Froggie Gets Creative

[E-lad]

Last week I was catching some snakes down by the river and when I got home I decided to carve a grip on my snake hook.
I've done some woodcarving as a hobby before and always find it a pleasant way to spend time. Anyway, once I got to carving away I couldn't quit and ended up with what you see in the pics below. Originally I made this hook out of a piece of Beech which is very tight grained and it was very nice to carve on.

Here's what I ended up with:



Hre's a detail of the grip and the snake I carved into it, before it was finished:



Lower end of hook with spiral carving, copper winding to prevent splitting- after finishing:



Detail of grip and snake I also carved two leaf clusters half way down and a flat to put initials, etc.:



Finished product:



I was looking at pics of carvings done by ancient egyptians and their abilities are absolutely breathtaking. My effort looks paleolithic by comparison......

[Weemaryanne]

It looks rather handsome to me, Dale. But I gotta ask: Once you've caught the snakes, what do you do with 'em?

[E-lad]

It looks rather handsome to me, Dale. But I gotta ask: Once you've caught the snakes, what do you do with 'em?

I handle them for a few minutes until they relax then let the kids hold them and admire them (not the poisonous varieties though!.) I haven't killed a snake since I was a kid, and then only a couple small garter snakes.

The color pattern of snakes is far more beautiful and vastly more varied and colorful than mammals. It's just a hobby to educate the kids on the value and beauty of them so they don't automatically kill them like some people are wont to do. Also, when I'm hiking it gives me something to look for.

We have a snake indigenous to this area that is pure black with a hot pink ring around it's neck that is rather mesmorizing to observe.

PS Of course after we look at them I release them where I caught 'em.

[zilch]

Cool. Nice work, Froggie.

[rufustfirefly]

Those are some amazing blocks of wood. I haven't seen anything like that since ninth grade shop class. Good job.

[craig]

I'm impressed. That's mighty fine wittlin'. So, that's what you were doing instead of the dishes.

[rufustfirefly]

Nah, that's pretty cool Dale, but, you don't secretly belong to some snake handling sect, do you?

[Benjamin Franklin]

I, too, am impressed, Dale. Nice work!

and a great way to be the hit at parties without claiming agnosticism.

[IntellectualNinja]

Great work, frog-man. I totally agree with you about snakes being beautiful. I nearly had a heart attack when I almost accidentally stepped on a small snake I mistook for a twig (bad eyesight). I also think it's great that you're always careful around snakes. Even though most snakes aren't venomous (snakes aren't poisonous, there's a difference), they can still get scared easily.

Keep up the good work!

[E-lad]

Thanks for the compliments....

Note that it would be pretty hard to do this with a regular pocket knife.
Here is the chip carving knife I used to carve 99% of the whole thing. The block is a leather strop with diamond compound to keep the knife sharp as a scalpel.