|
woodezine - Volume
II - Issue VII - July 2004
|
Carving Tidbits
[If a link doesn't work, just copy and paste the
address into your browser]
(NOTE: Kamloops Pole Carving Competition June 28 - July 1 has been cancelled.)
|
Guess who's coming to town...
The annual "Kirkland Summer" is being held in Kirkland, Washington on July 9-11. Hundreds of artists, crafters and musicians display and demonstrate their skill. This event attracts tens of thousands of people from the greater Seattle area and beyond. Here's the carving part - one of the local businesses is an enterprise called Reasons To Believe. They sell nothing but Santa Claus sculptures, many of them woodcarvings. They set up tent in front of their store and install quite a bunch of carvers in it to demonstrate their work and to talk with interested customers, collectors and browsers. Noted carver Rick Wiebe will be involved, as will up to a dozen or so other carvers from all over Canada and the US. Called "Santa Fest", you can see pictures of last year's event at www.reasonstobelieve.com. It is all great fun. Carvers will find it interesting, and will enjoy talking to the carvers who are demonstrating. |
| Hand-made Custom Carving Knives Considering the quality of the hand-made woodcarving knives and tools Michael Komick makes, and the time that goes into each one, they are very attractively priced. His company, Preferred Edge, uses only the finest high-carbon, low-alloy steel. |
| The carbon content is 1.0 per cent, which gives the tools hardness and durability. The Rockwell hardness of each knife is C57.2. Every process is done by hand. Each wood carving knife is flame cut to the specified size and drawn to an edge by blacksmithing. A fine edge is obtained by grinding, filing and polishing. The knife is then heated and hardened in an oil bath. It is carefully heated again in an electric oven, then naturally cooled, highly polished and brought to a razor edge. Finally it is buffed before the hand-made wooden handle is attached. Craftsmen at Preferred Edge are very experienced and proud of their reputation. Each wood carving knife is hand made and no two knives are exactly alike. |
For more info, visit
Michael online. |
 |
Doug's 12 Foot Tall Uncle In his spare time, Doug has managed to build a Western Style store in South Austin to house his chainsaw carvings and the furniture he crafts. His 12 foot tall Uncle Sam stands watch over the store. Chainsaw carving took Doug to East Tennessee a few years ago with the goal of carving for a year to make enough money to record two albums and move back to Austin. In just three short years Doug recorded four albums, performed hundreds of shows including an appearance at Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic, and has been a guest on Animal Planet, Ripley's Believe It or Not, The Bob and Tom Show and The Tonight Show. If you're ever around South Austin, stop in and see his shop, Cattlelacs, there in downtown Manchaca, and meet this exceptionally colorful Texan who is, like his Uncle, simply larger than life! If you can't make it to Austin, visit
Doug online. |
 |