People ask how we make these. The short answer is CNC roughing plus hand finishing. The long answer takes about eight steps, and it's genuinely interesting if you want to understand what you're paying for.
Step 1: The digital model
Every sculpture design starts as a 3D model built in a CAD program. The model is refined over weeks — sometimes months for a new design — to get the proportions right at every viewing angle. Small changes matter: a lovebird's head being 3mm too big changes the whole feel of the piece.
Step 2: Selecting the walnut blank
The right board for the right piece. Discussed in detail in our post The First Block.
Step 3: CNC roughing pass
The blank is clamped to the CNC bed and the machine takes about 18-25 minutes to rough out the sculptural form. This is the heavy work — removing the bulk of the waste wood, defining the major curves, establishing the pedestal shape. What comes off the CNC still has visible tool marks and looks about 70% finished.
Step 4: Hand-carving the details
Some details are done by hand rather than machine. Bird beaks, small facial features (on figures like the First Dance Couple), the edges of leaf sprigs on the Infinity Heart. These are done with small chisels and gouges. Not because we can't do them by machine, but because hand-carved details have a subtle asymmetry that reads as alive.
Step 5: Hand-sanding
Six grits: 120, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600. Each grit is done by hand on every surface. This is the most time-consuming step and takes about 45 minutes per piece. The final 600-grit sanding is done under raking light so any missed spots show up.
Step 6: Burn-engraving
The names, dates, and any additional text are burn-engraved into the pedestal using a controlled-depth engraving tool. Each character is burned individually. Depth is about 0.4mm — deep enough to catch shadow, shallow enough that the wood doesn't split. See our dedicated post on this: Charcoal Burn vs Laser Etching.
Step 7: Oil finishing
Two coats of food-safe mineral oil (or optionally a walnut-specific hardwax oil for pieces expected to see more handling). Applied by cloth, wiped off after 20 minutes, allowed to rest overnight between coats. Oil penetrates the wood rather than sitting on top — the finish is inside the piece, not a layer over it.
Step 8: Packing and shipping
Wrapped in tissue paper, nested in a foam-lined kraft box with a handwritten card. Boxed for international transit — see our post Packaging a 6-Pound Sculpture for Worldwide Shipping for the details of how we survive the journey to your door.
Total time per piece: about 4 hours of active workshop time, spread across 3-5 days of drying and resting between steps.