burning bears

Burning a Bear

       Yesterday I had to do some re-gluing of the arm I put on the bear , and also I forgot my grinder and I realized , no matter how much I pushed it I  was not going to finish with the bear, also I should have started another bear , but was having problems with my back and so I needed to ease off on any push to start a new bear. That will be what I intend to do today. Tomorrow I am headed to the Cleveland zoo so I need to push myself a little to keep moving. Yesterday was a fairly hot day and the first of the season and it takes a while to transition you into working on these hot days. Of course a couple of minutes in the greenhouse will give you n idea of how hot and what the potential  of the sun is as temps on days like yesterday can easily soar above 110 degrees. I need to run a fan and open windows to maintain an even 90 degrees. 

 

allthough there is a color difference in the piece i replaced  , it is still the same wood as original bear is carved out of. the wild cherry is a wood that kinda oxidizes in the sunlight and longer it is left out will continue to redden. the problem is it is also subject to cracking so it is important to get the fist coat of sealer on there to stop the process oif drying out. when yu see the color difference you are looking at 3 days carved to freshly carved. it darkens that quick

 

      My chickies I started early this spring surely want me to get my butt moving quicker and make sure I get that fan working in the greenhouse before it ever gets that hot. In fact I will have to make a trip up there to assure I get it on and cool the greenhouse down. To run water out of the hose in the greenhouse that has been sitting there any length of time will wilt leaves if you don’t let it run and could easily burn your skin from the energy absorbed by the hose. . 

 

this is why i have added a saw kerf to the back of the wild cherry. i have recently done this to a lot of cherry wood as i have noticed a major problem with splitting. the kerf will allow the inner stresses of the wood from drying out to split along the lines of the kerf. a kerf is just a saw slot sawed to a depth of a couple of inches.  

       So today I plan on burning and doing sanding with my grinder and then touching up some of the areas with paint and see if I can get this bear ready for sealing maybe later today. I also like I said plan on starting a new bear. Why a bear? Because bears are the bread and butter of most carvers. You can always sell a good looking bear. There are a multitude of other projects I would like to get into but will settle for bears now. Could use the extra cash to accomplish other projects here on the farm . 

 

lily giving me her bst impression of road kill kitty. she has a sick sense of humor.

 

     My idea is to work one day on one project the next day do something else and so on. I have 4-5 outstanding projects and a multitude of other projects I should be working on. They range from the house, to carving, to a log cabin picnic pavilion. Part of this requires organization and I have been working on that also. Trying to sequester certain tools in certain locations so I don’t have to spend all day running around wondering where this and that is. Some tools overlap each other like the chainsaws, so I still need to keep them where I think I will need them the most. It’s amazing how much time is spent running around looking for something that at times you have just laid down. I am constantly grabbing wrenches I used in one place and carrying them back to the tool box. I admire people who have all their shit together and know exactly where everything is. But then in a worst case scenario I don’t know if I want to be with those people in bad times, as I doubt they have but the bare essentials to get by, whereas, I have enough of everything to build almost anything if I wanted too. I have enough spare parts and with a little ingenuity can come up with almost anything. That is just the hoarder nature of my family. 

 

hard to see but bees are busy today with a lot of hive activity. 

 

     Never know when you are going to need a four foot box fan, but I have one that requires a one horse motor to power it. It requires too much electricity to make it work, but would also make a good wind mill fan if I ever get around to it. Well back to the burning issue of the day. Burning seals the ends of the wood and also somewhat stains the wood and I use a propane torch to accomplish this. I will try and post pics but may have to substitute previous pics, as it isn’t always safe to take selfies of yourself with a torch in one hand, and camera in other. Well need to get moving as it is getting hotter and could easily blow up a thunderstorm. Can’t forget the chickies.

 

the gladiolas are blooming quite beautiful now.