Examples of extreme skill

[stoneaxe]

Came across this and thought it would make an interesting random topic....share some examples of extreme skills.

Chainsaw art...….

[Weasels wake]

Saw these in Vegas about a year ago.

[ninja tuna]

That octopus is amazing!

[Bean]

To execute the carving is one thing, but to be able to visualize it in the tree trunk is extraordinary.

[Night Wing]

That octopus is amazing!

Not just amazing, but fabulous as well.

[Weasels wake]

Carvings can be amazing, here's another one.  I wish the pic was bigger.

[surfinJ]

A 200yo oak went down this winter in my yard. I have been dreaming of carving some tiki or totem stuff but these two really get me thinking.  That dragon is amazing. 
Just added these two tools to be the main workers.

[stoneaxe]

Love steam punk design…..guitars are sweet.

Dragon is awesome.....I'm a hack carver at best but love doing it.

I have much the same tools...Chainsaw, King Arthur Lancelot Carver and an Arbortech (different than that one) and a small collection of big chisels, fine ones too and a Dremel and bits for the small stuff. I'm just getting started on an Oak tiki out front....Easter Island head......I also have one that I'm going to do with a friends dog as the inspiration....thinking more like a Chinese temple dog for that one.

J...next time you're up this way. If you want a chunk of arborvitae to carve let me know. I have a bunch...carves like butter.

[pdxmike]

Those are some inspiring creations.


I told a friend of mine that I was impressed that she decided to learn to play the drums in her 40s, and she said that was nothing, her dad decided when he was 79 that he wanted to take up chainsaw art.  He got really good at it, making all kinds of great  things for the next several years. 

[Weasels wake]

The guitars pic is clickable for an up close look.

[connector14]

Surprised that Mark @ SIC hasn't come up with a board "deck" custom design out of wood....and the darn board would still be awesome to paddle! 

[stoneaxe]

These are what I use most J. Get a good draw knife...that one you see was my grandfathers. Strip bark, etc...build a good shave horse for it and you can do all kinds of work. The Lancelot I just got is on the small angle grinder...haven't tried it yet but will be shortly. The Arbortech is the disc next to the draw knife. I use a flap disc sander on the big grinder. The augers come in handy a lot too. I also have a small set of Flexcut hand chisels that get a lot of use. I'm going to get a power carver with some bigger Flexcuts as well sometime soon.

[Califoilia]

I envy you guys with actual "shops" and/or large enough property in which to have all your fun in. My suburbanite two-car garage, and "massive" 4500 sqft. lot are just not conducive to any of these fun looking, long term projects that can't be cleaned up, and hidden away so we can get the wife's car back in the garage every night.

[SlatchJim]

The octopus is incredible, stunning, museum worthy.  The guitars are fantastic.  I'm in awe. 
Great tool collection Stoney!

I know a fellow geologist that live on a large property in the San Bernardino Mountains. His fun creative pastime was digging out dead Manzanita bushes, Using precision saws and laser guides cutting the root balls and branches and using them as the bases for coffee tables.  Once sanded and finished, they were the most beautiful pieces of furniture I'd ever seen. He had a 1000 sq. foot shop that caused no small amount of envy.

I envy you guys with actual "shops" and/or large enough property in which to have all your fun in. My suburbanite two-car garage, and "massive" 4500 sqft. lot are just not conducive to any of these fun looking, long term projects that can't be cleaned up, and hidden away so we can get the wife's car back in the garage every night.

I have about the same amount of room as you do Dave, with the addition of a space for a carport next to my garage.  I'm hoping to cover that parking spot with a solar panel patio in the future and use the shade as an outdoor shop portable shop area.  Every time I sand something, everything in my garage gets a thin film of dust, and I'm pretty diligent about using the shop vac.  Back to Youtube for more vacuum ideas.

[stoneaxe]

That's just a few of my old tools. I don't really collect...I just like using them. I use power when it gets ridiculous to do it by hand but that still leaves a lot for muscle power.

When we moved the two car garage was a must. I only had a 10'x12' shed before that. My wife decided when we got here she wasn't going to use the garage except for when it's expected to snow overnight......

I made some nice stuff in/around that shed though...used to pull my tools outside under an awning in the summer. My man chair....will last through the apocalypse.....pegged mortice and tenon.