2nd attempt at ball and claw

[Matt Bickford]

My first attempt ended with 1/4 of the ball on the floor. This is my 2nd attempt (first real one). It took about 4 hours. I think that the next one will take significantly shorter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks

Matt

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice - I know how hard those are to carve. The design of a B&C is very personal - every carver does it differently because that's the way they like it.

That said, my preference is to not have the rear claw going straight down. I prefer to have the back of the leg come in a bit more over the ball so that the back claw reaches outward a little bit. But as I said, it's all personal preference.

Your work is excellent. For a "beginner" you're quite advanced!

Mike

[added note - Here's a picture of what I was trying to describe. Not as pretty a finish as yours. There are some people in this forum who do really excellent B&C work - I hope they post in reply to your note.]

[Matt Bickford]

I remember seeing your post a few weeks ago. I like your back toe too. I have not decided what I will ultimately do with my chair. I told myself that I would carve 4 practice feet before the project feet. I will try a back toe more like yours on one of them.

[Alex Carrera]

Gorgeous. I hope that one day I'll be able to do that.

[John Timberlake]

Great job on your first B&C. I have seen variations in new carvings and of course regional differences in the old ones. Just pick a style you like and go with it. I have even tried to duplicate Philadelphia and Boston style, but have yet to try the Newport style with the undercut talons.

[Ralph Dobbertin]

Nice B&C Matt.

I tried the B&C a little while back and they are quite difficult. I just took a carving course last week and one of the comments was that one should stay away from straight(ish) lines. I noticed on the back it seemed quite straight/vertical. I'd consider curving that in a bit and that will also help a little with the back claw reach.

The other comment is (and its hard to tell on your pictures) to narrow the shoulder/knee a bit. By that I mean the top bend. If you look at it front face on you might consider narrowing the top a little. This does seem to creat a nicer line.

That being said your work is very good. Look forward to a picture of the final piece.

[Matt Bickford]

thanks for the input. I haven't really addressed anything more than an inch or two above the foot. I will certainly curve that vertical line. There will also be quite a bit of carving on the knee and down about 3/4 of the way to the top of the foot. This practice round was only on the ball and claw.

What carving class did you take? Did you find it helpful in the broad sense of carving or was it pretty project specific? I've thought about doing something like that but have just not pulled the trigger due to time restrictions.

[Matt Bickford]

Alex, on Friday I hoped that I was able to do something like this. On Saturday it was done. Go for it! it's not that hard. It just takes time, patience, and (clearly) a few practice rounds.

Don't let a perceived lack of artistic skill stop you. With a how-to article and patience, it's 95% tracing a pattern. the other 5% may be artisitic.

This is a little off topic but...I went to a tattoo parlor a while back and described to the 'artist' exactly what I wanted. I needed him to blend two pictures that I had supplied. He told me that I needed to bring in a picture of EXACTLY what I wanted. I suppose that he was good at shading and had a steady hand but he wasn't able to draw. I didn't go to him because I had little confidence. But he was employed as a tattoo artist. Carving with patterns (which are readily available) is similar to this...I think.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Please tell me you have done carving before, because if this is your second attempt at carving I might as well pack up and find another hobby. Very nice. Hopefully I will be able to do one in 40 hours.

[Matt Bickford]

I have carved before, but not much. I made four of the chairs pictured and the two stools. The ball and claw foot wasn't much more difficult than the stools (which were the first things I carved) just more time consuming and certainly more intimidating. The most difficult part is convincing yourself to do it...Actually, judging by the stage of the 4 chairs and two stools now, the most difficult part is the upholstery. They are all still in my basement only needing seats.

A quick Edit: Carving the stools was easier due to the quality of the stool book (Making Classic Carved Furniture:The Queen Anne Stool by Ron Clarkson and Tom Heller) vs. Gene Landon's booklet on carving the Ball and Claw. I highly recommend the book by Clarkson and Heller for anyone interested in doing something like this. It was significantly more thorough than Landon's booklet. It get's you from point A to B without issue. There were 3 pictures for every sentence. Lanon's booklet had paragraphs per picture. The pictures weren't on the same page and were out of order. I reread paragraphs multiple times trying to figure out exactly what he was writing about.

[Ralph Dobbertin]

HI Matt: I went to a course with Dimitrios Klitsas at www.klitsas.com He is a true professional. He was helpful in the broad sense and really helped me with the artisitic side as well as technique. It is a big time committment, but worth it. Many people go back year after year. Some of the attendees are truly accomplished but still seek his advice

thanks for the input. I haven't really addressed anything more than an inch or two above the foot. I will certainly curve that vertical line. There will also be quite a bit of carving on the knee and down about 3/4 of the way to the top of the foot. This practice round was only on the ball and claw.

What carving class did you take? Did you find it helpful in the broad sense of carving or was it pretty project specific? I've thought about doing something like that but have just not pulled the trigger due to time restrictions.

[Jeff Craven]

Matt,

I wanted to thank you for giving the demonstration on carving the ball and claw. Giving me the sample piece really got me motivated. I glued the talon back on , finished carving the ball and started shaping the knuckles. The webbing was difficult, because I was using a small straight gouge, but I made progress. I'll bring it to our next MCWW meeting.

-jeff

[Sam Yerardi]

Very, very nice work, Matt! You had a question about the shaping of the claw, etc., - that is one characterisitc that separates B&C's made in the various New England states, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania. I found a lot of info in Franklin Gottshall's (one of my modern-day furnituremaking heroes) books and Andy Marlow's (another one) books. Carlyle Lynch (hero #3) also did a lot in his book on Virginia furniture. I collect any of the old books I can find because there is so much info there. Another good source is Nutting's Furniture Treasury Vol. 3. There are lot of knee carving patterns, etc. in these books. The Lester Margon books are wonderful sources as well.

[Joe D'Attilio]

Matt

These are fantastic, again I'm sorry i missed the meeting but I won't miss it next month; That's for sure

Excellent work you're def gifted

[Matt Bickford]

Jeff,

That's the best news I've heard all day. I use a bench chisel to shape the talons and knuckles too. I can imagine that the webbing is pretty difficult to do with one, however. You're setting yourself up perfectly because you won't feel bound by specific gouges in the future (if you choose to do more). Buy them as you need them.

I hope that you realizing how difficult they are doesn't prompt you to make a chair like the one I am. I don't need you starting and completing the piece before I'm done with mine. I probably won't be at the next MCWW meeting, but I hope to see a picture on the group page.

Matt