Vineland Vagrant is a cousin of Hillsboro Hobo and Ft. Worth Hobo (earlier hobo carvings) being the third version of hobos with almost identical features and design.  These hobos begin as a two inch square by six inch tall block of basswood. Bud Murray Knives were used exclusively to carve each hobo.  To find out more about these knives visit the Cool Links listing and click on “Bud Murray Knives.”

Vineland Vagrant sports the tale tell signs of hard times on the road with his toes coming out the front of his shoes, holes and patches on his clothing and the ever present bindle bag of all his earthly possessions tied around his walking stick.  Note also as part of his relaxed pose and the drapery of his clothing the elongated flowing “S” shaped lines that add artistic movement to his stance. (click on photo to enlarge.)

The diamond shaped checkered design of the jacket was wood burned.  Artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil was applied to add color to the hobo and finished with a protective application of Deft, a brushing lacquer.

The photographic journey presents several views of the finished carving as well as progressive stages in the carving process. As a Whittle-Carved project the “slice and roll” cut was used extensively along with notch cuts and three cut triangular chip cuts. Some of the photographs will show the cutting position of the knife blade which is designed with a scimitar blade shape with an extended tang. The curved cutting edge lends itself to making slicing cuts in both the push and pull strokes.  The extended tang function allows for a longer reach without the handle getting in the way of making a slicing cut.

Following the shaping of the top of the square block into a dowel, the top of the hat was carved using “slice and roll” cuts to create a sculpted shape of a hat.  Once the basic form of the top of the hat was established the next step was to carve the head going up into the hat for a good fit.  Note the photograph where the knife is held in a vertical position to line up the crown of the hat with the side of the head underneath the hat brim to illustrate that the head is fitting into the hat. .  Once the hat and head were carved to basic form then the rest of the body was laid out with guideline drawings and carved to basic form.

Study the photographs that contain a knife blade positioned in such a way to demonstrate the slicing characteristic of the curved cutting edge of a scimitar blade shape as well as how such a blade shape can be maneuvered into tight and awkward places.  Also note how the extended tang allows the cutting edge to reach areas allowing the entire cutting edge to be used.  Some of the knife cuts illustrate the slicing notch cuts producing a ditch or trough to provide for further knife shaping of wood in a stair step effect. One cut is not a cut to end all cuts but is the beginning for follow up cuts to continue the carving process.

The Whittle-Carving process relies exclusively upon making slicing cuts most of the time for cleaner cuts and sculpted surfaces.  The curved cutting edge of the blade design lends itself to making such cuts in any direction the knife is used.  All of the photographs with a green background are showing the hobo being carved to the basic form of a hobo.Ninety five percent of any carving is carving it to basic form.  The remaining five percent is the carving in of the details.  Often while carving the basic form a design change will occur in the way the slicing cutting edge shapes the wood.  So even though the carver has a basic design idea in mind, yet during the carving process the design will emerge on its own.  That is the fun of carving from a square block of wood by allowing creativity to take over to bring a carving to life during the carving process.  Woodcarving is like a hobo’s travels of never knowing where the path will lead but enjoying the journey.  Once a carving project is completed the carver is anxious to get going again on another wood carving journey to where ever the path leads.  Enjoy the journey.