Woodcarvings by W.F. (Bill) Judt

This week I continued making crosses, this time without carving, but in a different style.

The purple cross appears to be interwoven. The other cross, made with white oak, has lap joints. The two cross styles required both a regular table saw blade and a dado blade set.

The last three weeks were dedicated to building these crosses with "Jesus Saves" carved into them. These I will use as gifts as the occasions arise. Cherry, Walnut, Beech, Alder were wood used in this project.

Recently our senior pastor of over 25 years reached retirement age.

As a thank you gift he was given one on my carvings. It contains the verse from Proverbs 3:5-6 which was his most favorite verse.

On the backside is carved a short line from a poem...

Last spring another of our pastors reached retirement age, and received a carving as thanks for his many years of faithful service as music pastor.

This carving contains part of the chorus of one of his favorite worship songs.

Last spring I had the opportunity to carve a retirement gift for one of the pastors at our church.

The carving is themed on one of his favorite statements of faith "God will make a way where there seems to be no way."

I was commissioned last summer to produce a memorial carving for a family who lost their grandfather.

He was remembered as the man who took time with his grandkids to show them how to fillet fish.
In this carving, three of the grandkids look on while grandpa demonstrates fish filleting on a table next to the lake.

Recently I came across a pair of bench top slabs retailed by Lee Valley tools. They were sold because the original owner was unable to complete the workbench project.

So, with the hardware kit that came with the slabs, I proceeded to complete the workbench on my ow.

The base is poplar hardwood, joined with Lee Valley hardware kit. This is a VERY sturdy and heavy bench worthy of the "professional" standard. All it needs is a bench vise.

Recently I was tasked with a project to build a book case for both my grandchildren. My wife and I 'home school' them, and the bookshelf is meant to compliment their desks in the classroom.

Made from red oak and bitch plywood, stained to the colors of their desks. A small book case is included on the top surface of the bookcase.

The shelves are adjustable, and custom hand grip are attached to the sides.

Recently one of our special puppies died. This is the urn made to hold her ashes, special toys and leash.
Made from Black Walnut, with painted lettering and frame for a photo of the puppy.

I just finished another commission for SLMA (Southeaster Lumber Manufacturers) in GA, USA.

This carving, for 2022-2023, represents the 26th consecutive year that SLMA has commissioned at least one award carving for their organization.

By far and away my very best customer

Here are the final photos for this carving project...

Hi:

Last week I started a new relief carving project based on the passage from Proverbs 3:5-6.

This carving will be a gift to a faithful local pastor who has serve his congregation for the last 30 years.

I chose European Steamed Beech for this project because of its consistent color, stability and ability to hold detail.

The entire carving is composed of text, arranging the text so that it is attractive to the eye and emphasizes the message.

This project started with a full-sized pattern which was later transferred to a prepared wooden panel employing carbon paper as the transfer agent.

The next step utilized a router to set layer depth. From then on only hand tools were used.

The panel is 14” wide, 21” tall and 1-1/2” thick.

I will post more images of this project as it progresses.

Thanks for your interest.

Bill