Yes the mini tools worked perfectly for this although not overly comfortable gripping them for a long time. They are tricky to use on the lathe, they need a firm grip and light cuts, the very short handles do not offer much leverage so the tool can grab sometimes. Many thanks for watching Greg. Cheers Jim
I cannot say I love it. What I will say is the workmanship is brilliant. The wood is lovely in fact you have made a beautiful thing with the wood. It is just the subject matter I don't like I don't see why people want skulls around the house.
Thank you very much, I understand. There is just something structurally fascinating about them, making them great to carve. I think some cultures view them very differently and they take on a different more positive symbolism. Cheers Jim
What a great idea and video. I've got a few bowls and have watched quite a few videos on what to make out of them and that's about the best use of a bowling ball that I've seen. Thanks for the tip about using the carbides as scrapers, very useful. It would be interesting to see a forensic anthropologist reconstruct the face of the skull.
Thank you very much, delighted you like the idea. Yes the scrapers saved a lot of sanding and were more accurate too, not the best shape for holding for periods. I reckon it would a very strange reconstruction. Cheers Jim
Appears to be directly from the Cave of Doom originally carved by the Old Ones over 20 thousand years ago and kept polished by countless number of hands holding and touching it for aeons. Love it Jim, just beautiful in every respect🏆 Love the wood for sure. I'd be happy to have a 1 inch cube of it just to admire. Stay safe. -Mike
Great Idea and Skill It would look fantastic as a gear knob for a Truck or Similiar Bet your Workshop Smells fantastic ,all the Diff Woods and Materials..Great Job
Wonderful project Jim and what a coincidence as I too have been buying lignum vitae bowls on ebay simply for the beautiful wood. In one job lot there was a bowl made from a modern day material but I may still be able to make something from it. I haven't turned one yet but I have a friend who is a keen bowler so I'll try to make him a lidded box with a finial.
Thank you very much Alan. I would imagine it is quite good to turn , some of them have some horrible cracks and I know it can be awkward to glue due to the oils in the wood. Cheers Jim
we can appreciate the hard work it was to use lignum vitae .shipwrights have been using for block and tackle on the enormous j class amerca's cup boats because of its strength ; how did you manage a haircut with the lock down.
Thank you very much. Yes not the easiest wood to work with but gives a lovely result. I do my own hair cutting, I bought decent electric clippers a few years back and shave my head with them once a week ( when I am at work ). I usually get my wife to check that I haven’t missed any bits😂 Cheers Jim
Thank you very much Keith. I got the ones off eBay by making a cheeky offer that was surprisingly accepted ! Keep checking eBay because the prices vary greatly. The ones from the car boot sale were an absolute bargain, I thought the seller meant £10 each but it was £10 for the lot👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Cheers Jim
That's really great, Jim. It looks like it's staring back at us. It's my understanding that lignum vitae is no longer imported into the US so it will be that much more expensive. Those old bowling balls are that much more valuable, too. You and the family stay safe and well. Bill
Thank you very much Bill. I think genuine Lignum vitae now comes under CITES regulations so is only available if very old stock. The price of these old bowling balls is quite variable here in the UK. Some still demand a very high price and some are very cheap, generally they go for £15-£20 pounds each unless special in some way. Stay safe Cheers Jim
OH MAN, for that to have been a MASSIVE BOWLING BALL at the start and turning into that tiny, tiny tiny SKULL amazes me on an intense level!!! OH MY!!! ROFLMAO
Thank you very much. I must admit was expecting to get a bigger skull out of it but by the time I had removed the metal bits and got it int proportion, that was all I was left with. Cheers Jim
i have no idea how you did....i mean yes cause i just saw it but,yeah, seeing seems easy then doing is totally different....i tried sooo many times even make simple owls or spirit wood and the result was like a drunken monkey trying to do a picasso, ended all in the firepit cause frustration. you did great job with this skull, im amazed! compliments!
I would make the skull as a center and turn it into a bowling ball again. Using clear epoxy. Just to say I have a bowling ball inside a bowling ball 😂🤣😅 and unique. Awesome work.
