Beginner Witco Mug Shelf

[ Edited by: tahiti jim on 2004-03-23 10:28 ]

Hey that's pretty snazzy. Where does everyone get the energy to do all this carving? I barely get around to dusting my shelves!

Have fun with your next project and post a pic so I can continue to get my decorating kicks vicariously.

[ Edited by: keigs20 on 2004-03-22 17:37 ]

[ Edited by: Tahiti Jim on 2004-03-23 10:31 ]

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2004-03-18 00:03 ]

[ Edited by: Tahiti Jim on 2004-03-23 10:31 ]

yes, i also do carvings in the witco style. and i will continue to do so as long as i keep carving. i love the style as i'm sure alot of people do. i have sold many items made in this style. this style was done long before witco learned it. it is all of ours to share. i am presently making a witco style bar for an art show in detroit in june, i think lake surfer knows which one.by the way, i learned this finishing technique from christopher lowell. now lets all get along, and share. best wishes to all, jim.

I am not trying to be an ass. When I gave you the name of the carving book and where you might be able to find it, I just thought hey this guy likes Witco and wants to carve something for his bar. Which is cool I think Witco Decor deserves the respect and admiration. I also enjoy helping people who have asked me how to take care of or refinish thier Witco pieces. I am not saying you can't finish your carvings with Witco unique style. I would not have given you the info if I was. It is just a lot of the things that you see on my carving page are not copies of Witco decor, they are my own designs. This is how I support my family for half the year and hope to do it full time in the future. When I see your shelf I see a copy of the mask from the carving book attached to a shelf that resembles one of my designs. And then you say," well, I am off to design more stuff" ,while you already have something on ebay. I wonder when I will see you carving and selling my exact designs on ebay. Some of Boskos carvings are almost the exact design and style of Witco. He also came up here to Washington and got catalogs from Bill and his recieved permission to do so. The carving book does tell you how to carve and finish Witco style it also says on the first page "nor is freedom from any patent to be inferred" Most of the designs it shows you how to carve in the book are patented under Witco Decor. I think all of the carvers and artists on TC have their own unique style and designs,which seems to be respected by all the others. Again I am not trying to be an ass. I always try to avoid confrontation and long argumentative posts. It just pissed me off the way you went about it. I speak for no one but myself and hope I did not offend anyone. So I am done with this post

PS- chisel slinger Bill tells me no one else around here in the late 50s had the Witco finish when he started. I dont know about elsewhere. Also the suff that was sprayed on the carvings was made up buy Witco at the plant. I think that is the key to a true Witco finish. Wish I had the KEY!

[ Edited by: keigs20 on 2004-03-17 20:19 ]

[ Edited by: keigs20 on 2004-03-17 20:20 ]

[ Edited by: keigs20 on 2004-03-17 20:21 ]

yes, seems like it probably made up, i cant figure it out either. but the other day i did see a matte varnish, i think i'll give that a try. seems more like a flat varnish if there is such a thing, but i still like shiney things. maybe a glitter tiki next, my wife made some necklaces like that, pretty cool, kinda vegassy! i also hear they sandblasted their stuff, heard anything about that?

[ Edited by: chisel slinger on 2004-03-17 21:02 ]

You guys are idiots!! Where's the respect man!!??

[ Edited by: Tahiti Jim on 2004-03-23 10:31 ]

I've often wondered about the finish of Witco, classically they look like brown paint and a light wax but in TBOF (On page 6 or 7 I believe), the tikis on the bar scene shine like greaseballs, I have a similar one with this finish so I can only speculate

My comment on the shelf was meant as a pat on the back to someone learning something new & using his spare time constructively. As far as putting someone else’s design on ebay, that’s a different issue. Copying somebody else’s stuff is a standard way to learn and practice, but fair play in the marketplace would dictate coming up with a design of one’s own.

I think there’s often a misconception that creative people just pull ideas out of the air as easily as most people breath, and therefore don’t mind being copied. On a few occasions a unique design has popped into my head in a split second. However, it took hours of erasing, hair pulling , snorting , & cussing to transfer the vision from my mind’s eye to the paper.

Now if I took the time to execute that design into a sellable form, went to the trouble and expense to market it, then saw someone selling the same design on ebay, I’d be plastered to the ceiling.

I get just a big a kick out of seeing the do-it-yourselfer’s projects as the work of the pro’s. Not everyone can make a living creatively, or even earn an occasional profit. But a creative hobby can have therapeutic value that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

Nice to meet you Jim. I didn't mean this to sound like a lecture. Just my perspective.

ohh yeah, i love witco, and gretsch guitars too!!!just bought a sparkly synchromatic last year. also, wouldnt it be nice if we all could just work at the old witco factory?

[ Edited by: chisel slinger on 2004-03-18 21:38 ]

[ Edited by: chisel slinger on 2004-03-18 21:42 ]

Good work Jim!! Keep it up!!

BTW, I also play a black sparkle Gretsch historic series, with the "cat's eye" soundholes, as well as a vintage Gibson Barney Kessel copy. Uh oh, there's that word again, COPY!!