Still plugging away on the Hundred Birds Project, I’m now up to 60 different kinds of wood. I need 40 more by the end of the year. It’s getting more difficult to obtain new species. If you can help out with a new kind of wood for me to carve, please contact me.
Although the birds take up the majority of my carving time, they’re not all I carve. I recently finished two non-bird pieces.
First, the whisk. Debra got an electric whisk in a drawing or as a door prize. The thing was terribly under-powered and was pretty useless. So she threw the electric part away and kept the implement. I fashioned a new handle from a scrap of mesquite.

The handle is about four inches long and approximately 3/4 inch in diameter. I drilled a hole in the center and used two-part epoxy to attach the whisk to the handle. It should work well.
I saw the pattern for this baby rattle a few years ago and thought I’d give it a try. It stands about 3.5 inches high and the outer ball is about two inches in diameter. The wood is cherry.

And, yes, I carved the inner ball in place. That is, I cut it away from the cage bars, the top, and the bottom. It’s surprising to me how many people will look at one of these and say, “How did you get the ball in there?” The ball was already in there. I just made it smaller.