[Woodcarver] Honing carving tools

[TWWOODWORK at aol.com]

Just came back from Michigan and had an opportunity to visit with Patty  
Beach who lives in the Lansing area.
    She is an experienced carver with many blue  ribbons.   She carves mostly 
miniatures. Really enjoyed seeing her  toothpicks. One was carved with 15 
tiny balls in it. She had to put them in  three separate compartments. If put 
into one, she said they would  fall out. Also, she had a toothpick carved like 
the double helix in DNA. 
    She had carved two rather small wooden eggs  with a rabbit in one and a 
squirrel in the other one. She had hollowed out the  eggs and had carved four 
vines in what had been the original shape of  the eggs. Also, she had carved a 
rabbit less than 2" long. The eyes and eye lids  were absolutely perfect.  
      I hope to have some pictures of these  in the near future and will be 
glad to send them along to anyone who requests  them. Will advise when I have 
the pictures.
     I asked her how she honed her small knives to  do such miniature 
carving. She uses rotten stone on a leather strop. Just  thought you might like to 
know. 
    I expect to try this very soon. Oh yes, I asked her  how long it took her 
to carve a toothpick.She says it takes about 45 minutes to  one hour to carve 
1/4".
    That's all folks.
    Tom
    Thomas W. Horton
    Glen Mills,  PA      
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