Carving a 3.5 metre high cedar totem pole on ... - Family Woodworking

Early in September, my brother John and our friend Chris, and I spent 8 days at the island and we moved the log up to the shed where I will carve it next year. The two of them helped me move the very heavy log up to a site just outside The Shed. I would guess that the log weighs about 100 kilos (220 pounds):

With the ropes, one guy on the smaller end and two on the large end, the log proved quite easy to move.

I made two of these supports, intended to be inserted onto a Workmate, that will hold the log ion place for carving:

I thought that I had two old Workmates at camp, but I only found one, so temporarily, we placed the supports on one Workmate and one Walko:

With this arrangement, the log is too high. I need to collapse one set of legs on the Workmate and get something else to replace the Walko. I purchased a cheap ($29) Workmate rip-off in Hearst that will do the job. It doesn?t hacve a two tier leg arrangement, so I needed to cut off the legs (using a special carbide blade on my reciprocating saw):

Now the log is ready to carve:

I do need to decide what to carve into the pole. My instructor told me that the Haida people claim that Mother Nature as well as the log itself will make it clear what one should carve and that he had found this to be true. I had evidence that this is true upon my first arrival at Pellow?s Island this summer. As we approached the island, we noticed an eagle sitting on a rock along the shore to the east of the cabin. He remained in position for a long time and we got to within about 10 metres of his position. Unfortunately, my camera was not readily available. I take this as a sign that an eagle should be at the top of the new pole. Of course, all the animals on the pole will be native to the region. Right now, I am thinking that I will carve another beaver, another loon, a bear holding a fish, and a wolf. We will see if this is what actually happens once I start to carve.

Source: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25147

kristin chenoweth fashion night out real steel real steel outlook college board honey badger