WARNING! To Carvers Prone To Senior Moments

Those who have checked out this blog know that I like to carve small. That is to say, I like to carve small objects. These small objects are from 1/4 inch to maybe 1 1/2 inches in size. I also like to use my pocket knife to do these small carvings. Most of the time I carve Basswood, with an occasional piece of Cottonwood Bark thrown in. Basswood is a very light in color wood that is generally easily recognizable as Basswood. Cottonwood Bark is very soft, easy to carve, and red-brown in color.

This morning I decided to carve a small object out of Cottonwood Bark. I grabbed my pocket knife and a piece of red-brown wood that I thought was Cottonwood Bark. I started carving. On the third knife cut when shaping a small nose I snapped the knife blade tip off. This never would have happened on Cottonwood Bark. Upon closer examination and remembering that someone gave me some old Cherry pieces of wood, the whole thing began to make some sense. The old Cherry wood is very very hard and, of course, red-brown in color. One does not use a knife in the same manner when carving a very hard wood compared to a soft wood.

Old men don't cry, but damn. I came close.