| Project by BassBully | posted 281 days ago | 362 views | 0 times favorited | 5 comments |  |
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I carved this chipmunk for my wife as a Christmas present in 2008. I’m not really sure if it’s a chipmunk or a squirrel. The reason why I don’t know is because I purchased it as a rough-out, it came with a few pictures of what it’s suppose to look like, and although the picture labeled itself as a chipmunk, it had more squirrel qualities in my opinion. Anyway, my wife likes it so that’s all that matters.
After carving it I burned in the hair, applied a base coat of paint and then dry brushed the rest of the paint on.
I did this project at the Wood Chip Shop in Des Moines where I was taking a carving class. If you’re in Des Moines, that’s the place to go to learn carving. Inside the store, there are many completed carving projects which is inspiring. Some carvings are the owner’s and some are the student’s. It’s neat to see what other people are working on and what can be done with a lot of practice.
-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!
5 comments so far
savannah505
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978 posts in 480 days
posted 281 days ago
Thats really a cute little guy there, nice job. As far as wether it’s a squirrel or chipmunk goes, well, maybe it’s mommy was a chipmunk, and she liked the big squirrel kindof guy. ???
-- Dan Wiggins
MsDebbieP
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14156 posts in 1054 days
posted 281 days ago
this is great!!
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
dougdeg
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66 posts in 663 days
posted 281 days ago
Great job there, I tried carving one time and then gave away my knives,, What type of wood do you use mostly.
-- Doug Cedar Log Furniture, www.cedar-stuff.com
mmh
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1384 posts in 616 days
posted 281 days ago
He’s adorable! It looks to be a squirrel to me. I don’t believe chipmunks have long, bushy tails, just nubs for tails. They don’t climb trees, but can run like heck and have stripes of golden brown & white. Really cute buggers. As for the squirrels, they’re cute but very distructive. They’ve eaten the 2×4” pressure treated wood railing that was rectangular down to a rounded curve to sharpen their teeth. Since we feed the wildlife shelled peanuts, you’d think they’d have the decency to leave the house and porch alone.
-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe
BassBully
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253 posts in 990 days
posted 280 days ago
dougdeg,
I mostly use basswood because it’s affordable. It doesn’t stain really well but it does paint nicely and is a great wood to carve. Butternut is also very easy to carve but it costs more and tupelo is also a very popular wood to use except it’s my understanding that tupelo is better carved by power tools. I’m not sure why.
mmh – Your description of squirrel destruction is funny and true. My boss had a similar situation. One day we received an e-mail from him labeled, “I’ve got squirrels in the attic!”. Initially, we thought he finally came to the realization that he wasn’t all there. However, he literally had a squirrel that chewed through the siding of his house next to his chimney and it entered the attic space. I guess it caused a major mess and he had to not only patch the hole but evict the squirrels. I wish had had video footage of that.
-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!