Basswood and cotton wood bark are soft woods therefore, the overall size of the original piece will be much smaller unless you order a custom oversize block. Carving objects such as houses or wood spirits into actual tree sections such as Mesquite, Bradford Pear, Walnut, or some other native tree media requires a lot more work due to the relative hardness of the wood. The hardness of driftwood requires you to sharpen your tools more often but it can produce some amazing results.
At the time I started this house, I didn't have a small chain saw so I had to get out my sculpting tools to help cut away larger sections of wood. Here you can see the difference in tool size between standard wood carving and sculpting tools:
Initially to get some ideas of the type of whimsical house I wanted to make, I searched the images section of Google for some samples.
This particular sample (see picture below) was found at: click here by Aleš Jánošík. Keep in mind that you should not reproduce the same carving exactly as that would violate the original carver's copyright. However, it's great to have some ideas of what you want to carve. Be creative and make your own style.
Here's where it all starts. This tree trunk section is 14 inches high by 8 inches round. With a picture nearby, I use a magic marker to layout the basic first cuts. Remember, the final product will not look like the picture. The picture is just used for a starting idea.
Start by chipping out the excess. Secure the log on the bench top or you'll be chasing it all over the place and you'll have to work twice as hard to make good cuts.
The right side roof and second chimney are roughed cut. Now, it's time to flip the log over to work on the other side.
Here we'll rough in the roof and main chimney. Remember to leave the chimney larger than you intend for the final shape. You can always cut more wood off but, you can't add it back on unless you glue it on.
Keep carving the excess wood away until you have the basic rough shape.
Now that the rough out phase is complete, I mounted the trunk section to my wood carvers vise so that I can turn it at different angles to make the detail carving easier. This particular vise is the "Veritas® Carver's Vise" which I have found to be one of the best. It holds large and small objects very steady on the bench while carving.
More shaping and working in some of the detail. This is where the carving vice comes in handy. It holds the block firmly while I continue to carve.
Progress view so far. It's going to look really ragged until all of the features are roughed in.
Don't worry about the sculpting cuts of the carving tools. The ridges will add texture to the detail later. Don't try to sand them out as they add to the future character of the piece.
Look the piece over carefully and mark any areas that need to be roughed out some more so as to fit the desired proportion you are trying to achieve.
Well, my wife stopped in to look at the progress and suggested that it would be really nice to have a planter box along the outside of the house. Here I carved in a bench in the wood and textured a stone wall for the base of the planter box. Later I'll dig out the box area so she can plant her flowers. Remember, "Happy wife, Happy life."
Seriously, my wife looks in periodically and looks over my work to see if it looks aesthetically pleasing and proportional. She has always made great suggestions about all of my pieces during the carving process. Sometimes we'll both spend the day carving together. She'll work on her etchings while I work on my carving. She even does the initial pattern etching for my Canes.
Draw the stone pattern for the chimney and the roof shingles to help with the visual effect while you work on other details. You can carve them in later.
Draw in the front door and window then rough them in.
Carving stairs to add detail to the piece adds more perspective.
Continue the stairs to the lower level and start the cave. Add the stone lines using a 45 degree v-tool.
Add detail to the rock using a 5mm gouge by widening and deepening the seam. Next, cut out the tunnel and add rock detail to the inside walls.
Using an 8mm 90 degree v-tool carve the roof shingles and a 4mm 45 degree v-tool to carve the chimney rocks. Use a 5mm gouge to shape the detail of the shingles.
Recess the door and add hinges, add the big window, use a small power grinder bit to deepen the individual window panes, start to carve in the shingles, and round off the other side toward the small chimney.
Here I etched in the "Welcome" greeting over the door with an air driven power carver. It's the home version of a dentist drill since it runs at 400,000 rpm and can cut and etch anything. Since it runs at such a high speed it also burns the wood so you don't have to come back later with a wood burning tool. My grand kids placed the Texas flag in the chimney and called the house "The Alamo".
Continue to add detail to the house. Here I've added the brick base plus textured the door, window frames, and roof base to give the illusion of wood.
Now that the carving is mostly done the long task of going over the whole project and sanding all of the unwanted cuts and scratches. The sanding stick is great for small areas. It can be found at most woodcraft and hobby stores in various grits.
The last thing to do is put a coat of polyurethane sealer and let it dry for a week.
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