Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-06, страница 33

SUPPLIES

Wood: red oak or wood of choice—one piece 1" x 11-1/2" x 16-112' (for foreground); birch plywood— one piece 1/8" x 9-3/8" x 12-3/4" (for bobcal) Tools: drill with No. 58 (0.042" or 1,0668mm) dn',1 bit; scroll saw with No. 0 blade; assorted tools for sculpting, including a knife-edge Vanadium steel burr, tapered silicone carbide burr, chisels, gouges, and skew Temporary-bond spray adhesive Sandpaper, 120-through 320-grit Wutco Danish oil finish or finish of choice Aniline dye. Moss Green No. WI680* Acryiic paint in assorted colors Sponge Polyuretharie

Bainbridge suede black core. No. 4265" (for backer

board) Brads or framing points

* Available from Woodworker's Supply. (800) 645-9292

Available from The Art Factory, (800) 566 6394, www.artfactory.com

cortinued shocting, but I began to get the shakes. Between the crouched-over pasilion I was locked into and the anticipation thct had developed over the 300+ hours of looking end lurking about in the reserve for just such a shot, I was about to btow the photo oppor'unify of c lifetime. I've hunled, fished, and Irapped mosl of my life, but this was my first encounter with a bobcat, and by the look or its face, it was expecting a meal.

I watched fcr any sign "that it was rcising onto its back legs, and if il did I would slraighlen up quickly. throw off my head cover, and shout, just in case it was reclly interested in getting too close. I continued shooting with the motor drive or, and I became very aware that the motor drive on the camera makes just a bil of a squealing noise. Although high pitched and faint, it wes keeping the ca1 interested. Well, I wasn't about tc give up. After arother 12 shots, it started to look around, sniff the air, and slowly depurl. As I slraighlened up, I policed just how much my legs and hands were shaking, and all I could think about was that I might have shot a roll of blurry photos.

Yes. there were a few blurry ones, but I got 12 good ones. Even if none of Ihem lurned out, il would still have been a memorable morning, but then I would not have had anything to share with you.

There is no end of possibilities of what can be done with the inspiralion fron a simple pholograph. In the last issue, we sew Orchid Davis' version of the bobcat, with her exquisite woodburning and eye-pairting techniques. In this article we will appiy a bit of Sculptural Scrolling™ and see whul develops. George Ahlers was kind enough to create the scroll saw pattern for the projcct, and as il developed, we thought that a two-piece pattern that physically put the vegetation ir the foreground wculd be more effeclive. Thai of course, meant lliat there just had to be some texturing to really make it "pop."

As ycu may have noticed in past articles. I like to use unusual woods; however, that has sometimes led to pro-cur emer I problems for you. So for this project, we will use readily available materiel, but edd c few twists just to liver things up c bit. We elected to use domestic birch plywood for the cat because the grain configuration complimented the fur lexlure on Ihe animal. Two other wcods that I use for animal fur are elm and punk tree. Mclalcuca quirt qvenervia. Elm is availcble from most lumber dealers, but punk free is difficult to find unless you live in Florida or California.

Instructions

Introduction

This photograph was taken in the t. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve, in Venice, fl. The reserve is an area 4 miles wide and 1C miles long and is open to the public from 8 am tc 6 pm. Only 117 acres of it are developed with self-guided hiking trails, picnic areas, and public toilets. The rest of the area is laced with backcountry hiking, biking, and horseback trails, but you will need a backcourtry permit to use them. The reserve has a multitude of hebitats that range from open, dry prairie to swamps. It is home to a fartcstic variety of animals and birds.

The bobcat wes standing at the edge of a fire lane in a very dense growth of palmetto and wild vines. I was stalking very slowly in full ccmcuflcge in the shadowed edge of the fire lane when I spotted the sun reflecling ofr the cat's fur about 20 feet av/ay. Of course it had been watching me and must have been amused by my antics because it stood there tor a while looking at me. I got a good focus on it and began snapping photos. After a tew shots, it got bored and started to leave, so I made a noise wrlh my mouth. It turned suddenly and stalked very carefully in my direction until it got behind the bush and set down. I

Bccause we wan led two layers, to give the project some depth, while using standard materials, wo elected to rout a 3/8"-deep recess into the back of a l"x!2" red oak bocrd and saw the vegetation pattern into it. Then we cut a 1 /8"-II lick piece of birch plywood 1o fit into the recess and that would roccivc the cat pattern. You can make this a lot simpler, especially if you don't have a router, by lamincting several layers and adding a frame. Ther you can just saw Ihe single-layer pattern onto a chunk of wood and use or create a random edge.

continued on page 34 Creative Woodworks & Uratts June IJJUb • 33

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