I started this fish carving when I was 14, so some 31 years ago now. At the time, I lacked proper carving tools, so I wasn’t able to get too much dimension out of it… I should have taken a photo of it before I started the recent updates, but I didn’t. Here’s an in-progress shot of it today after going in with a Kutzall flame burr on my new Dremel tool, followed by a sanding barrel and carving knife. I have some other bits I will try out for more definition on it tomorrow, and then will probably just finish with some linseed oil as a sealer.

I also built a simple downdraft table for sanding, etc. which my shop vac plugs into to keep things clean(ish) during this process.

I’m excited to be able to get this level of detail, and imagine over time my technique will get a lot better. It will also be awesome to be able to combine more artistic carving with my wood robot & automata mechanisms. Stay tuned…

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