Carving- sandal

that is so cool!

-- JC - Central PA - www.affyx.com

wow thats really cool!!! You sell them?

I bet there good for the feet Dr Scholl thought so.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Very cool Chip

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Great carving. Love that the bottom has tread!

Keep it up.

Scrappy

-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!

hey cool it’s sandelwood, very nice carving, i also think the bottom treads make the piece.

-- Roper - Master of sawdust-

If you see it you can carve it.

-- Make every day the best day of your life. Chips, Mississippi

Hey thanks everyone!! This being my first carving, I was surprised how well it turned out. These pictures actually aren’t a completed project, because it did get some steel wool and a light coat of finish to seal the wood. Some others have been polka dotted.. lol. I’lll get pics of that one if I can. I have sold them, and people have given me from $5 – $20 for one.. I got $30 for a pair, actually.

-- Chip, Massachusetts

In Hawaii they call “flip-flops” “Rubber Slippers”. You’ve created a wooden rubber slipper. Very amusing! Now how about the matching right foot?

-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Verry nice!

-- Marian Neagu - Targoviste, Romania

Did you carve with power tools or ? I’m interested in starting carving. And since I live in Hawaii this would be a fun project! Thanks for posting. Nice job!

-- Jim, www.greenteawoodworking.com

Jim, sorry it took so long for me to reply. Summer finally came to New England so I’ve been out and about a lot. To answer your question, yes I did use power tools. It the time I started carving I didn’t have a bandsaw yet, so the rough shape was cut out using a coping saw, but I’d recommend a bandsaw or perhaps a scroll saw. After the rough shape was cut, I wanted this to be hand carved, so I did a large majority using small Ramelson chisels and gouges. However, this being my first project, I was still learning how fragile the wood grain was. I broke about 10 sandals trying to make the thong straps. 2 things I learned quickly…. Pros consider a rotary tool to be “hand carved” also, and the number 1 tool to use is super glue. haha. I bought a Dremel 400XPR kit (about $100… a steal at most any price because its so versatile, so look into it) That allowed me to safely and gently shape the thong straps and do some finish shaping. If you get into these, best of luck to you. I found the beginning design by just doing a google search for “flip flops” and then looked only at images. I found some top-down pictures of flip flops, chose the one I wanted, edited it on my computer, and then printed the original pattern.

-- Chip, Massachusetts

Thanks Chip! As we say here, mahalo!

-- Jim, www.greenteawoodworking.com