Thank you very much. In an earlier video I embedded a skull in a resin sphere but there is a lot of distortion so it doesn’t look as cool as it should. Cheers Jim
Jim Overton - Jimson's Stuff ah must of missed that one. Will take a look thank you. Yeah too bad it gets distorted unfortunately. Something like the old movie Krull.
That wood sounds like black walnut. I carve spoons and did my fist black walnut spoon a little while ago. The wood dust was sticky and constantly clogged the sandpaper and some finer cutting burrs. The final result was beautiful but I feel your pain with yours.
Many thanks for watching, yes some woods are very difficult to work with. I have carved a couple of rifle stocks out of black walnut, beautiful wood. I have now switched to mesh style abrasives ( Mirka or Abranet) for woods or finishes that tend to clog.
This is awesome Jim! This would make a great hotrod gearshift knob lol its just amazing what some people can do with a bit of time and alot of effort, great job as always and an amazing video I really enjoyed it 👍👍👍
Oh man... I love watching you carve. What an amazing talented craftsman you are, Jim... A real master! Thanks so much for the detailed blow-by-blow descriptions. Fantastic! Curious about those cracks... Possible to use cyanoacrylate glue on oily lignum V around that mandible? Would this bugger it up? Love that you use correct skeletal terminology. I studied anthropology many years ago and your terminology shows an acute interest and detail to your art. Flipping excellent video!
Thank you very much Sludgepump. Lignum vitae is notoriously difficult to glue but cyanoacrylate would have helped stabilise the cracks, I was worried that the glue might stain the wood. I don’t mind the appearance of the cracks, they add a bit of character. I studied head and neck anatomy many years ago. Cheers Jim
Hi Jim, lovely work for such a macabre subject. For the detailed sanding have you tried modifying an electric toothbrush ? It’s oscillating head (with some sandpaper attached) could get into those places that other methods cannot reach. Love your videos.
Thank you very much Mike, yes a bit ghoulish. I have used electric toothbrushes for polishing but the head is still a bit large and they don’t like having pressure applied. Cheers Jim
Whoever gave this a thumbs down are just assholes! The amount of time/effort put into this is amazing, let alone the finished product! You sir are very gifted at what you do! It’s too bad you don’t have a silicone mold of this! I’d buy one in a heartbeat to use with my art work. Cheers! Jason @BallisticImpressions
Thank you very much Jason. I am planning to make a silicone mould at some point but I would need to block out some of the detail with wax first. I think I would make an alginate mould first to cast a new master, less chance of breaking the original. Cheers Jim
Stunning work Jim, well done! I must say, I have suspicions that you might have a bit more knowledge than the average person when it comes to knowing the names of the parts of the skull! :D Do you work in this sort of area? (as in doctor or biologist or something? Forgive my curiosity, no worries if you'd rather not say. :)
Could I pay you to make a pair of pistol grips and a shift know for my mercedes. I could send you the grips and shifter to use for A pattern That wood is beautiful and would look great 👍
Many thanks for watching. The foot pedal I used is an old made in England model that I don’t think is available anymore. It is just a simple on off and I adjust the speed from the Dremel. I have simply made an extension lead with the pedal in the middle. There are a lot of these foot switches available, make sure they are heavy duty and that they can be wired so that on is when depressed and off when released. Most of them can be wired either way. Some have a guard over the pedal to stop you accidentally standing on it. Hope this helps. Cheers Jim
Sorry Jim, but I am sad to see a perfect sphere of hardwood wasted away down to a small art object one third the size. You and others are turning/creating wooden spheres to be art objects, yet you destroyed one that was already made. It is unfortunate that you didn't appreciate the beauty and monetary value of it. It is like you whittled down an antique piece of furniture down to a nik-nak. Maybe that is a bad comparison, because maybe there are people who do such a thing.
