Haven't been on the bike much lately...

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OMG!! That is beautiful. I want one. :cray:

Great talent you have there. I'm sure they'll love it.

:exhappysmiley:

 
Thanks for the compliments folks... I'm pretty sure they'll like it. :D This isn't the first piece I've made them, but it's probably the one I've taken the most time with... Only get one shot at a 50th wedding anniversary... doubt they'll make it to 100...

Bustanut - Was there cussing involved? Some... I scrapped the original wood I'd cut and sanded for the oval frame and remade it with the Mahogany you see now... the Blue-stained Pine I had originally picked was intended to give it a "watery" feel, but once I had the inspiration to use the stained glass to fill the center, and found the type you see, a darker more normal frame fit the piece better. Luckily I was ahead of schedule and had time to go find wood with a grain and coloration that I had in my mind and remake the pieces. Had a couple issues with various pieces while doing the finishing work too, but nothing that more time and effort couldn't overcome.

Old Michael - The lower part of the fish and the tails are made of Lacewood. It's got a great figured nature to it, and works really well as fish scales or birds wings. I've used it before as the underside of hummingbird wings with good success. The dorsal and underside fins are Zebrawood, which I think do a good job of representing the structure of the fins, without having to do the typical, which would be cutting lines into the wood to accomplish the same thing.

My guess is the total time so far related to planning, organizing, picking woods, buying stuff I needed, cutting, glueing, sanding, & finishing is on the order of 100 hours. Still have to spray on a few more layers of finish, glue it all together, attach it to the backerboard, and some small stuff... but it should be ready in plenty of time (their anniversary is in mid-July).

Amazingly enough, not only have my parents made it to 50 years together, but my in-laws celebrated their 50th a couple years ago... don't see that very often. Both of my sets of grandparents also made it to their 50th wedding anniversary too.

Also, it goes without saying, that when the eventual estate sale happens, it gets pulled out and I get it back. Along with the other pieces I've made. Nice feeling that I can make things that barring a natural disaster or house fire should be something for my kids, grandkids, and other to enjoy for years to come, even after I'm long gone.

 
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We had a guy at the department that was such a master, he would throw away stuff that was nicer than anything you can buy at a store. That looks as good as some of his keeper stuff. I was blessed to be able to buy a cheval glass that he built and decided it was too big for the room he built it for. He sold it to me for the price of the material! I don't think you could buy one that nice for eight times what I paid....

 
Groo that is a fantastic piece. My other hobby is woodcarving and I do mostly realistic animals. Your use of the differenct woods and alignment of grains is truly an art. I hope you have put your name on it somewhere as it will undoubtedly become a family heirloom. Also date it so future generations will know who did it and when. If you are like me when you finish a piece you think I could have done such and such better but in this case it appears you got it perfect.

I carve mostly in catalpa and black walnut. I have done a few pieces in red cedar but if you have ever worked with it you know it has a kind of gnarly grain but makes a beautiful piece when you finish it. congrats and I know your parents will cherish it for all time.

 
fjrboomer said:
Groo that is a fantastic piece. My other hobby is woodcarving and I do mostly realistic animals. Your use of the differenct woods and alignment of grains is truly an art. I hope you have put your name on it somewhere as it will undoubtedly become a family heirloom. Also date it so future generations will know who did it and when. If you are like me when you finish a piece you think I could have done such and such better but in this case it appears you got it perfect.
Click to expand...
All the pieces that I've ever made as gifts (like this) come with a description on the back of who they were made for, when, what the occasion was, then a list of the type of woods used for each of the pieces. It gives me a nice feeling to think that 50 years from now, someone might pull it off one of my kids walls and see that Grampaw (or Great-Grampaw) made it back in '09...

I still see stuff in this one I could have done better... but there are fewer of them than normal... ;)

Carving is something I have always appreciated, but can't do well, so I leave that to those who do.

 
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I've done some carving myself which helps me appreciate true art and craftsmanship. Nice job, very nice job. You may not have ridden much, but you sure haven't wasted your time. :clapping:

 
Gorgeous piece of work. The woodworking is FIRST class! My wife does stained glass, but I've never seen that color glass -- perfect choice... you deserve to be proud Groo, and I'm sure your parents will be.

 
Right on Groo! And congrats to your parents for 50 years of marriage. Exceptional in this day and age. PM. <>< ;)

 
I'm confused. Where did you hide the motion detector, and what songs do they sing as you walk by? :)

All kidding aside,,,,way way awesome. Nice work.

 
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful.

I hope my parents don't see it, the toaster I gave 'em hardly compares ;-)

Nice job Groo, lots of time, thought and talent went into that piece.

 
I'm gonna show that to my dad. Most of the men in his family are carpenters. My dad carved the frame his and my mom's wedding picture has been in for the last 37 years.

That looks like it took a lot of thought and patience...Its beautiful.

 
Bokerfork said:
I'm confused. Where did you hide the motion detector, and what songs do they sing as you walk by? :)
Click to expand...
"Here is a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry, Be Happy

In every life we have some trouble

When you worry you make it double

Don't worry, Be Happy......"

;)

Oddly enough, my parents had one of those singing fish hanging on their lakehouse wall a few years ago...

 

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