close but no cigar... lion saw first try... FAIL :)

[lawrence]

Well, it seems like everyone here posts such awesome pictures of their successful carves... I thought I'd mix it up a bit and show a not-so-successful one... (yet)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/Carvewright/lion%20saw/saw2.jpg

I made this saw handle (tote) pattern this week with some design help from the guys over at the hand-tool section of woodnet
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=5817894&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=

Tonight I tried a test carve on a cracked piece of mesquite and unfortunately my sled did not play nice... I'm not 100% sure why but next time I will just do a carve with side rails instead of using my sled) Either way, the sides did not line up... and I'm about 95 percent sure it was my fault for not having the tape on my sled the same in both carves (oops)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/Carvewright/lion%20saw/P11004751024x768.jpg
The failure at least gave me an opportunity to do a test finish.

By the way, this was carved at "normal" and took 2 hours for both sides. No sanding has been done... the finish is mahogany gel stain wiped on, then blow dried for 5 minutes followed up by a coat of ultra-blonde shellac - blow dried for one minute- I then rubbed the carve with a green brillo-type pad and put on another coat of shellac immediately followed by a buffing with johnson's paste wax. I do like the effect and look forward to my next carve.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/Carvewright/lion%20saw/P11004771024x768.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/Carvewright/lion%20saw/P11004891024x768.jpg
I'm not 100% sure yet what I'm going to do with this exact pattern (judging by the reaction I'm getting from some hand-tool guys I may do a small "limited run" for sale) but I will be doing other totes in the future and will let y'all know where to get the pattern when I do.

Thanks for looking and if anyone has a different idea than I did as to why the carve was stepped, please let me know.

Lawrence

[gwhiz]

Nice finish Lawrence. Can't wait to see the 'real' version!

[gregsolano]

Thats a great pattern and Idea, I have a broken handle saw that could really use that !

[dbfletcher]

Nice job! I cant even call it a failure... more of just a learning process. At least for me it is pretty rare where things come out exactly as I planned or wanted the very first try.

[eelamb]

Lawrence, very nice pattern, and project. It was a learning curve as Doug said.

[mtylerfl]

Hi Lawrence,

I love the saw handle design! Yes, it appears you had a slip in the x-axis that caused the 'step'. I think if I were doing something like this, I might consider doing it in two halves, then glue the halves together. For one thing, I could pocket the area for the actual blade insertion pretty easily on a layout like that. It would still be a 2-sided carve (relief carvings on one side of the board...the recessed blade/pocket area on the other side of the board).

But, you may prefer the idea of it being a completely solid piece instead. What are your plans for making the slot for the saw blade in this case? Band saw the slot?