Sorry Bruce but this was hardly a thing of beauty in the first place, it was an old dented and cracked factory made bowling ball that was never going to be used again and would not have made a good display piece. It would have been impossible to have refinished it as a bowling ball without ruining its original dynamics. It cost approximately £5 and was not a collectible or valuable piece. Had it been a beautiful perfect bowls ball I would have left it well alone and it would have been far too expensive to have used anyway. The bowls I have collected cost between £2.50 and £5 and are not anything special, decent collectible bowls can cost hundreds of pounds. Sorry this video has upset you. Many thanks for watching. Cheers Jim
@@JimsonMakes I am still saddened that such a historical artifact is so devalued by everyone that it is regarded as mere material to be reduced down to 2/3 wood shavings and 1/3 hopeful art object. Perhaps this is due to the different point of view between a Brit who is used to many old things around everywhere, and a Canadian who rarely sees old objects that are well preserved.
Couldn't have found a better channel on father's day. Masculinity at it's finest 🙏
Thank you very much, glad you like it.
Cheers
Jim
Thumbs up for sure. Not only do I love skulls but I love how that wood reminds me of Tigers Eye. ;) Good work and thanks for sharing. - Heidi
Many thanks Heidi, yes it reminded me of tigers eye too. Stay safe
Cheers
Jim
Great use of the easywood mini tools. I'll have to dust mine off as I couldn't get on with them on the lathe
Yes the mini tools worked perfectly for this although not overly comfortable gripping them for a long time. They are tricky to use on the lathe, they need a firm grip and light cuts, the very short handles do not offer much leverage so the tool can grab sometimes. Many thanks for watching Greg.
Cheers
Jim
Very nice work on the skull. Beautiful finish.
Thank you very much!
That turned out great and I love the bowling ball it was made classic turn into a work of art
Thank you very much 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cheers
Jim
It really is a lovely piece now. That wood is gorgeous. Well done Jim. Thanks, Liz
Thank you very much Liz
Cheers
Jim
He is amazing!! Handsome fella!! Great job. I love your skull videos!
Glad you like them! Thanks
serious skills Jim the detail and finish is superb, cheers Ross
Thank you very much Ross, glad you like it
Cheers
Jim
Awesome, Jim! It looks great!
Billy
Thank you very much Billy
Cheers
Jim
Carving like this requires real talent, over an above technique, I am always in awe at your carving work, and this came out a treat!
Thanks Doug, glad you like it, I was delighted with the end result.
Cheers
Jim
@@JimsonMakes 9៩99៩99ោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោោ
You are a true artist that is amazing Jim
Thank you very much for your very kind words
Cheers
Jim
I cannot say I love it. What I will say is the workmanship is brilliant. The wood is lovely in fact you have made a beautiful thing with the wood. It is just the subject matter I don't like I don't see why people want skulls around the house.
Thank you very much, I understand. There is just something structurally fascinating about them, making them great to carve. I think some cultures view them very differently and they take on a different more positive symbolism.
Cheers
Jim
What fantastic use of a bowling ball. Great project and amazing craftsmanship, I really enjoyed your video and love the skull. Thank you for sharing
Thank you very much for your very kind words
Cheers
Jim
That’s a hell of a talent you have there bud, nice work
Thank you very much Chey, much appreciated .
Very very nice!!! You are a talented guy Jim!!!
Thank you very much for your very kind words
Cheers
Jim
Stunning work Jim! 👍👍
Thank you very much 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cheers
Jim
Excellent work👍👍👍. Thanks for sharing
Thank you very much 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cheers
Jim
What a great idea and video. I've got a few bowls and have watched quite a few videos on what to make out of them and that's about the best use of a bowling ball that I've seen.
Thanks for the tip about using the carbides as scrapers, very useful.
It would be interesting to see a forensic anthropologist reconstruct the face of the skull.
Thank you very much, delighted you like the idea. Yes the scrapers saved a lot of sanding and were more accurate too, not the best shape for holding for periods. I reckon it would a very strange reconstruction.
Cheers
Jim
@@JimsonMakes Yeah, I was thinking of just getting some carbide tips and making some scrapers the size of my carving chisels.
Looks great, well done
Thank you very much!
Another creative project. You should definitely be on television Jim Your calm and easy-going delivery is very relaxing. Thanks for the upload
Thank you very much Paul. The problem is I have an appearance more suited to radio.
Cheers
Jim
Absolutely gorgeous, I love the wood grain on this.
