On the job training: Magic

Today, the Berkshire Carousel started earlier than usual for me, a day full of learning opportunities, from formal instruction on carving to practical answers to situations that develop.

There was a carving class, the second in  series, this one given by Joe Tournier, one of the floor managers dedicated to the production of that great horse Malinda. I found some themes in his presentation that reinforced most of what I had learned thus far. The notion of planning ahead came out as “What is the next step?” Carving is done in “comfortable stages.” Each stage builds on the previous one. Each cut of the chisel leaves bare a surface for the next part of the piece. There should be a continuous awareness of where the body of the horse is, which body parts are exposed, and which areas may be covered by straps or saddles or other adornments. So in the comfort zone, the carver leaves enough wood in areas for all possibilities that are defined in the drawings and etchings on the carving block. “Only do it once,” is one goal according to Joe. “It is easier to take away wood, than to add it back.” He encouraged us to do constant editing and to practice.

An urgent assignment came to several of us. The horse named Magic needed some intensive work so the horse may be completed for a special event coming up in June. Magic’s four legs were carved, but had to be sanded, today. I learned all about sanding today. Coarse paper to start, finishing off with a fine grit. The standard was no scratches, no dips, maintaining the features of each leg. That was the easy part. I quickly learned two other things about sanding: don’t breathe too deeply (I held my breath most of the time), and don’t sand with your mouth open or your tongue out, unless you like the taste of fine wood dust.

Just being in the room with the variety of activity is an encyclopedic world of information, probably found nowhere else. In an earlier blog, I mentioned a neat trick called glue sucking where a glue can be drawn with a shop vac through a crack in a wood block and then reclamped to get a tight unbreakable bond in the block of wood. Today, the glue sucking was brought into play again, this time to repair a body area on a horse that had split off, not completely. That is one amazing application that I have had the privilege of witnessing twice now. I was informed that a similar shop vac technique has been used to facilitate the worming of electrical wire through a conduit for up to half mile. Wow! Just tie a long string on a cotton ball, and suck it through the tube, carefully threading the string as it goes through the tube.  Remember to tie the other end to the wire, and then you can pull the wire through. These guys come up with everything.

A final tidbit that I learned today is first aid for a cut. To stop the bleeding, apply black pepper to the cut. It serves as a coagulant. It seemed to work. Thankfully, I wasn’t the person who got cut.

So it was a productive day. Learning occurs at many levels, at any time. Carpe diem!