Jim Kibler

[Ken G]

Mr. Kibler,
Your rifle on the blog is awesome!  I missed checking the blog this morning but when I did....Wow!  You have a look all to yourself and prove that great architecture and clean carving is more important than highly figured wood.
Ken

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I love your work Jim.  This one is no exception.  Lots of quality in the rifle, the pics, and the volume of them.  Inspirational.

[famouseagle]

Very nice work, Jim.  There's gonna be a run on plain maple pretty soon if you keep showing that work.

[Roy S.]

I love your work Jim.  This one is no exception.  Lots of quality in the rifle, the pics, and the volume of them.  Inspirational.

couldn't have said it any better..

[Don Getz]

I'll say it again.....He's John Bivins re-born.   I was admiring several of his guns at last year's CLA show when it suddenly dawned on me......there was no curl in the wood....plain wood.  That's a lesson all of you new guys should pay attention
to.......it's not the wood that makes the gun...........Don

[Jim Kibler]

You guys are too kind.  Perhaps I need to follow this example a little more sometimes!  Anyways, I made this gun a few years ago.  Honestly it wasn't ever my favorite, but I guess it's not too bad either.  I think there are more people than ever making fine guns today.  We're part of this at a pretty good time.   As Ian and I have mentioned before, if anyone thinks we can help, you are welcome to come the the classes we've been holding at the Log Cabin Shop.  I think they've been a pretty good time for all. 

Thanks again,
Jim

[lew wetzel]

jim is as good as they get...and he is a great instructor....i feel honored to have learned a few things from him....

[rich pierce]

Great super clean work.  Jim, are you a stabber, a knife guy or a parting chisel guy?

[t.caster]

It's an absolute beauty! So clean and pure, it nears ....perfection!

[Tony Clark]

I'll say it again.....He's John Bivins re-born. ..........Don

That was my exact same thought when I first got to look at one of Jim's rifles down at Bowling Green a few years back. Regards, TC

[Jim Kibler]

Great super clean work.  Jim, are you a stabber, a knife guy or a parting chisel guy?

I either stab with chisels and gouges or use a knife.  On the longer curves I will often use a knife.  For me the chisels and gouges really seem to excel in stabbing in smaller features such as leaves and volutes.  It's pretty difficult to explain, but when using a knife or skew chisel as a knife, I first use another knife with a rounded tip that I can roll along my line.  This starts the cut and helps prevent the cut from following the grain and wandering.  Hope this makes sense.  For me, this method is fast and produces pretty decent results.   

[rich pierce]

Thanks, I use a hand-made rounded "butter knife" chisel, which is very thin and razor sharp, to outline many inlets and have started to us it to outline carving like this.  Similar tool and technique?

[Jim Kibler]

Thanks, I use a hand-made rounded "butter knife" chisel, which is very thin and razor sharp, to outline many inlets and have started to us it to outline carving like this.  Similar tool and technique?

Yeah, it's a similar principle.  The knife I use is a small skinning knife that the tip broken and was subsequently rounded off.  It's not very sharp and I think this helps reduce the tendency to follow the grain.  This basically just starts a cut and then I deepen it out with a skew chisel used as a knife.  It may sound a little peculiar, but I find that it works well and is fast.  As I said, this is primarily for curves with a fairly big radius and straight lines.  For leaves and small volutes I don't think you can beat stabbing in.  With the right chisels and gouges this creates super clean cuts with a lot of definition. 

[Leatherbelly]

 Stabber,good Rendezvous name! Jim, I've always liked your work.Great architecture beats fancy wood anytime! You still raiding Ian's fridge?

[Jim Kibler]

Stabber,good Rendezvous name! Jim, I've always liked your work.Great architecture beats fancy wood anytime! You still raiding Ian's fridge?

Hmmmm...  Stabber.  I'll have to think about that.  Can't help but to feel a little inferior sometimes with all the cool names people have here.

Ok, on a slightly more serious note...  Although it isn't definite, I think we may be holding a three day carving class at the Log Cabin Shop sometime during the summer.  So if anyone would have any interest keep it in mind.  More details will likely follow.

Thanks,
Jim

[Tim Crosby]

 Put me on the list.

Tim C.

[Ian Pratt]

  If you think the way he cuts wood is spectacular you ought to see him field dress a deer, sheer poetry in motion. Even the deer are impressed and often gather to watch him work. I think that says it all.