Bone Carving Q+A - Tiki Carving

S sar1 Member Ohio, USA Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 22	S sar1 Posted posted on Sun, Nov 4, 2007 11:23 AM I have been looking for the suggested book "Bone Carving" by Stephen Myhre. The book is not easy to find in the states and I have found prices ranging from just over $40USD to around a $100USD including shipping. Now my question to those of you that have seen the book, is it worth the price? I have read some reviews good and bad but, the bad reviews are the ones that make me wonder if the book is worth $40. Quote from Amazon review. The whole book seems confused...chapters are oddly out of sequence, real descriptions of how to accomplish a given step are either lacking, unclear or printed in the wrong order...much is said about how traditional bone carving is etc, but the info on how to actually carve is almost non-existant - we have pictures of the raw bone with a sketch on it, then a sawed out version, and then the finished piece. What happens between these stages is left to the imagination. Nowhere in the book the actual carving process is depicted. Exactly two-and-a-half pages are devoted to material preparation, which is neither sufficient not the complete process. The fact that inlays can be made is mentioned in passing, but no information is given to how. Add to the whole that the language is sometimes strange, with an odd choice of words, and the result is, I'm sorry to say, a confused mess. Clearly not what I had in mind to learn about techniques. If you are interested in some pictures of finished carvings, you might like it - otherwise skip it.

I have been looking for the suggested book "Bone Carving" by Stephen Myhre. The book is not easy to find in the states and I have found prices ranging from just over $40USD to around a $100USD including shipping. Now my question to those of you that have seen the book, is it worth the price? I have read some reviews good and bad but, the bad reviews are the ones that make me wonder if the book is worth $40.

Quote from Amazon review.
The whole book seems confused...chapters are oddly out of sequence, real descriptions of how to accomplish a given step are either lacking, unclear or printed in the wrong order...much is said about how traditional bone carving is etc, but the info on how to actually carve is almost non-existant - we have pictures of the raw bone with a sketch on it, then a sawed out version, and then the finished piece. What happens between these stages is left to the imagination. Nowhere in the book the actual carving process is depicted.
Exactly two-and-a-half pages are devoted to material preparation, which is neither sufficient not the complete process. The fact that inlays can be made is mentioned in passing, but no information is given to how.
Add to the whole that the language is sometimes strange, with an odd choice of words, and the result is, I'm sorry to say, a confused mess.

Clearly not what I had in mind to learn about techniques. If you are interested in some pictures of finished carvings, you might like it - otherwise skip it.

Post #341998 by sar1 on Sun, Nov 4, 2007 11:23 AM