This woodcarving project is a gift to my dentist, Dr. Cooper. A tooth in a cowboy hat is a symbol of a dental crown. Dr. Cooper and his team make every effort to deliver quality results. In fact, I got two crowns today, and I am very happy about them.
This project is about 3 inches tall. I used basswood for the hat and redwood for the base. The tooth was carved from a multi-color piece of poplar — you may see both pale sapwood and dark heartwood in the same piece. It represents a discolored tooth that needs a “cap”.
Creamy basswood, greenish poplar, and reddish redwood all retain their natural colors. I only used acrylic paint for the eyes and lips. I finished the project with several coats of “Cutting Board Oil” — food-grade mineral oil, colorless, odorless, tasteless. [Edit years later: I should have used a drying oil such as boiled linseed oil, tung oil, walnut oil, etc.]
This was a nice project. I enjoyed working with “shady” poplar, “fatty” basswood, and “grainy” redwood this time.
As always, follow all safety rules when you work with sharp tools.
Leave a Reply