my first try carving fish
 

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So my girl friends dad is a very well known duck carver on Chincoteague Island on the eastern shore of Virginia. I was stumped as to what get her dad and brother for Christmas. So I decided to carve them some fish out of some juniper I had laying around. The mako shark is for her dad and the sailfish is for her brother. I might even start carving these pieces to sell. They are not done yet,I need to add some more detail to them. What do you guys think I should use to finish them? Stain? Clear? I want some opinions.

That is cool, very nice.

those look great!! Wish I had skill like that.

That is way cool!! You have a gift my friend.. :)

The Mako shark has kinda taken the form of a great white!!! lol!!! I need to point that snout up a little. Im gonna be doing 2 bluemarlins today one for my dad and brother. I will take pics of the process.

as a diver, i can say that is the body language on a shark you want to avoid. fins down & arched back

looks great

Nice job!

As for the finish, I suggest light stain, no clear coat...but I like to feel wood.:laugh:

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Here the blue marlin I did today. I showed a picture of the marlins to my girlfriends dad and he about $hit his pants!!! He wants me to do like 5 pieces so he can put them in his decoy store. I'm gonna do a mahi and a striper tomorrow.

Nice work. I think a clear polyurethane finish would look great on that wood.

well of course they should be done with fish oil.... har har har


in all seriousness.... teak oil

I agree, teak would be cool......

Very nice work!!!

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Here's 2 I did this morning. Notice how I ran the grain of the wood on the striped bass.

Hey man, those look awesome! The grain on the striper = pure genious! NICE! :clap:

It's amazing fast this carving thing has started up. I have a local restraint owner that wants 8 pieces for his restraunt! I also have a local seafood market thats gonna let put some displays up forsale. Kinda exciting!!

Great job! Could turn in to a good money maker.

Good deal! They look great!

Id be interested in a couple for my man room. What do you think you might charge?

Stink I haven't even thought about pricing my carvings yet. At this point I'm just trying to get out there and seen. Pm me and make me an offer. All fish are 12 inches average. The shark is 14 inches. I will post a pic later as to how I'm gonna display them on there bases. Seriously let me know what ya think we can work something out.

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I roughed this spadefish in tonight. The striper and this spade I think are gonna be my favorite.

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Here's how there displayed and with be held on base with heavy gauge single wire. These fish are carved on both sides giving them a 3-D effect and allowing you to display them either way.

Here's to God status for you Kracker and your fish are awesome! :beer: ..

GOD status!!!!!!!!! Woo hoooo!!!! Finally. Lol!!!

Welcome to Mount Olympus Kracker!!!!!!!!!!!! :happy:

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The teak oil finish is beautiful. Thanks for the advice. Here's the finished product.

Wow that is so cool .... If you want to make them to sell I'll buy on for my office :pic::pic::money::happy:

Hey lumber thankyou for the compliment. If you are intrested in purchasing a fish just send me a pm with which species you want and name your price.

They are definitely worth buying but I think EACH of your friends here at w-v20.com should get one as a Christmas present..... plus shipping of course .... LOL

Looking great man.. I am insanely jealous... I only wish I could do that and you make it sound like child's play... very impressive.

Smoke I have local duck carvers here locally going WTF!!!!! And saying where did this kid come from!! Lol!! I'm so novice at this I don't even know what there worth? Any ideas on what's a good price for this kind of work?

well you are competing with the $2.00 from china market AND the "as much as you want to charge a rich person" markets at the same time.... They are simply chunks of wood so they have no real value AND at the same time they are artwork and are worth as much as someone would pay....... anywhere from $15 up to hundreds if you want to go insane with detail of texture on each scale and for the right fish and the right person maybe many thousands.... likely would need to be something like a 7''+ marlin or the like.

I would like a Mako!! Great work Kracker!! :drool::clap:

I'd like to see a flounder and maybe a channel cat

MJ pm me your address. I would be honored to make a shark for you. You take your personal time to host an awesome website so I will take my personal time to make you fish. Just send me your address and I can have it to you in about 2 to 3 weeks this fish is on the house.

Flounders next bud! I just put an advertisement on the hull truth and them guys are going ape**** over there. I've already gotten 4 emails with guys wanting fish. The striper seems to be a hot item.

Awesome!

Hey, something just occurred to me..... Do you think you could carve a v-20 cc with a merc tower o power on it?:party: :drool:

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Cut the pattern tonight just for you smoke. Smoke if i told you I made a wood model of my dads v20 when I was 12 you would call me a liar!!! Lol!! But i did true story. I'm gonna call dad and see if he has that boat laying around

That's F'n awesome.... Can't wait to see it done.

Well that explains it a little... Soooo you didn't just pick up a knife a couple weeks ago and become an instant master..... You have had at least a wee bit of practice over the years aye?

lol!!!!

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Here some patterns I made lastnight. To include bluefin tuna and cod,snook,bull mahi,and sword fish

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Here's the flounder roughed in Smoke.

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Here's some fished I roughed in today. To include bluefinn tuna,cod,flounder,swordfish and bull mahi.