Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Knowing its a natural






Sometimes I like to carve.

I had to cut down this tree/scrub in my garden as it was almost dead. Turns out it is Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), a dense wood that is ideally suited to make bows and spears from. It is so heavy it sinks in water.

I cut a big fork from it, mouldy and mossy. After debarking, I found the wood to be perfectly OK.

So I used the templates of a design I gave to John "Gamekeeper" Webb a while ago, the "Lead Launcher". The design is supposed to be cut from two pieces of 18 mm plywood, then epoxied together. But I carved it in one piece out of the big frame.

The wood does not take well to staining, and the grain is boring. So I coated it with black paint and poly, then polished the entire thing until it shone like Japanese laquered bowls.

Feels great in the hand!

12 comments:

  1. Very beautiful! Handling and working wood is always very satisfying.

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  2. Very nice! I've never worked that kind of wood. What type of finish did you use?

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  3. wow, I love the woodwork. Great work!

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  4. Great finish!
    It's nearly impossible to identify it as wood!

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  5. Impressive craftmanship! One of the prettiest slingshots!

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  6. Nicely done. I am surprised that wood was in such good condition under the outer mossy layers, looks like a great slingshot.

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  7. unbelievable ! looks so solid

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  8. This is the nicest slingshot I've seen, and I've seen many. It looks strong, comfortable and elegant. It would be great if this design was available moulded in metal or plastic.

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  9. Thank You so much for the PDF it had all the information I was looking for!

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  10. that has got to be the sexiest Slingshot that i have ever seen

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  11. what tools do you use to make the wood? It looks awesome!

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