# Photo gallery of some of my carvings



## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

This topic is by no means meant to be an exhaustive display of my carving/whittling works. But since I've been finally showing some of my other whittled pieces lately I figured it would be a good time to show some of my others. Most of these were done a long time ago (in my less refined days). I was messing with my old Photobucket account and had these pictures on there so I guess I should share them with you guys.

Somewhere I have completed pictures of this one. It's cedar. You'll notice that I like putting spirals in a like of my whittlings.









Basswood ball in cage. This is one that I STILL haven't gotten back to. So it is still in the same state as this photo (which was taken 4 years ago).









Here's a close-up of a section of a longer piece. I love how the balls in cages turned out. There are four balls (all loose). One bar of each of the smaller cages are shared with the larger cage they are a part of. I've got to do more of this element. The ball in the cage at the left is not yet loose (well, it is now but wasn't at the time this photo was taken). The rod is loose inside the spiral on the right.









This was (power) carved out of deer antler. I did this one somewhere around 1992 or '93.









A "pair" of pliers. Yes, both pliers joints work. Yes, it was all carved out of one piece of wood. And, no, there is no glue involved and the pieces has never been apart from each other.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

More shots of the pliers.

















Years ago I was commissioned to make a custom Monopoly game. When I come across the pictures I'll post them. These are the player pieces for the game. I figured I'd design my own instead of going with the proverbial boot, hat, iron, thimble, car, etc... All carved in pine.









This one is carved in butternut and features an 8-barred sliding joint, an 8th-turn twisted cage and a 6-barred dome-shaped cage at the top end.









Here's another of my cruder pieces from back when I felt it was better to NOT sand my work. I've learned better since those days. Both cages are loose on the main shaft. And both rings are loose within the cages and are free to slide back and forth.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Maple cut from a friend's yard. One of these days I'll get better at eyes (and ears and faces in general).

















Here's four slugs in a pine ring. I did this one back in 1991. This may be my second "trick carving" ever. If not, it's among the first few.

















And this one IS my very first carving of this type. Whittled in June-July of 1991.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

A few more then I have to hit the road. I'm going camping with my son and his Cub Scout pack at the Lake Kissimmee State Park in Florida. I'll still be around, via my phone, but won't be able to post pictures until Monday.

My Skeleton Guitarist. A crowd favorite (looks cooler in person. Most of these things do, actually).









The Witch.









The Wizard.









These are all pictures of the same piece with different orientations. This is (power) carved out of a billiards cue ball. The inner cage and the ball within it are loose.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

wow is about all i can say. so intricate.


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## Jim West Pa (Jul 27, 2010)

More patience than i could ever muster Steve. 
Cool stuff indeed :thumbsup:


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Way cool man! I want to try carving. I've done a little relief carving for a cedar chest I made for my daughter, but this stuff is way out of my league.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Awesome stuff. You know how blown away I am by your carving skills already. Can I make a suggestion? I know these are old photos from photobucket, but in the future, consider placing a quarter or some other commonly sized object so that we can get a reference for how large these bad boys are.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Steve that's some sick carvings. Definitely a one of a kind creation. You sure have a creative side. 
I like the antler chain. and that Que. Ball,never seen anyone carve one of those before. Nice
Thanks for sharing.


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## JB97031 (Feb 19, 2012)

I join the others and say wow! I have no clue as to how you do any of this. Very cool.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Jim West Pa said:


> More patience than i could ever muster Steve.
> Cool stuff indeed :thumbsup:


It's all relative though. There's no denying it takes a lot of patience. But, in reality, so does nearly any woodworking project. The scale of pieces like this fool the mind, especially when it takes as long to make something like this as it may take to make a table or something. The time investment isn't that much different. Only these are a lot tinier so it may seem more tedious to some.



rayking49 said:


> Way cool man! I want to try carving. I've done a little relief carving for a cedar chest I made for my daughter, but this stuff is way out of my league.


Don't sell yourself short. These are a lot easier to carve than you'd think. The hardest part is to visualize how it comes about. I'm getting ready to start a thread on another piece that 
I started over the weekend. in that thread I'll be showing the various elements in their roughed out stages to help you guys understand how to lay them out and the best sequence of steps to employ.



Taylormade said:


> Awesome stuff. You know how blown away I am by your carving skills already. Can I make a suggestion? I know these are old photos from photobucket, but in the future, consider placing a quarter or some other commonly sized object so that we can get a reference for how large these bad boys are.


Here's one for you:









The others aren't that small though. For example, the skeleton punk rocker, witch and wizard are all out of 3/4 stock and approx 5 1/2 - 6" tall.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

OK...where did you get that quarter?:laughing:

Getting serious now, Steve...you have talent. Some very creative work. What tools do you use?








 









.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> OK...where did you get that quarter?:laughing:
> 
> Getting serious now, Steve...you have talent. Some very creative work. What tools do you use?
> 
> ...


My main whittling tools are the three knives in the middle of this tray:









The tiny pliers was done with a really thin blade of a pretty small pocket knife.

The antler and cue ball were done with a Dremel roto tool.


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