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Bear Head Sculpting, part 1 Master wood carver Jim Wilsford offers advise on carving a bear's head. From "Woodsculpting" episode DWDS-106

With its life-like detail, the bear looks as though he's walking out of thin air.

In this episode of DIY Woodsculpting, we are introduced to Jim Wilsford, a self-taught carver who excels in animal figure carvings. Since his carvings are intricate and very realistic, Jim relies on a high-speed, micro grinder with multiple bits.

Jim starts the bear head by using a stencil to trace over a 2-inch block of basswood. He cuts the silhouette of the bear head out with a band saw and reveals the secrets to placement of facial features. Then, Jim demonstrates how to use the micro grinder tool and bits to form those features, the bear's paw, and stones for the bear to stand upon.

Once the sculpting is completed, Jim shows how to get the depth of color when painting a black bear. Also featured are tips and techniques on sealing the sculpture.

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Materials:

wood
stencil of basic form
band saw
high-speed mini grinder (running at about 25,000 rpm)
abrasive wheel
cuts-all blade
little diamond blade
"extreme" bits
dental tools
knife
sanding tool
pencil
ceramic inverted cone tools
ceramic flat cone tool
acrylic sealer
latex paints
paintbrushes

1. Using a stencil , trace out the basic form of the bear on a 2-inch block of basswood (figure A). Then, following the tracing, cut out the form on a band saw (figure B).

figure A

figure B

figure C

2. Draw a straight line down the center of the block of wood. This will act as your centerline and will keep the features of the bear balanced as the carving begins.

3. Next, mark out the placement of the eyes (figure C). Through researching the symmetry of the facial features of different animals, Jim has learned that the face the width of six "eye" widths, with the second "eye" width from the left and right being the bear's eyes.

4. Following the pencil marks as guides and working from center out, begin rounding off the edges using the high speed grinder and an abrasive cutting wheel like one of the "extreme" blades - removing all the excess wood outside the pencil marks (figures D, E, & F).

figure D

figure E

figure F

5. Now it's time to raise the bridge of the bear's nose and make a place for the eyes. Using the cuts-all tip, lay the tip on the side of the nose (figures G & H).

figure G

figure H

6. Using the cuts-all blade, cut down to the depth of the diameter of the tip. This way you can keep the eyes level from front to back (figures I & J).

figure I

figure J

7. Once this is done, begin rounding all the corners of the bear's muzzle (figures K & L).

figure K

figure L

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