Thank you very much
Cheers
Jim
Alas, poor Yorick! Nice work.
Thank you very much Greg, yep Yorick is done for.
Cheers
Jim
Absolutely amazing well done
Thank you so much 😀
Great craftsmanship love it great job
Thank you very much Mike
Cheers
Jim
That's Awesome Jim👍
Thank you very much Steve
Cheers
Jim
Stunning Jim,you have way more patience than me!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😎😎
Thank you very much Alan, yes I have a lot of patience and also a fair bit of time at the moment due to lockdown.
Cheers
Jim
This is incredible!
Thank you very much Greg
Cheers
Jim
Very nice work Jim I must keep an eye out for some them bowling balls 😉👍👍
Thank you very much Barry. Yes the bowls balls are a great source of this fine wood.
Cheers
Jim
Great work mate!!!
Thank you very much
Looks awesome!
Thank you very much
Cheers
Jim
Yet more skullduggery from yer self jim, 👍👍👍
Sure is Martin, many thanks for watching.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cheers
Jim
Jim i am always watching your great work.
You are a very impressive artist
Thank you very much
Cheers
Jim
Great Job interesting project that is for sure
Thank you very much, skulls are fascinating structures
Cheers
Jim
Appears to be directly from the Cave of Doom originally carved by the Old Ones over 20 thousand years ago and kept polished by countless number of hands holding and touching it for aeons. Love it Jim, just beautiful in every respect🏆 Love the wood for sure. I'd be happy to have a 1 inch cube of it just to admire. Stay safe. -Mike
Thank you very much Mike, love your description 👍🏼. Stay safe
Cheers
Jim
Absolutely lovely , another great carving. Could you please do a video on your tools please .
Thank you very much Grant. Perhaps next time I do a carving I will show the tools in more detail.
Cheers
Jim
Great Idea and Skill
It would look fantastic as a gear knob for a Truck or Similiar
Bet your Workshop Smells fantastic ,all the Diff Woods and Materials..Great Job
Thank you very much. The smell depends on what would I am using, this Lignum Vitae didn’t have a particularly nice smell.
Cheers
Jim
Wonderful project Jim and what a coincidence as I too have been buying lignum vitae bowls on ebay simply for the beautiful wood. In one job lot there was a bowl made from a modern day material but I may still be able to make something from it. I haven't turned one yet but I have a friend who is a keen bowler so I'll try to make him a lidded box with a finial.
Thank you very much Alan. I would imagine it is quite good to turn , some of them have some horrible cracks and I know it can be awkward to glue due to the oils in the wood.
Cheers
Jim
Jim it is beautiful, I did not know that those balls are made of wood I always thought it was made of plastic.
Thank you very much Kobie, the modern ones are plastic.
Cheers
Jim
Nice job!
Thank you very much
Cheers
Jim
Fantastic Jim. I have always enjoyed seeing creators carvings. I don't have the patience for doing it myself though.
David
Thank you very much, yes these carvings do take many hours to do but give a lot of satisfaction when finished.
Cheers
Jim
we can appreciate the hard work it was to use lignum vitae .shipwrights have been using for block and tackle on the enormous j class amerca's cup boats because of its strength ; how did you manage a haircut with the lock down.
Thank you very much. Yes not the easiest wood to work with but gives a lovely result. I do my own hair cutting, I bought decent electric clippers a few years back and shave my head with them once a week ( when I am at work ). I usually get my wife to check that I haven’t missed any bits😂
Cheers
Jim
Looks great, did well getting lv bowls balls for that price. Cheapest on eBay now is £15 each.
Thank you very much Keith. I got the ones off eBay by making a cheeky offer that was surprisingly accepted ! Keep checking eBay because the prices vary greatly. The ones from the car boot sale were an absolute bargain, I thought the seller meant £10 each but it was £10 for the lot👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Cheers
Jim
Wow. Absolutely beautiful if a trifle macabre. I'm in awe of your skills Jim. 💀
Thank you very much, yes a bit macabre but I love skulls.
