CARVE A HUMMINGBIRD PIN/MAGNET By Donna LaChance Menke

Transcription

1 1 CARVE A HUMMINGBIRD PIN/MAGNET By Donna LaChance Menke These little hummers have been a favorite of my students for many years. It was the first pattern I developed and the first class I taught back in It is a bit tricky to get all the details in the right places, but this guide should help. Tools: Bench knife 1/8 #11 gouge 3/8 #7 gouge 1 #3 gouge Wood burner, with skew and writing tips 1/8 nail set, or eye punch Supplies: 3/8 basswood or hard wood 1 pin back, or small magnet Acrylic paints: White, black, green-gold, crimson Iridescent colors: Green, blue, red, white 5-Minute epoxy Cyanoacrylate glue, thin Full-size pattern

2 2 CARVING: Divide into 4 layers like this. Use your #7 gouge to divide wings from body to center layer mark. Use your wide, #3 gouge to create smooth wing interior from surface of blank near the top of the front wing to the center layer at bottom edge. Leave some space for top edge of back wing. The tail is delicate, work away from the tip of the tail. Tools and carving to this point. Round over to ½ way layer line. 1 #3, 3/8 #7, and a good sharp bench knife. Make a diagonal slice across the tops of the wings with your knife, removing the extra wood on the front that belongs to the back wing, and then use your 1/8 #9 or #11 gouge to remove the center of the blank. Use the head as a pivot point.

3 3 BACK SIDE OF BLANK: On the back side of the blank continue the rounding of the tail feathers. Also shape the back of the front wing and refine the areas between the two wings. Use the knife and veiner until you have a realistic pair of wings. Make a recess in the back for the pin or magnet. FRONT OF BLANK: Use your veiner between the front edge of the tail and the inside back edge. Go to last layer line. Now, use that same gouge and work from the center of the underside of the tail and connect with the previous cut, leaving the sides and back of the tail in the shape of a C that has 1/8 thick sides. Again, use the back of the tail as a pivot to make it easier to dig out the wood. Be sure to leave some little hummer belly- we don t want a hungry looking hummer. Take the area where the arrows are down one layer, blending into the wing and tail areas. Then, take the head down further, from the surface at the dotted line straight to the 3 rd layer line at the tip of the beak. The photo on the left shows the position of the knife making these cuts. The photo on the right shows how straight that cut should be from behind the eye to the tip of the beak. The little hummer must after all be able to see what he is eating.

4 4 Locate the eye above the middle of the beak line and in front of a line from the breast to the top of the head. Use your #7 gouge to create an eye depression as shown in the photo on the right, and then draw the lines back in. The actual eye is optional for hard wood hummers and you may want to put it in after the sanding is nearly complete. A 1/8 nail set makes a good eye. Place it carefully, press straight down, and then wiggle it from side to side and around to make a good impression. Or, use an eye punch. FINISHING: Smooth out all of the transition areas using a good sharp knife- or whatever else works- until the bird is smooth all over, with no sharp corners. Painted Hummingbird: Then sand basswood with 220 grit sand paper leaving some of the tool marks to show through the painting. Go on to the burning and painting instructions. Hard Wood Hummingbird: If you are making a hard wood hummingbird the first step is to sand the wood with coarse sandpaper until all the tool marks are gone, and then use progressively finer sandpapers until the surface of the wood is as smooth as glass. I use 150, 220, 320, 400, and finally 600 grit sand paper. Finish the hard wood bird with a coat of tung (or other drying type) oil and then follow with a coat of wax, or any other clear finish that you prefer. I like Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes, but any clear varnish will do fine.

5 5 Burning: Make guiding marks with the burner so you don t get off track as you burn. The feathers start off very small around the beak and then get very large as they meet the tail feathers. The skew tip can be used for all the feather burning on this bird. Use just the tip for the smallest feathers and use the flat side for separating the wings. Use the writing tip to seal the eyeballs and to sign on the back of the piece. Your finished burning should look like this. The grain of wood follows the length of the beak, so draw your pencil line and try to get it in one stroke. Two strokes often result in two lines. I let the tip of the top beak overlap the tip of the bottom beak just a hair. Notice that the top wing s biggest feather overlaps the one next to it. The tail feathers work the same way, so it is the inside of the tail that shows the end feathers overlapping the others on the inside. The two center feathers of the tail are on the top of the other feathers in the center of the back.

6 6 PAINTING: The first coat of paint, the underpainting, should be very thinly applied. Water it down until you can read a line of print through a stroke- like skim milk. Mute the colors by adding a little black to the paint. The second coat should be a little thicker, but still thin- like light cream, and lighter. Leave some of the underpainting showing through around the edges of the feathers. The last coat should be applied to just the highlighted areas where the light would strike the bird- like the center of the feathers. Be sure to leave some of the previous coats show through to get a lifelike, realistic hummingbird. Finish with the tiniest white highlight in the eye. I finish these birds with a light coat of iridescent paints. Red on red, white on white, and some green and some blue on the green areas. Follow with a coat of protective clear finish. The final touch, that really brings the birds to life, is a small drop of epoxy to form the eye. You will need less than a drop, but mix up a drop of each part of 5-minute epoxy. Gather a small amount on a toothpick and touch it gently to the center of the eyeball. Lift straight up and the result will be a perfect eyeball. Practice on scrap first, since getting the right amount is tricky. Be sure to let the epoxy set up overnight before touching it and it will look just like a glass eye. Use epoxy also to set the pin back or magnet into the recess on the back of your hummer. More fun projects and free plans on my web site, check it out: Any questions send me an donpbk@yahoo.com