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Walnut
Leghog, that's beautiful. What do you use that for?
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whittling with traditionals?
- Thread starter mrknife
- Start date
Leghog, that's beautiful. What do you use that for?
- Joined
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Next project: the classic Ball in Cage. This will be a little bit piecemeal, as I didn't take enough good photos the first time around. I will show how to lay out a block, and then I'll show how to whittle it on a smaller block. I suggest doing a larger block if it's your first.
Get a block of wood, square cross section, maybe 1"-2" X 3"-5". Hobby store stuff, I used pine. Decide how big you want you rails to be, I used 3/8", draw in the lines on all sides of the block.
Transfer the lines to the ends of the block.
Measure the small diagonal. This tells you how large your ball needs to be (approximately). Call this measurement d. Write down what you get.
Mark the (lengthwise) centerline of the block.
Take the d measurement, and mark off d/2 from the center of the block.
Mark off the distance from each end (~the same as the rail width).
Do this on all four sides, the shaded area will be cut out completely, and the center area will form the ball.
Now I'll use my mini to show whittling. This stick will end up having 3 balls and 3 cages. Make stop cuts along the area that is to be removed.
Once you have 4 full stop cuts, cut along the rails.
Start splitting out the wood. Do it for all sides and it looks like the left side of this photo.
Start splitting out the ball (it will be a cylinder at first). These cuts are a little hard to articulate, see the pics.
Carefully cut between the rails and cut the cylinder loose, so it can slide. Start the long arduous task of rounding the ball!
Here's mine all fished up, I added some embellishments between the cages, and stained it.
My two ball/cage projects together. I used a Case peanut and a Case cokebottle jack for all the detailed whittling.
Get a block of wood, square cross section, maybe 1"-2" X 3"-5". Hobby store stuff, I used pine. Decide how big you want you rails to be, I used 3/8", draw in the lines on all sides of the block.
Transfer the lines to the ends of the block.
Measure the small diagonal. This tells you how large your ball needs to be (approximately). Call this measurement d. Write down what you get.
Mark the (lengthwise) centerline of the block.
Take the d measurement, and mark off d/2 from the center of the block.
Mark off the distance from each end (~the same as the rail width).
Do this on all four sides, the shaded area will be cut out completely, and the center area will form the ball.
Now I'll use my mini to show whittling. This stick will end up having 3 balls and 3 cages. Make stop cuts along the area that is to be removed.
Once you have 4 full stop cuts, cut along the rails.
Start splitting out the wood. Do it for all sides and it looks like the left side of this photo.
Start splitting out the ball (it will be a cylinder at first). These cuts are a little hard to articulate, see the pics.
Carefully cut between the rails and cut the cylinder loose, so it can slide. Start the long arduous task of rounding the ball!
Here's mine all fished up, I added some embellishments between the cages, and stained it.
My two ball/cage projects together. I used a Case peanut and a Case cokebottle jack for all the detailed whittling.
5K Qs
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Superb tutorial, Brad!!! :thumbup::thumbup: You make it very clear what I have to do for the project; it's just a question of skill (and time) now, not knowledge. 
I really like your triple-cage, embellished version; looks like some kind of medieval tower! (I'm also stunned by the spherical perfection of your big ball. 
)
- GT
I really like your triple-cage, embellished version; looks like some kind of medieval tower! (I'm also stunned by the spherical perfection of your big ball. )- GT
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2015
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Thanks Gary, and GT. I've always said, if I can do it you can too! Heck, I've been whittling all of maybe 5 months now, very sporadically. I am kind of "crafty" and mechanical. I would get to a point where I thought, "there's no way...", and then, I would keep plugging along, and it would carve itself.
GT, I have a "special tip" for the roundness, something that just came to me as I was working on it. If/when you get a ~roundish ball, or anyone else, I will tell my "secrets"!
GT, I have a "special tip" for the roundness, something that just came to me as I was working on it. If/when you get a ~roundish ball, or anyone else, I will tell my "secrets"!
5K Qs
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Thanks Gary, and GT. I've always said, if I can do it you can too! Heck, I've been whittling all of maybe 5 months now, very sporadically. I am kind of "crafty" and mechanical. I would get to a point where I thought, "there's no way...", and then, I would keep plugging along, and it would carve itself.
GT, I have a "special tip" for the roundness, something that just came to me as I was working on it. If/when you get a ~roundish ball, or anyone else, I will tell my "secrets"!
Oh, man, you're killing me, Brad! PLEASE reveal any secrets you have for "ball-sculpting"!
I've never tried a ball-in-cage because I thought I should make sure I could carve a reasonable ball by itself before trying to do it inside a cage. Haven't really mastered the ball-making yet! 
- GT
kamagong
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Superb tutorial, Brad!!! :thumbup::thumbup: You make it very clear what I have to do for the project; it's just a question of skill (and time) now, not knowledge.
- GT
You should try it, they're not that hard. I think patience, more than anything, is the most important thing to have.
It really isn't difficult. Try it. You'll likely amaze yourself.Well done, Brad! It looks so easy to do ....