2024 Fish Carvings and some from 2023...

Wow! these are real beauties!
Nicely done.
hope the fingers are healing up well.
 
Thank you for sharing. These delight me. How did you start into this hobby? I am a new empty nester looking for a hobby.
 
As someone with no artistic talent, I am totally impressed with these carvings. They would make wonderful displays in a fly-tying room. Wow!
 
Weikertgal said:
Thank you for sharing. These delight me. How did you start into this hobby? I am a new empty nester looking for a hobby.
Click to expand...
I started making trout pinewood derby cars when my son was in elementary school and a Cub Scout. I posted those “trout cars” here and someone commented that they liked them and would like to have one without wheels… I figured that was basically a “carved fish” so I that comment got me thinking of trying to carve a trout. I got a decent size hunk of basswood and tried carving a life size brook trout. It turned out ok, but I didn’t really like it.

I had two little scrap pieces left from that.

Sometime later, I twisted my ankle pretty badly and had to keep off it. I decided to see if I could carve out a tiny brown trout. I used my scroll saw to rough out the shape and I used an X-acto knife to carve that. I sanded it a painted it and mounted it on a rock.

This was it.

IMG_7738.jpeg


At the time, I thought this looked good. And it did because I was just starting and didn’t really know what I was doing.

I carved a second trout. It was a little bit better, then I carved another and so on…

If you want to give it a go, know that I do NOT recommend carving with X-acto blades! I cut my fingers a ridiculous amount of times using them. Get real carving knives, watch some YouTube videos on whittling and give it a go!
 
Very nice work!

Now you're obligated to attend the Spring Jam and offer one of them up as a raffle prize! 🙂
 
I have several fish carvings in my house but none are nearly as nice as yours.

Here are a couple of mine on shelf my desk. I’m sure I could find space for yours if they were to find their way toward my house. 😀

IMG_4627.jpeg
 
MathFish said:
It has been a while since I have posted some of my little fish carvings on here. Seeing Dave_W's awesome fly with a painted trout on a feather inspired me to share some of my carvings that I made this past year. I'm not sure if Dave_W realizes or not, but he was helpful in getting me to improve on my carvings by pointing out some details on how the fins of a trout are related in positioning to one another and by also pointing out some proportions too. Thank you for the insight, it has help me improve on my work by getting me to see the way a trout looks a lot better than I was seeing them before.

I had the opportunity to visit Pisgah National Forest in 2023 and to do some fishing in that absolutely beautiful area. I caught some beautiful wild brown trout there and it inspired me to make the following carving. I redesigned my trout pattern using the tips from Dave_W and this was the result.View attachment 1641239463
View attachment 1641239464

I also had an experience to go fishing at Cape Cod with a good friend and we caught bluefish and flounder. As a thank you, I decided to try making some carvings of those fish. I found the bluefish to be a challenging fish to carve but the flounder was surprisingly easier even though they are very odd looking fish.

View attachment 1641239467
View attachment 1641239468
View attachment 1641239469
View attachment 1641239470
View attachment 1641239471


I'll add the flounder in a following post...
Click to expand...
Very nicely done. I notice that you have Flexcut tools there. Are those fish carved with them only, or do you power carve as well?
 
Thank you for all the compliments everyone!

Moodyblues, I rough cut the fish using a scroll saw and then the fish are whittled using the Flexcut carving knives, chisels and gouges. Once I think I have the form close to what I think they should be, I sand them down using 80 grit, then 150 and I finish them off with 220 grit.

Basswood is pretty easy to work with using the Flexcut tools I have. The trick is to spend a decent amount of time honing the blade edges with a strop. It definitely takes time, but you kind of have to in order for the blades to stay sharp enough to reliably work.

I tried using a Dremel to carve when I first started, but the dust that it made was just too much. I imagine if you have decent dust collection methods it would be tolerable, but I don’t have any such systems.

I did use a Dremel to shape the “sandy bottom” of the flounder carvings, but that’s really the only thing.

If I have time, I’ll try to get a trout carving for the Jam - but no promises! I currently have about 10 requests in front of that one. The black sea bass that I’m currently working on is proving to be quite time consuming!

Here’s how far I have one side painted of one of three that I’m making.
IMG_4897.jpeg
IMG_4908.jpeg
IMG_4913.jpeg
 
Thanks for the reply. I do some carving as well, but never did any fish. That's definitely some very nice work with hand tools, as well as some very good painting. And you are correct, keeping your tools razor sharp is as, or more, important as the carving and painting themselves. Just be sure you wear protective gloves and finger guards so you don't slice yourself again. My girls son in law told me he didn't understand some why guys keep their knives so sharp. My response was, you aren't a woodcarver, and dull knives are dangerous. Keep up the good work.
 
After my ER visit, I picked up a few pairs of cut resistant gloves and one chain mail glove for my left hand, the hand I hold the fish with.

Thanks for the compliments Moodyblues! If you’re willing to share, I’d love to see some of your carving work!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages
Wayward Trading”/> </center> </div> </div> </div> <div class=


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top