The carving group

We are a group of self taught wood carvers providing encouragement, advice and support to each other while creating sawdust!  Steve oversees the groups activities and provides hands on assistance and practical advice when required.

There are as many women carvers as men in the group who's collective skills & capabilities are incredibly varied and were there's a great deal of comradely so why not join us?

We'll update the 'A Recent Project' every now and then so you can see some current work and how it was created.  You can also view all the carvers work on Instagram just search for Huthwaite Hub Carvers.

Sometimes the most uninspiring piece of wood can lead to something quite remarkable; in this case a large, scruffy slice from a Yew trunk which included 2 deformed branches was transformed into a Hare apparently gazing up at the moon.

Although not instantly obvious Steve U soon saw the possibility of the branches becoming ears and slowly the sinuous shape of a stretched body began to emerge.  The finished piece is smooth and comforting to touch and the natural colours of the Yew simply enhance the overall appearance of the Hare.  Overall a quality piece of work.

Jean, together with a number of friends, joined the Hub earlier this year.  They all claimed they couldn't carve!

Accepting that this little reindeer (2.5"/70mm) isn't technically a 'carving' it is Jeans first attempt at using a scroll saw.  Her disclaimer is that she only followed the pattern, but without considerable skill of hand, attention to detail and a keen eye this creation would have ended up in the recycling bin!  This is a lovely piece and one well worth recording here.

As for carving, Jean is equally accomplished as it highly likely her 'Nordic Owl' will soon be showcased as another example of the Hub's carving credentials as a 'project of the month'.

Kev's renown for his 'wood spirits' so when he decided to scale up and carve a large Green Man's head it caused quite a stir.

The left image shows the early stage of blanking out and basic details, scroll forward by a few weeks and the Green Man is finished.  Quite a transformation and a real accomplishment for Kev who currently has a very large smile!

Mary has very limited vision so occasionally needs a little help from her Hub friends to create what's in her minds eye - the Dolphin was no exception!

The vision was for a 'leaping  dolphin' - somewhat a challenge for those with reasonable sight however the photo shows the end result.  A lime wood dolphin mounted on top of an unknown wood species of ocean wave.  The insert is of Mary sanding her latest creation to the perfect level of smoothness she insists upon.

The end result is one outstanding piece of art together with a very happy lady.

Steve is the Hub's resident 'barley twist' walking stick maker but he has others skills; this blue resin with aluminium fittings is a fine example of what can be achieved by a craftsman and a pen kit!

This didn't start out as a collaborative project but due to the nature of those that come along to the Hub it now feels like a 'joint venture'!

The original idea was for Steve U to make a different Christmas present well in advance of the big day so the 'tree climbing frog' idea was born.  As the amphibian slowly emerged from a block of spalted beech so did the creative input from fellow Hub carvers... the head looks too big/too small, are you sure about the number of toes? etc.etc.

Towards the end of the carving process people started to get a glimpse of the finished article and without asking Steve F turned a bullrush head and 'agreed' to donate a pair of of suitable eyes!  The end for the frog was in sight.

To all those that in large or small part contributed to the 'Spalted Beech, Tree Climbing Frog', my sincere thanks.   BTW - he's not being wrapped up for Christmas...

Steve U.  

As ever, it started with one then two and it hasn't stopped!

Kev just likes whittling gnomes out of lime wood.  They come in three sizes - small, medium & large and they are all unique!  Grumpy, smiling, calm, angry - you name it they are all there but his fellow carvers think the grumpy gnomes outnumber all the others!

Creating these characters is somewhat of a passion for Kev so we know his gnome family will continue to grow albeit at a slow and steady pace.

George is one of the Hub's longest serving members, he's also totally blind but that doesn't deter him from whittling his favourites - walking stick heads!  On this occasion however he needed a little assistance from fellow carvers as his mahogany whippet had suffered some damage due to a minor fall at home!

The challenge was how to get his whippet standing up again after the loss of her hind legs; a plan was hatched and summarised in the photo:

- assess the damage

- cut a base and leg structure from a similar wood

- pin and glue 'whippet' to the base

- slowly carve and merge the old with the new

- finish two coats of Osmo oil

Georges whippet now stands proudly once more.