Carvers

We had the occasion to get out and meet some new carvers.  I needed my knives sharpened..and when I bought them they came with Free Sharpening for life at a carving shop over by Lake Ida. Anyone is welcome to the open carving on Thursdays.  It is an hour plus drive for us.  Carvers drive from miles around to get to Larry’s Shop. Years ago we took some classes from Larry.

My knives were a mess, it took Larry quite some time to get a new edge on them.  There is nothing worse than knives that are dull.

I bought a new knife..Dave said I needed it to finish my Duck. ( I found out later that he was a Duck expert.)  Maynard said it was a good idea..he was the carver selling the knives.  It is a push knife and should do the job.

Dave gave me a new cutout (a reindeer) to try, I have found that carvers are generous people..if they have an extra cutout they share readily.  Both Dave and Maynard are former Wood Carving Instructors.  What a pleasure it was to make new acquaintances.

Maynard was a Chef Instructor before he retired, so naturally I was picking his brain getting some ideas for Far Guy to try..we talked about different ways to prepare fish and seafood.  I don’t know if I am adventurous enough to try scallops or tuna..we finagled  ourselves an invitation to his place..he is also an accomplished chain saw carver and he used to do ice sculptures too.

My knives are all sharpened now, Larry said “Don’t be using these for bark carving anymore.”  I won’t and I made the switch last week to Exacto knives that have replaceable blades for bark carving.

Everyone at the open carving sharpens their own knives.  I encouraged Far Guy to get some equipment, well once the word gets out amongst other carvers..soon an opportunity arose.

The other morning we drove to the south side of Shell Lake and Far Guy got all set up with a sharpening system.  Tucked back in the woods was a guy who turns wooden bowls and builds custom cabinets and builds pole buildings. The equipment he had for sale was more suited for sharpening carving knives than the huge gouges he uses for turning wood. 

Anyways…I am saving up my good carving knives for a special class I am taking in May. So what will we practice sharpening?  We ordered some blades so that we can make our own carving knives, that should be an adventure.  These will be bark carving knives for me to dull so Far Guy can practice sharpening..yup it is a team effort.

I really didn’t need to add another hobby on top of a hobby..but I have never made a carving knife before..you can let your imagination run wild with some of the beautiful handles.  Perhaps winter should come to an end pretty soon, before I end up with more hobbies:)