Let the fun begin! We are often asked why we don’t make our patterns using 3D printing. The answer comes from Martin's personal history.
As many of you already know, Martin Pierce began his career as a wood carver in England where he was trained to become a master wood carver who then branched out from relief carving into 3 dimensional sculpting. As a young person Martin was first competent drawing objects free hand and from different angles. Later, as an apprentice wood carver he was trained to carve quickly, decisively and accurately; skills he subsequently transferred to 3D sculpting. No doubt had 3D printing been available at the time he may have embraced it, but perhaps not fully.
A large part of creating truly custom pieces comes from making ongoing adjustments to the working drawings and later to the sculpture. Until you actually have a half sculpted torso of a waiter it is difficult to judge whether the 3D rendition of your 2D linear drawing “looks right” both as to scale and as to aesthetics.
That being said, for this project Martin began the creation of the two figures by roughing out the basic shapes on a band saw and then carving the pieces by hand with an array of carving chisels.
Once the figures were carved in wood and the basic form of the hair and clothing created, they were then spray painted with several coats of white primer. The primer acts as both a sealant that fills in the grain or pores in the surface of the wood and it also creates a fine medium on which to carve. Martin used very fine chisels and an electric dremel to carve waves into the hair of the waiters and to create stylized lettering along the arms and legs of the clothing. As an aside, for those who have never used a dremel, it is a lot like the fine drill that dentists use to inflict pain!
