Wooden Chain in the Making

[keithlong]

Here is a pic of my attempt at whittling out a wooden chain. Hope that you enjoy. This is a practice run. When I finish it I plan to whittle the chain and the ball in a cage together.

[Pablo]

I am a spoon carver, but I have tried these before. They are a lot more difficult than most folks will ever understand. I know this post is from 2008, but how did the chain and the ball and cage turn out?

[keithlong]

Well, it has been a while since i posted this. But this past winter I did find time to layout the ball and chain piece and got it whittled out for the chain links, and the space for the ball and chain, just have not had time to work on it lately. But hopefully will be able to work on it some more soon. Thanks for asking. And yes it is harder than it looks.

[Pablo]

Shoot me a photo when you get finished, would like to see. Don't give up and good luck.

[djknife13]

You can look at this one until Kieth gets his done. I did this about 30 years ago when I had more time on my hands. It took about 40 hours to complete. The slide was almost harder than the chain links, which you may have noticed I got tired of doing and started carving all sorts of other things.___Da

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[danno50]

Wow Dave, can't believe you got that done in 40 hours! Lot's of intricate whittling on there. Are those torx head screws you have your deck boards finished with? I have never seen those available for outdoor applications up here.
Dan

[wlf]

Wow Dave, can't believe you got that done in 40 hours! Lot's of intricate whittling on there. Are those torx head screws you have your deck boards finished with? I have never seen those available for outdoor applications up here.
Dan

I agree with Dan on all counts about your carving skill. That's a lovely heirloom.

[keithlong]

Nice job there, you must be part beaver to whittle that out in such a short time. Nice work.

[djknife13]

Thanks guys. Keith, I hope I didn't side-track your thread. I'd like to see your chain when you get it done. Dan, yeah we use torx all the time for decks and they do well as long as the homeowners don't mind the screws showing. They don't seem to discolor. Regarding that chain, I used a dowel to carve it out of and was regretting using that hard a wood until I was well under way with the chain. I think a softer wood wouldn't have worked well in the long term. ____Dave

[danno50]

Dan, yeah we use torx all the time for decks and they do well as long as the homeowners don't mind the screws showing. They don't seem to discolor. ____Dave

Thanks Dave, very interesting. Up here we mostly use #8 Robertson screws for decks. I don't think you guys use Robertson screws at all in the US. Torx wood screws for outdoor uses such as decks are not available up here, to my knowledge. I would be interested in trying them if I could find some.
Dan

[Pablo]

WOW! Dave, really nice chain. I have yet to make any that long or fancy with all the ball cages and twist and such... really nice. Thank you for sharing. By the way those torx deck screws are the bees-knees for all kinds of wood projects, no?