# Fish Too!



## carver36 (Sep 11, 2007)

I do some fish carving too. I use northern basswood, are there any other fish carvers out there?
View attachment 56977


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## troutfisher (Sep 11, 2007)

Ahhh...........So you're not new to carving, just the chainsaw! I thought that bear looked pretty good for a rookie, Nice Work!


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## carver36 (Sep 11, 2007)

*Re: Fish*

Thank you!
Been carving about 7 yrs, have tried about everything From a Northern Pike to hummingbirds. Have done a wood duck and a loon but enjoy doing the fish best of all. I don't have a good supply of suitable wood for chainsaw carving.
I have a lot of oak, maple and tulip poplar, it takes too long for the wood to cure without splitting.
Carver


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## BonsaiJedi (Sep 11, 2007)

Carver,
Post up some other pics if you have them. The blue gill is really nice.


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## troutfisher (Sep 11, 2007)

carver36 said:


> Thank you!
> Been carving about 7 yrs, have tried about everything From a Northern Pike to hummingbirds. Have done a wood duck and a loon but enjoy doing the fish best of all. I don't have a good supply of suitable wood for chainsaw carving.
> I have a lot of oak, maple and tulip poplar, it takes too long for the wood to cure without splitting.
> Carver



Do you use any kind of power tools on the smaller carvings? I tried some chip carving, a coping saw and chisels seemed to help. I started carving with a chainsaw, and I'm not to handy with a knife and gouges yet. I'd like to learn.


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## carver36 (Sep 11, 2007)

*Use of power tools.*

Hi troutfisher:
Yep, usually cut out a blank (general shape) with a bandsaw or scrollsaw.
Then use a dremel to remove excess wood, use flexsteel carving knives for detail, hand sand to get final shape. I use a woodburner to put in some details like feathers, i put the scales on my fish one at a time with a tool i made. The painting is a combination of hand painting and airbrushing.
Learning every day.
carver


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## carvinmark (Sep 12, 2007)

WOW, very nice work. How long did it take to complete the bluegill carvings ?


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## Canyon Angler (Sep 12, 2007)

Very nice! Do you also do saltwater fish? I'd love to see some yellowfin tuna crackin open the afterburners on some bait (like these flying fish)!


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## DonSawdust (Jul 30, 2012)

*Fish Carving too*

My first time on Arboristsite
I am enjoying this web site. Its right up my alley, as they say. I Love to make sawdust too.
At age 70, (about 2 yrs ago) I started carving fish, out of boredom of making bird houses and such.
One big difference in my carving from the many I see online is that I use recycled-found wood- salvaged materials
My first salmon were half fish mounted on backboards of used cedar fence boards.
Now, jumping ahead to 2012 and still making efforts to improve my talents, I challenged myself to a new level of
"recycled wood fish project" Using shakes pulled off an old barn, I ran about 10 of so through the saws/planer etc.
to end up with boards I could glue together for the blank. A photo collage will better explain this project. Friend DonView attachment 246761


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## pastryguyhawaii (Jul 30, 2012)

Very nice!


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## DonSawdust (Aug 2, 2012)

*Fish carving too*

Thanks for the nice comments. 
My greatest satisfaction is when I can make something useful out of something considered as waste/junk/firewood/no value to it.


Some may considered it foolish to spend a month or more creating a piece of art. I don't want to know how many hours
I spend on a project because it might make me quit. My greatest reward comes from when I hand the piece over to the person
and see their reactions.


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## twoclones (Aug 5, 2012)

*Nice Brim *

Those bluegills are very nice! 
I carve fish fairly often but always with a chainsaw. 














Not a fish but it eats a lot of fish


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