Im currently carving a new Punch puppet. He has been sanded, primed & painted in acrylics & is now ready to be costumed as well as having carved hands & legs.

Ill post more pictures as he is made.

Cheers,
Dan

You've done a great job, Dan! Very well done.
What kind of wood are you using here?

Johian

Ooh.... awesome - I love Mr. Punch.

Great job, Dan - that's the way to do it!



Ron G.

Hey,
Thanks. Im using Limewood here, which is readily available over here in the Uk and is great for its easy carving capabilities, yet being able to stand some knocks from Mr.Punchs slapstick. An alternative wood would be jelutong, however I have known some puppets to be carved in pine.

cheers,
Dan

A word of warning to those just starting out, the "limewood" which Dan mentioned isn't the same as the citrus tree. It's similar to a wood popular among puppet makers and woodcarvers in the US, where it is known as basswood, from the Tilia species of trees. Basswood lumber is available from woodcarving suppliers and at craft and hobby shops like Michaels. I've also seen it offered on eBay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basswood

The actual citrus wood is really hard to carve when it's seasoned - and if it is green when you carve it, it can deform and crack, or "check" as it dries, (like most woods). I had a small business selling exotic hardwoods to woodcarvers in another lifetime. In fact, I sold some to a jewelry box maker who worked the same RenFest circuit as our fearless leader Shawn.

 

Ron G.

Dutch name for the tree is,  de Linde

Hello,
Sorry I haven't been able to update this, Ive been very busy lately.
Ive since carved a new Punch head as you can see in the photos. He is carved in Pine wood. You can also see the legs and the hand I'm carving. It is important in glove puppets that the hand has a carved `cup` for your fingers to fit into nicely. This means you can have full articulation of the hands. The legs also have something similar. Ill post a picture when hes fully complete.

Cheers,
Dan

Very nice. He looks great! Can't wait to see the finished version. Maybe you can get some video of him in action?

Thanks Shawn. Ive tried many times to video puppets, but I am having trouble getting them uploaded to my computer. Its taken a while to make this puppet because this is one of those rare ones which I will keep and use for myself.

Cheers,
Dan

Dan, very, very nice punch puppet indeed.  You should be very proud.

Jon