Salem's Riverfront
Carousel

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About SRC

The Creation Process

There are 6 processes in creating these beautiful carousel horses. 

The carousel was carved from basswood from the Linden tree. The Linden tree grows up to 130 feet with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet. Fragrant blooms in summer attract bees. Perfumes and tea are made from the flowers. Basswood is soft, creamy, and even-grained. Woodcarvers say it "cuts like cheese". The bark is fibrous which makes its texture perfect for carving and painting. Native Americans used it to make cords, rope and matting from this wood.

1. The Design
Hand-carved horses were offered for adoption. Sandy Walker met with each of the sponsors to discuss their vision of the design, noting a particular theme or style that was important. Would the horse be a prancer, stander, or jumper?

As the horses began to develop unique personalities, Sandy sketches the design on an 11" x 14" paper which was then taken to Salem Blueprint and expanded to a full-size pattern used by Salem Wood Products and the carvers.

2. The Rough Cut
Each horse required about 120 board feet of basswood from a Linden tree. The wood was cut into 2" planks and laminated together using glue and heavy pressure. One of the full-sized drawings was then used as a pattern to band saw the wood. Each horse arrived at the carving studio in 7 rough-cut pieces: head, body, 4 legs, and tail.

3. Carving
Dave Walker, the Carousel's master carver, welcomed experienced artisans to the project. He also developed novice volunteers into a cadre of skilled carvers.

The process started with drawing each horse's design onto the rough-cut blocks of wood. Large mallets and gouges were used to take off the edges and rough out each body part. As the wood was chipped away, smaller gouges, knives, and files were used. The intricate details were carved in relief using specialized tools.

4. Assembly
Once the individual parts were carved, they were assembled using large dowels, glue and clamps. The seams were then shaped and smoothed, giving a flawless appearance to the coated wood filler, then carved and sanded again to a smooth finish.

5. Sanding
An average of 50 hours was dedicated to sanding each horse without the use of electric tools. Rough sandpaper and files were used to erase saw marks and deep cuts. Small sanding tools made minute ridges and imperfections disappear. Volunteers used the finest grit of sandpaper to make the wood as smooth as possible.

6. Painting
Before any color could be applied to the horses, the wood had to be prepared. Each horse was painted with an oil-based primer three times and sanded after each coat. This sealed and freed the wood of any bumps. Then a base color was applied.

Painters often dabbed or "stippled" colors to create a soft shading, giving the horse a 3D look. Experienced artists meticulously added the fine details you find throughout the Carousel pieces.

Finally three coats of polyurethane were applied to add luster and protect and paint from wear. More coats were added to areas where the horse will have contact with the riders.