Red River Valley Woodcarvers

Hello everyone! My name is Jose Carlos Silva and I am one of the newest members of the Red River Valley Wood Carvers and the manager of this website. My wife and I joined the club this summer and were greeted with open arms.

A couple of months ago my wife and I were having dinner with some good friends Sarah and Derek. I told them that I had always wanted to try to carve or woodburn something on a guitar.  Derek being a musician said that he might have a guitar for me to experiment on.

A few weeks went by and then Derek handed me this cool black Ibanez guitar. Just his most sentimental guitar….no pressure or anything!

I wasted no time diving in, stripping it down and removing the finish.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have never done this before!!! So after 2 hours of working on the finish I was beginning to get a little worried. The wood underneath was starting to chip in certain spots and it was getting the best of me.

The next day I decided to try a rotary tool with a sanding band on it. It was a lot slower but worked a lot smoother and after another 2.5 hours I had the whole front cleaned off.

Now for the fun part! I had been thinking of a design for a while and had drawn a sketch of it. I wanted to do something that would stand the test of time…elegant and simple, but a little edge to it as well!

Like an obsessed mad man I got to work, drawing, sanding and woodburning!

Finally, after almost 20 hours of intense artistic ambition,it was done!

I call it the Fall Of The Kings Guitar.

Every minute that I put into this piece was driven by my love to create beautiful things.

It is now back in the hands of its rightful owner Derek. Who by the way, had no clue what I had imagined for his baby when he originally handed it off to me.

I am so excited about this beauty that I had to share it on here. Hope you guys enjoyed it too.

November 7, 2015                 Tuition…$40.00                      Materials fee…$15.00

Dick Skauge will teach the carving of a ½ size canvasback decoy. A butternut cutout will be carved using palm tools and/or long handled tools and a bench hook.

We will insert glass eyes. This is a stylized carving of a canvasback. It will be sanded and a clear finish will be applied, if there is time.

Bench hooks and long handled tools will be available for use during class time. A $15.00 materials fee is payable to the instructor at class time. A maximum of 12 students; skill level beginner to advanced.

* Basic tools will be available for anyone who is new at wood carving. Sign up and enjoy the wonderul art of woodcarving.

Registration Form

Nov. class 2015

Maynards October 3rd class was a lot of fun! The pic below is of the man himself, Maynard Hemmah. He is a carving machine and over the years he has inspired and instructed hundreds of wood carvers!

Students were having a great time carving Maynard’s really cool Leprechaun!

Everyone was focused and ready to carve on this beautiful Saturday morning.

This finished piece will look great in anybody’s game room, man cave or make a great gift!