Never even used a hand plane before, but I'm a woodcarver and have been wanting to try out some light relief carving recently, so decided to have a go at restoring an old one.
Watched a ton of Rex Krueger videos last night and just decided to have a go today. It's not perfect but god it felt good getting that first perfect ribbon!
Bit of a different interpretation of a Dryad, but it's an image I had in my head for months so I decided to make her
Extremely fun carve, albeit a challenge.
There's lots of conflicting information online about elder. Some say it's poisonous but fine to use as a spoon, others say not to use it at all. Any information would be really helpful 🙏
(I mean elder as in the tree with elderberries, I don't mean box elder)
Don't cut paper or shave your arms - cut the end grain of your block. If your knife burnishes (polishes) the wood without leaving any hazy streaks, then your knife is plenty sharp enough. If you see any hazy streaks, these are areas of the knife where the edge has rolled, and it needs some attention. Give the blade a few strops and try the test again. If there's no difference, it might need some attention at the stone.
If it doesn't burnish at all, then in my opinion it's not sharp enough for whittling and the edge needs some work.
I took a few pieces but this is the first piece Ive flattened and tested. The slurry is so creamy and gorgeous to use. I love the veins running through this piece. The pictures don't do it justice for how purple the stone actually is.
Will post more as I process the rest of them
Any thoughts on this stone?
It's not a Charnley Forest as this is much softer, flattening was extremely fast and it created a mud.
It also has that distinctive muddy smell that ToS has when lapped. Just wondered if there might be any other possibilities?
I thought it could possibly be a glanrafon too, although I don't know much about them.