Cheers
Jim
A brilliant project Jim, the end result is amazing. xx
Thank you very much Elaine
Cheers
Jim
i know I'm kind of off topic but do anyone know of a good site to stream newly released movies online ?
@Orion Odin Flixportal :D
@David Brody thank you, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there =) Appreciate it!!
@Orion Odin glad I could help xD
That's really great, Jim. It looks like it's staring back at us. It's my understanding that lignum vitae is no longer imported into the US so it will be that much more expensive. Those old bowling balls are that much more valuable, too. You and the family stay safe and well. Bill
Thank you very much Bill. I think genuine Lignum vitae now comes under CITES regulations so is only available if very old stock. The price of these old bowling balls is quite variable here in the UK. Some still demand a very high price and some are very cheap, generally they go for £15-£20 pounds each unless special in some way. Stay safe
Cheers
Jim
Nice job Jim 👍
Thank you very much
looks great jim especially with such a hard wood.
Thank you very much John, yes very hard but gives a lovely finish.
Cheers
Jim
So beautiful!❤
Thank you very much
OH MAN, for that to have been a MASSIVE BOWLING BALL at the start and turning into that tiny, tiny tiny SKULL amazes me on an intense level!!! OH MY!!! ROFLMAO
Thank you very much. I must admit was expecting to get a bigger skull out of it but by the time I had removed the metal bits and got it int proportion, that was all I was left with.
Cheers
Jim
i have no idea how you did....i mean yes cause i just saw it but,yeah, seeing seems easy then doing is totally different....i tried sooo many times even make simple owls or spirit wood and the result was like a drunken monkey trying to do a picasso, ended all in the firepit cause frustration. you did great job with this skull, im amazed! compliments!
Thank you very much, this skull looked like a monkey too at one stage😂
Good job
Thank you very much
Cheers
Jim
I would make the skull as a center and turn it into a bowling ball again. Using clear epoxy. Just to say I have a bowling ball inside a bowling ball 😂🤣😅 and unique. Awesome work.
Thank you very much. In an earlier video I embedded a skull in a resin sphere but there is a lot of distortion so it doesn’t look as cool as it should.
Cheers
Jim
Jim Overton - Jimson's Stuff ah must of missed that one. Will take a look thank you. Yeah too bad it gets distorted unfortunately. Something like the old movie Krull.
That wood sounds like black walnut. I carve spoons and did my fist black walnut spoon a little while ago. The wood dust was sticky and constantly clogged the sandpaper and some finer cutting burrs. The final result was beautiful but I feel your pain with yours.
Many thanks for watching, yes some woods are very difficult to work with. I have carved a couple of rifle stocks out of black walnut, beautiful wood. I have now switched to mesh style abrasives ( Mirka or Abranet) for woods or finishes that tend to clog.
Genius
Thank you very much
This is awesome Jim! This would make a great hotrod gearshift knob lol its just amazing what some people can do with a bit of time and alot of effort, great job as always and an amazing video I really enjoyed it 👍👍👍
Thank you very much Gavin, really glad you like it. Took a long time but very satisfying.
Cheers
Jim
Very nice work 🔥🔥🔥👍👍❤❤😃
Thank you👍🏼👍🏼
Oh man... I love watching you carve. What an amazing talented craftsman you are, Jim... A real master! Thanks so much for the detailed blow-by-blow descriptions. Fantastic! Curious about those cracks... Possible to use cyanoacrylate glue on oily lignum V around that mandible? Would this bugger it up? Love that you use correct skeletal terminology. I studied anthropology many years ago and your terminology shows an acute interest and detail to your art. Flipping excellent video!
Thank you very much Sludgepump. Lignum vitae is notoriously difficult to glue but cyanoacrylate would have helped stabilise the cracks, I was worried that the glue might stain the wood. I don’t mind the appearance of the cracks, they add a bit of character. I studied head and neck anatomy many years ago.
Cheers
Jim
Hi Jim, lovely work for such a macabre subject. For the detailed sanding have you tried modifying an electric toothbrush ? It’s oscillating head (with some sandpaper attached) could get into those places that other methods cannot reach.
Love your videos.
