Carving Wood Dolls

Ryan you have a good eye....This particular knife I did weld three files together in-order to get a nice handle and I did re-temper to make sure....But this is the only knife that I did this too...It was just to much work getting all the welding stuff out when I can just grind the knife down and put wooden handles on...All my other knives have wooden handles that are glued on with Durathane (urethane rubber) mixed to about 70d hardness to bond the wood to metal .....I also have a lot of real small pin knives made from files that don't have any wooden handles.
 
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Ryan....I've been told that Gorilla glue works great with wood on metal....I've never used it on my knives but I have a friend that swears by it...he says you have to ruff up both sides and water down the surface before applying it and then really clamp it down hard together....I have used it to glue simulated wood flooring together but If you get it on your hands....you can't get it off...It has to wear off....I think that Gorilla Glue is nothing more then just polyurethane glue.....so you might get it off by using polyurethane solvent if there is such a thing?
 
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Steve,

Thanks, that makes complete sense to me now :). I understand the extra effort, but IMHO it was worth it to have at least one to show off :DD

I made one knife from a file when I was a teenager with my dad's help (annealed it, ground off the ridges, forged the shape and then retempered it). It was the best sheath knife I've ever had - used it once to skin a whole cow and it was as sharp at the end as it was at the beginning. Fell out of the sheath I had for it while I was out riding and couldn't find it again. Tried a few other ones but kept messing up the temper... I have plenty of old files though so should try again with just grinding (I don't have a forge anymore anyway) and maybe back the temper off in the oven if it ends up to prone to chipping. Not much to loose except some time :)

I've been using epoxy for most of my wood to metal need's, which generally works pretty well (system three quick cure "5 minute" although it's really 24 hours to full cute). I don't use a whole lot, so mostly it's a way to use it up before it gets to be to many years old..

I believe your right about gorilla glue being a type of polyurethane, although my limited experience is that it can be a bit more brittle than some of the other ones (especially if there are any gaps it foams into). I haven't used durathane, so can't compare to that, but some of the construction adhesives are in a similar class of product but less foam and less brittle (but maybe a bit more creep in some cases). I could see where something with aa (very) tiny bit of flex might have some advantages for knife scales.


On my rather long to-do list is a set of steak knives and accompanying roast carving knife/fork. For those I was planning to do the poured pewter bolster and butt cap like shown here http://primalfires.yuku.com/topic/1941/Poured-pewter-fittings and here http://joeldelorme.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-make-pewter-bolster-on-knife.html?m=1 (I actually got the idea from a post on the old-tools forum which I'm not finding at the moment). Lead free pewter is readily available now probably something like the Britannia metal here http://www.rotometals.com/mobile/Category.aspx?id=23 is what I'll end up with. I may have to buy the steak knife blade blanks although it pains me to do so :)
 
Ryan...I've never used pewter before but the finish product looks really nice...His instructions seem easy to follow...Maybe I'll try that sometime down the road.....Thanks for sending...Ryan... about the glue....Your right...You need a little bit of flex in the glue to match up to the difference in heat expansion between wood and metal.
 
welcome to the forum Steve.
Being a carver myself I can't but be amazed at your technique. Carving hard maple is a tough task no matter how sharp your tools are. There are other woods you could use that would ease it. If basswood is expensive in your area, you could try poplar. The likeness of the dolls is really amazing.
What I'd like to see is how do make the articulation joints. Do you turn a blank with the ball at the and then carve the limb out of it?
 
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Thank you Toni...I appreciate the comment! ...Where I live a grade A piece of Poplar is more expensive then Basswood and I don't like the green in the wood for dolls.....As far as the joints go....I've done this several different ways..right now I'm using a spade bit that I rounded off in-order to drill the socket for the ball to fit into on both ends of the joint...I use to make the ball myself on the top part of the arm, leg, ankle, and sometimes in the neck and head area....If you look close you can see it in the Russian girl's neck/head..... Right now, I just order the wood balls that I need and that depends on the size of the doll ....In the other dolls, the head will turn from side to side but they will not move up and down.....I have to tell you that it is a lot of work but well worth it when it's done right...I'll try to send you some pictures in-order to show you how I do it...It might take me a couple of days to put it together.....Now on another note...Because the wood is so hard I like to buy the larges 80 grit sanding belts from Harbor freight in-order to shape the wood after roughing it in the best I can with a knife....I cut the sanding belt in strips...It works great and it last a long time!...It's a lot cheaper and works better than buying sandpaper that wears out quick....I also make my own sanding drums, that can't be bought on the market that are tapered, out of 180 grit sanding belts that I get at Lowe's Home Improvement Center to really smooth it out and then hand sand it up to 600 grit sandpaper....I also have made two different size wood gauges out of rounded over files they are sharpened just on the end of the file...They work okay....AS you know, Maple is tuff stuff so in some places I have to use a Dremel....But if you use basswood this is not necessary as you probably well know....I'm a poor man....So I have to do it the best I know how in-order to do what I love to do...One other thing that I like to do is glue the head together with the grain going in opposite directions so that the grain on both sides of the head, as you are looking straight at the face, look the same in the finished product...It gives a better uniform appearance ....I'll get back with you on this as soon as I can with the pics...Okay
 
Hey Steve,

I recently (in geological terms which is about how fast I work) picked up some off cut sandpaper that I've been quite happy with. Not sure how the price per square inch compares with the belts, and it looks like the price is up $3 since i bought it but so far it's been really good paper. Lasts a long time, sands well, doesn't loose grit. Top shelf stuff at what seems to be comparatively basement prices. If say it's definitely a step up from the Norton 3x I've been using and on par or better than the better 3m sanding belts I've used.

