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SIN I ION _• I" \(,K IM.AI\l)l VI I It-W K1>*KS1>AY. MARCH30. 1977 There Once Was A Man... \ The picture above shows the finished product. Ben Tvaroh worked approximately 20-24 hours before the shoe was completed. There are several steps involved in transforming a piece of wood into the completed shoe. First, there is the matter of gluing several pieces of wood together in order to achieve different grain and colors. The pattern must then be drawn upon both sides of the wood. This process generally takes about two hours. Next comes the sawing, which generally takes another hour. Then, there is the roughing out of the pattern, the step in which the shoe begins to take form. The roughing out generally takes about four hours. Then comes the whittling, the most important part of the process. It takes Mr. Tvorah approximately ten hours to complete the whittling process. Finally, there is the sanding which takes another five hours of concentrated effort. Adding to the process could be finishing or laquering, if so desired. And when it's all done, and you're skillful - and a little bit lucky - the shoe like the one above is the final product. At left, Mr. Tvaroh works on whittling to add further detail to the shoe. Here, he is whittling out shoestring holes. At right is a picture of his work area. Mr. Tvorah has an extensive line of equipment and tools to create the detailed work which he produces. However, he says that for beginners, "all you need is a knife and a block of wood." He has been whittling for only six months, having taken up the hobby after retirement. 'Whittled' A Shoe! STAFF PHOTOS BY WAYNE GAYLORD "I guess life begins after sixty, huh?" While retirement may not have brought an entirely new life to the Ben Tvaroh household, it certainly has brought a new hobby. Mr. Tvaroh of Pistakee Highlands calls it whittling, and as can be seen by the pictures on this page, he does it very well. His expert craftmanship belies the fact that he has taken up whittling as a hobby only in the past six months. "I think I picked whittling up from working with the scouts," Mr. Tvaroh explained. "I was a scout leader, and I used to carve with the Eagle Scouts and Boy Scouts." Yet, his uncanny skill at whittling remained dormant until recently, when he retired from his job as a quality control supervisor at a large Crystal Lake business. "Actually, the way I started was from watching a television program," he explained. "There was a six- part series on woodcarving, and they were showing how to make woodcarving knives out of files. "I started from there," he added. Mr. Tvaroh made the woodcarving knives out of files, and already has a collection of over fifty carvings, ranging from shoes to swans to fish. Every one of his carvings has as much definition as the shoe does, some even more. What does he do with his carvings after they are completed? Well, some of them are on display right now at the McHenry Public library. "For now I make them for presents and for friends," Mr. Tvaroh said. "And I will always trade a carving for a nice piece of walnut. "The reason I use walnut," he explained, "is because it has a nice grain to it. I like to bring out the grain in the wood I'm whittling. It depends on what direction you cut the wood, on how the grain comes out," he added. Mr. Tvaroh has numerous examples of carvings he has made showing how the wood grain was brought out differently by whittling either with the grain, or against it. He feels that getting started in whittling is similar to taking up any other hobby. "Like everything else you get into, you have to get your feet wet first, and cut your fingers a few times." "Like everything else you get into, you have to get your feet wet first, and cut your fingers a few times." While Mr. Tvaroh has a complete line of equipment for designing, sawing, whittling, and sanding, he notes that for persons just starting out on whittling, all this equipment isn't ^necessary. "All you need is a pocket knife and a block of wood," he sSaid. He takes many of his ideas for possible carvings from pictures he sees in magazines in newspapers. Reproducing a two-dimensional picture is one thing-transforming that picture into a three-dimensional statuette is another. "That part of it has got to be up here," he said, pointing to his head. Perhaps Mr. Tvaroh didn't begin whittling earlier because he found there wasn't enough time during an active day. which included his job, and raising a family. What is his wife's reaction to his spending up to twenty-five hours working on one whittling? "I love it," Mrs. Elsie Tvaroh said. A son, Terry, is very active in scouting himself, serving as a scoutmaster for a troop in Sunnyside. A daughter, Patricia, lives in Champaign, and for a long time was very active working with Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls. Mr. Tvaroh offered one helpful hint to all prospective whittlers. "In order to do good carving, it's important to have a knife with a good husky handle," he explained. "That way you don't have to squeeze it." Besides the time he puts in whittling, Mr. Tvaroh also enjoys fishing, hunting, and golf. He makes his own fishing lures, and notes that "I'm about ready to go Coho fishing. "Whittling is a beautiful winter hobby though," he added "It keeps me out of mischief." Coho fishing...whittling...hunting.. golf. Perhaps life doesn't begin at sixty. But don't tell Ben Tvaroh that. He's having too much fun! The tools of the trade are shown above. There is the knife and the block of wood, really all that is needed to start whittling. Ben Tvaroh's work area has much more, however, including drills, saws, and numerous cutting instruments. At right, he uses one of his tools to put the finishing touches on the shoe he has been working on. Mr. Tvorah has always been adept with his hands, and has enjoyed making things his entire life. His wife,Elsie, is totally in favor of his work, and takes pleasure in watching him transform a block of wood into a beautiful statuette. On some occasions, Mr. Tvaroh glues two or more pieces of wood together before actually carving. However, he says that the real challenge is in working with just one piece of wood. He calls his craft whittling, and states there is a difference between what he does and woodcarving. He explained that in woodcarving, only certain tools are used, whereas in his work, "anything goes".