Thank you very much Mike, yes a bit ghoulish. I have used electric toothbrushes for polishing but the head is still a bit large and they don’t like having pressure applied.
Cheers
Jim
Would love to see the jaw separate & positional. Gorgeous Yorick.! When will we see Nev Jr?
If there weren’t the cracks in the mandible I would have separated the jaws. No Nev Jnr yet. Many thanks for watching Dawn.
Cheers
Jim
Whoever gave this a thumbs down are just assholes! The amount of time/effort put into this is amazing, let alone the finished product! You sir are very gifted at what you do! It’s too bad you don’t have a silicone mold of this! I’d buy one in a heartbeat to use with my art work. Cheers! Jason @BallisticImpressions
Thank you very much Jason. I am planning to make a silicone mould at some point but I would need to block out some of the detail with wax first. I think I would make an alginate mould first to cast a new master, less chance of breaking the original.
Cheers
Jim
Well impressed! Does your muse have a name?
Thank you very much. My muse is called Dana as in Dana Scully from the X-Files.
Cheers
Jim
😂
Great stuff! A lot of hard work in that.
What's his name? Ol' Boney? 😋
Thank you very much Chris. Not named yet😂
Cheers
Jim
What model of Dremmel do you use ?
Sorry for the late reply, I think the one I use mostly is the Dremel 4000
Now do a stormtrooper or Darth Vader with the other one 😉
Thank you very much, yes they would make good carving subjects but I tend to prefer more organic subjects.
Cheers
Jim
Stunning work Jim, well done! I must say, I have suspicions that you might have a bit more knowledge than the average person when it comes to knowing the names of the parts of the skull! :D Do you work in this sort of area? (as in doctor or biologist or something? Forgive my curiosity, no worries if you'd rather not say. :)
Thank you very much Matt. I did study head and neck anatomy at university many years ago.
Cheers
Jim
Could I pay you to make a pair of pistol grips and a shift know for my mercedes. I could send you the grips and shifter to use for
A pattern
That wood is beautiful and would look great 👍
Glad you like it, unfortunately I do not have enough time to take on any commissions
Your foot pedal, would you reccomend a brand? Ive seen many online but most are just on/off and no speed control. Cheers jim 👍
Many thanks for watching. The foot pedal I used is an old made in England model that I don’t think is available anymore. It is just a simple on off and I adjust the speed from the Dremel. I have simply made an extension lead with the pedal in the middle. There are a lot of these foot switches available, make sure they are heavy duty and that they can be wired so that on is when depressed and off when released. Most of them can be wired either way. Some have a guard over the pedal to stop you accidentally standing on it. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Jim
@@JimsonMakes that does help jim. That's pretty much the route i was thinking of heading down. Thank you for your reply 👍
100% beer tap
Many thanks for watching
Your skill is to speak .... not to carve wood.......
Many thanks for watching
Sorry Jim, but I am sad to see a perfect sphere of hardwood wasted away down to a small art object one third the size. You and others are turning/creating wooden spheres to be art objects, yet you destroyed one that was already made. It is unfortunate that you didn't appreciate the beauty and monetary value of it. It is like you whittled down an antique piece of furniture down to a nik-nak. Maybe that is a bad comparison, because maybe there are people who do such a thing.
Sorry Bruce but this was hardly a thing of beauty in the first place, it was an old dented and cracked factory made bowling ball that was never going to be used again and would not have made a good display piece. It would have been impossible to have refinished it as a bowling ball without ruining its original dynamics. It cost approximately £5 and was not a collectible or valuable piece. Had it been a beautiful perfect bowls ball I would have left it well alone and it would have been far too expensive to have used anyway. The bowls I have collected cost between £2.50 and £5 and are not anything special, decent collectible bowls can cost hundreds of pounds. Sorry this video has upset you. Many thanks for watching.
Cheers
Jim
@@JimsonMakes I am still saddened that such a historical artifact is so devalued by everyone that it is regarded as mere material to be reduced down to 2/3 wood shavings and 1/3 hopeful art object. Perhaps this is due to the different point of view between a Brit who is used to many old things around everywhere, and a Canadian who rarely sees old objects that are well preserved.