[Woodcarver] Re: Carving Marionettes

[SunshineCarver at aol.com]

If anyone is interested in making working marionettes I will take the 
costumes off of one or two I made about 50 years ago, and take pictures of them and 
send you an E-mail with the pic's in it when I get back to Florida in 
mid-August.
The heads, hands, and feet, are carved and painted. The torso is a 
rectangular piece of board (everything was of White Pine if I remember correctly, 
because fancy work for others we did in Walnut, Mahogany, or Oak, for working stuff 
we used White Pine because it was clear grained and dirt cheap) cut to 
proportion, and the arms are two pieces of wood stock with leather joining the 
shoulder, elbow, and hands: the same type handling with the legs and feet.  This is 
a six string system using a wooden hand control cross with a removable knee 
action bar fitted on top of the cross with a peg.
We did many shows with these, and I used them to teach my daughters how to 
work the marionettes. They are very simple, not nearly as complicated as the 
ones my father and grandfather made (those had moving jaws and other features 
that are not hard to figure out how to do, just a lot of work) since they also 
made ventriloquist dummies. But mine were easy to use and much like the ones 
made in eastern Europe during the middle ages. 
BTW - for those who remember, I am still fouled up from the backlashed blade 
on the grinder that cut all the way into the bone. I didn't have to have the 
amputation done, but I do have permanent nerve damage to the index finger of 
the right hand. It feels like I'm sticking it into a light socket everytime I 
touch something. Now I will have to make some custom handles for my knives so 
they will leave the finger sticking out in a supported style.  The funny thing 
about the grinder accident is the first thing my Father taught me in his shop 
was to respect the grinders. He lost 1/2 of the same finger to an old fashioned 
stone grinder when he was an apprentice.  It just goes to show ... a wise man 
won't watch what's going on outside and work with grinders at the same 
time!!!!!
Yours ..... SunshineCarver
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