[Woodcarver] Mounting fish eyes

[Watson Family]

At 04:20 AM 5/02/04, you wrote:
>Can anyone tell me what to use when mounting fish eyes
>on a natural-finish carved fish? I know it's usual to
>use putty or wood filler, but I'm not painting my
>steelhead trout, just clear-coating it.

Jean,
I would use a five minute epoxy rather than super glue . The super glue 
will soak in and stain the timber but the epoxy wont.
The epoxy is also gap filling so will tolerate a little in accuracy.

If I was doing it for myself I would prefer to inlay the eyes in timber. It 
is more work but the effect is great and you get the satisfaction of doing 
it all out of timber.
Use a timber with fine grain but prominant medullary rays for the iris(it 
is the end grain that is exposed when finished) and a dark timber for the 
pupil.
You need to carve the eye complete before you start to inlay so that you 
get the correct shape etc.
When it is finished polish with micro mesh( the girls use this to polish 
their nails) or finish with a high gloss clear laquer. Again I use a nail 
polish because there is no added colour.

Peter


Woodcarvings and Wildlife Sculptures
http://www.watsonwoodcarver.com