Ready for the Gold:

Upper and lower center pipe shades for the new J. F. Nordlie pipe organ being constucted here in Sioux Falls for the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm, MN

Ron White Brings Treasures to Third Saturday Meeting

All the way from Ellswsorth, Minnesota, Ron White joined our club in 2013 and frequently shows up at our Third Saturday Meetings at the Center for Active Generations.  As those of us present at yesterday's meeting were busy carving faces into old wooden spools saved in times gone by frugal seamstresses, who did not believe in throwing good spools away after the thread was gone, Ron came in with a couple of marvelous bird houses he made to look like old churches.   Ron is an expert carver of loons and large-scale wild life sculptures, but building birdhouses from pieces of scrap wood gives him undeniable pleasure.

Never Too Old for Carving Wood!

John Otten, 90 years old and member of S D Woodcarvers, Inc. since 1998,  regularly attends weekly wood carving class and Third Saturday meetings at the Center for Active Generations.   Like other members of the club, he is still working on the sunflower relief carving project that our youngest member and President, Derek Boekoff, presented at the Third Saturday meeting in May.

Basswood cut outs with instructions for this project are still available


NOTICE: A link to South Dakota Woodcarvers Club on Facebook has been added to the Links list over there down on the right -------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ninety-five Dollars for an Extra Large V Tool?

Master Woodworker, Paul Nordlie, was successful in creating a router cut profile along the front edge of two black walnut brackets which will support the key board on the beautiful console he is building for the new pipe organ.  My job was to carve 90 degree notches at approximately 30 millimeter intervals to make a series of perfectly square pyramid shapes along the entire front edge.

An ordinary 1 inch wide Stanley wood chisel worked well cutting at a 45 degree angle into the black walnut grain running length wise.

Then I came to the curved area where cuts had to made in the end grain.  I thought I was being a little crazy, if not extravagant, to let Jeremy Frislie talk me into buying a 95 dollar 28 mm, 75 degree V tool in addition to the smaller 60 degree I had ordered, but, honestly, I don't know how I would have carved those end grain pyramids with out it!

My job now, is to carve the fancy ornamentation on the outside faces of each bracket.   (Not to mention eight more pipe shades...)

  "Extra Sharp" Stanley Wood Chisel, part of a set given to me by my neighbor.  (Said he had no use for them...)

Stubai 28mm, 75 degree, V Parting Tool, made in Austria, purchased from Frislie Toolworks

Irrelevant No. 3 back bent home made tool

Two done...Only ten more pieces left to carve

Two flat panel upper pipe shades that will appear on either side of the center tower for J. F. Nordlie's new pipe organ being built for the Cathedral in New Ulm, MN, are waiting to be covered in gold leaf.

Not including design and layout work, over 200 hours were spent carving these two pieces.  Two smaller flat panels will hide the pipe bases, and each of the three towers with have curved upper and lower pipe shades.

Now I am carving ornamentation on the black walnut support brackets for the keyboard counsel, which is soon to be delivered.