[honesttjohn]

A little while back I made a Polish Eagle in a ring out of my usual birch. Menards had some oak 1 x 12 x 48 boards in so I tried one of them just to see what the result would be. Not bad!! So what if we added the standard Polish Witamy (Welcome in Polish) underneath. If that looks good then how about adding family names like the others I've done. The couple of people that have seen them so far seemed to think they were pretty cool. The one with the name was still in the "improving" stage, but it still went over pretty good.

 

[difalkner]

All look nice, John! Good idea on adding the signs at the bottom.

David

 

[marecat3]

nice idea

 

[MEBCWD]

Those look good John. That gives you one more item to sell.

 

[Gaffboat]

Those look great, John. I really like the font you've been using lately. It suits the signs well, and adds another layer of emotional impact.

 

[kp91]

They sure are nifty!

 

[Herb Stoops]

Those are beautiful,John, are the signs separate,added? or as one piece, the grains match so well it is hard to tell.
Now, not to be picky,or take away from your work,but................I see a tool mark at 1:00 clock and 7:00 o'clock.
Is the oak easier to machine than the birch? I like to work with oak as it machines so nice.
HErb

 

[ScottyDBQ]

The top one - Eagle only - is really nice, but the added signs take it up several notches. Excellent work John!

 

[honesttjohn]

Those are beautiful,John, are the signs separate,added? or as one piece, the grains match so well it is hard to tell.
Now, not to be picky,or take away from your work,but................I see a tool mark at 1:00 clock and 7:00 o'clock.
Is the oak easier to machine than the birch? I like to work with oak as it machines so nice.
HErb

Herb,

Cut from one piece of 1 x 12 x 16 glued up oak board.

Those are probably machine marks I missed when putting this together. On these odd shaped pieces, the computer cuts different sections out as opposed to one continuous movement, and sometimes the section edges don't always blend as they should. I just didn't sand them good nuff (not my strong point) and the poly really brought them out.

Oak is nice to work with, but the birch is pretty good too. I think Maple is the best. New Zealand select pine carves and finishes real nice too -- but normal lumberyeard pine boards and Aspen are the worst. I use a lot of those for text signs rather than carving.

 

[Herb Stoops]

I agree on the pine from the HD and Lowes. Once in awhile Lowes gets in some clear 12" wide shelving that is really nice.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Your really getting the hang of this John . I’m liking how you removed the surrounding area ,as it makes for a unique look

 

[honesttjohn]

Your really getting the hang of this John . I’m liking how you removed the surrounding area ,as it makes for a unique look

You can thank MEBCWD for that part.