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?35625-Cheap-sandpaper-deal

Most of the sheets are in the 8x11 form factor but some are diagonal cuts so you won't get really long strips out of them, but it might be just the ticket for your small work.

The box of fine has most of the grits you'd want I think.
 
Hi Toni....There are two different joints in my dolls...One is a one directional joint like a knee joint and the other is a joint that moves in all directions...First I'm going to do my best to show you how I make the easier one direction joint...This will be a 3/4" joint...First here's how you make a drill bit for a 3/4" socket P1110913.jpg ...Get a 3/4" circle template and mark it on the spade bit [both sides] and then grind it down being careful not to over heat and then bevel an edge the same way the manufacturer did....Buy 3/4" balls with pre-drilled 3/8" holes....Next cut a 3/8" dole rod about 1 and 1/2" long and glue and insert it into the ball P1110937.jpg ....Next you need to make a jig for the ball P1110921.jpg P1110920.jpg P1110927.jpg P1110929.jpg...Drill the side hole first where the screw fits in...make sure the drill bit is a little smaller then the #6X3/4" screw that you need....You'll need to cut the screw down a little so it doesn't go through the ball...Drill the hole where it is 5/8" deep into the ball then remove the drill bit from the drill press and insert it into the hole you just drilled making sure it doesn't go passed half way....Then with a band saw cut the center of the ball a little over half way thru the ball...then remove the drill bit and the ball from the jig and then flip the ball around 180 degrees and re-insert it into the jig...then drill a 1/4"counter sink hole for the screw about 1/8" into the ball....Take it out and it should look like this P1110930.jpg .....I don't know if they have a Lowe's in Spain but if you have a way to get a hold of a metal stud used in building construction, maybe from a drywall contractor, you'll have plenty of metal for the next piece....Next cut a thin piece of metal 1 7/8" long and 3/8" wide...Now you need to make another jig P1110933.jpg P1110935.jpg......I made this out of wood craps I had lying around....Now take 3/8" dole rod about a foot long and lay it up against a wood yard stick that's laying flat and mark a straight line about one inch long and then insert it into your new jig and tighten it down to where it is sticking out over the front edge about 1 1/2"...Make sure that the line is on top dead center and then with your band saw cut the line 3/4'' long and then lossen it enough to turn it 90 degree then insert the metal piece in the space you cut and drill two holes evenly spaced and counter sink them to receive your #6X3/4' screws ]Note: after you screw the screws in, they'll be to long so you'll have to cut them off and grind them down to the wood] and then drill a hole 3/16" from the end of the metal piece that's a little bigger then your screw and it should look something like this [note: It wouldn't let me put this last picture in] .....Insert that into your ball and you have a one direction joint. Now you'll need to used two blanks [i.e., like upper arm and lower arm] that is the length and width that you want and clamp each one down on your drill press so it can't move. {Note: I like to use another square piece that's clamped down and then clamp the blank to that} Then with your rounded off 3/4" spade drill bit, drill a hole 3/8" deep into the end your blank for upper and lower arm/leg and then change to a 7/16" drill bit and drill another hole at the bottom of the socket 1 1/4" deep... then un-clamp and repeat with second blank and then cut the socket end of each blank at a 45 degree angle making sure that you are in the center of the socket hole Carve your arm or leg around the joint....Now you have a one direction joint....Now if you want a joint that moves in all directions like a shoulder joint...that's more complicated....You may decide that this is to much work....so let me know....And, If you have any questions...I'll try to answer them.
 

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Hi Steve.

Thanks a lot for the thorough explanation. I guess that you make a certain amount of joints in one go and use them until you run out of them which is time for another batch isn't it?
 
Hi Toni...Your right, I do make them ahead of time.....There are different ways that you can make these joints....If you want them to bend and turn...Just look at the one joint that has a nut between the dowel rods and a nut at the end of the dowel rod....I drill out the thread of those two nuts and I also drill out the dowel rod with the same size drill bit so that I can insert the threaded screw through the dowel rod and both nuts to where it will rotate inside the dowel rod...I then rivet the end of the threaded screw against the end nut by carefully hammering the end of the threaded screw against the nut...Here's a picture of a jig I made to keep the threaded screw from bending.P1120007.jpg ....By the way I looked at some of the things that you carve...You do some amazing work!.....very impressive in appearance and style!
 
Thanks a lot for the additional explanation, and thanks for your comments about my work, I'm glad that it pleases you. Actually there was time I was into string puppet making, but the difficulty and practice needed to make them move plus the difficulty in making the clothing (I'm no taylor) made me loose interest.
 
Toni....I know what you mean....I made the clothes on Johnny Bench...I also made his shoes, and his ball cap ...along with his street clothes....The shoes and cap where made out of poster paper and painted...I made my own patterns....One thing that you can do is take duck tape wrap it around the feet or the body or the head and cut it off and you have a pattern....Just make it a little bigger to fit....If you are making saddles, after cutting the duck tape off, you can draw the pattern you want on the tape and then cut it out which I have done many times.....If you still have any of your string puppets....I would love to see one!....Here are a couple shoes and bench's ball cap:P1120017.jpgP1120017.jpg
 
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