Feb 25, 2013)

schnitz, thank you for your service. As someone who works with ABE's on an almost daily basis, you guys and girls keep things moving. Good luck on those 'hooks.

Oh yeah, and +1 on wanting to see the finished product! Can't wait to see it. I know a few who would love something like that.


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## jsr (Jan 9, 2013)

I agree with Robson Valley I would rough it out on the bandsaw and then rasp and carve out of cedar. Is fairly easy to carve and did you say it was going to hang in a bathroom? Pretty moist in there, cedar is a good choice for high moisture area.


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

Just a quick update: I got the picture "scaled up" (Thank You, Office Max!), got most of the dimensions plotted out, and got most of the rough materials purchased. I'm not telling my wood selection, I have to have some element of surprise. I wish I could have gotten more done, but I'm currently serving 4 days of active duty with my Battalion-- stationed in California.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Well, first of all, thank you for your service! I am excited to see how this turns out. I have been thinking about how I would handle this, as this is one of what I consider to be a project I call, "I do this because I can...."

Please keep us posted, and thanks in advance for doing so.


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

Finally made it home, and now I've got to be ready to go on a mini-deployment in less than 2 weeks. To a global hotspot. Tons of OCONUS travel and security online classes mean I may not be in the shop much, if at all. Dang it....


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

*I'm resurecting a "dead thread" of mine....*

View attachment 255657
After many, many, many hours of carving by hand, sanding, a lot of self-criticism, and excessive prodding by the now Sr. Chief, I can call these anchors DONE!!!!!


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Congratulations on finishing. I see you made things a lot simpler by taking the round dimension out of the design. Smart move.

George


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## schnitz (Sep 5, 2009)

GeorgeC said:


> Congratulations on finishing. I see you made things a lot simpler by taking the round dimension out of the design. Smart move.
> 
> George



Mutual decision, and I'm glad Sr. Worked with me on that. I'm still pretty embarrassed by how much time I have it (50+ hours) though. Lucky for me, though, the results taught me better ways to build skills.


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