LINFIELDER
BOB LUNT
Bob Lunt graduated in 1952 (business major) from Linfield College. He came to Linfield from Centralia, Wash., where he graduated from Centralia High School in 1946. At Centralia High he played football, basketball and baseball. After high school he served two years in the U.S. Marine Corps. before starting at Linfield. Bob turned out for Linfield football, coached by Paul Durham: “At 155 pounds, my Wildcat football career lasted five days! Intramurals became my athletic bag.” Responding to an offer by Durham, who was also athletic director, Bob became Linfield student athletic director. His duties included arranging ticket sales and paying officials. Recipient of a Linfield Alumni Service Award, Bob is a former Linfield student body president. He worked 34 years for Portland-based Jantzen (swim wear, active wear, and more). Bob and his wife, Donna, have lived in McMinnville for 34 years.
Read a great story about Bob from the 3/9/2021 McMinnville N-R by Linfielder Starla Pointer:
Stopping By: Carving out a 30 year hobby
Donna Lunt disagrees with her husband on one point.
By Starla Pointer, McMinnville N-R/News-Register 3/9/2021. Photos by Marcus Larson of the N-R
Bob Lunt claims he has no artistic talent or creativity. His wife, Donna, says he does, and most people would agree she’s right.
Bob, a 1952 Linfield graduate, enjoys carving mischievous Santas, weather-worn cowboys and other whimsical figurines. Sometimes he starts with “rough cuts,” in which the general shape is already visible, ready for him to add the details; other times, he starts with a block and removes ever-smaller slivers in order to reveal the character within.
“He can transform a piece of wood,” said Donna, who pursues a variety of crafts herself, from decoupage to card-making.
He started carving about 30 years ago, when he was ready for a hobby to see him through his retirement years.
“It was something that looked interesting and I thought I could do,” he said.
On the advice of their friend Elsie Williams, a carver herself, Donna gifted her husband with a series of carving lessons.
He spent a few sessions at Heritage Arts Studio in North Plains, learning the basics from teacher Kelley Stadelman. Then he perfected his technique back home in McMinnville.
Bob said he started with basswood and still enjoys carving it. Basswood is as soft as pine and has very little grain, he said, so “it’s better for whittling.”
He said he often draws a line as a guide for his first cuts. He trims larger pieces from the block at first, then removes a bit at a time.
“You can always take some more off, but it’s hard to add to the wood,” he said with a laugh.
These days, he said, there is a special epoxy that can be applied, then recarved, if the woodworker cuts off too much. But he’d rather avoid making mistakes in the first place.
He gets ideas for what to make from patterns on display at carving supply stores or websites. Or he spots something on Pinterest and tries to make his own version.
Bob is drawn to cowboys because they give him the opportunity to carve interesting facial expressions. He likes having a picture to work from, or several pictures that show different angles. Otherwise, he said, “my imagination gets taxed.”
He likes making Santas because people enjoy them, he said. He’s carved only a few animals — donkeys, horses, dogs — but “I don’t try to make them realistic; I’m not that good. They’re whimsical,” he said.
He also carved a few gifts for his son, who enjoys bird hunting. He made a dog that looks like a duck hunter; it’s standing upright and wearing camouflage. He also made some standing ducks wearing camo.
He paints the camouflage, chaps, red Santa robes and other clothing, using a tiny brush. “Painting is getting to be the hardest part,” he said.
Some pieces he leaves natural, spraying on a finish that highlights the wood grain.
Some of his cowboys and Santas, which range in size from 4 inches to about a foot, started as rough cuts. “Those save the preliminary work,” he explained. “You can just do the details.”
Most of his cowboys, large and small, are on display in his kitchen window. Most of his Santas have flown off to grace other people’s homes and Christmas trees.
“I’ve made hundreds of Santas to give away,” he said.
In addition to presenting them to friends, he has made many to sell at the Presbyterian Church bazaar. Of course, Donna gets her share, as well.
He doesn’t sell them himself; he’s not trying to get rich off his hobby, he said. Besides, he couldn’t charge enough to cover his time.
“It might take 20 hours to carve one,” he said. “I would just as soon give it away as to try to put a price on it. Giving it away gives me more pleasure.”
Bob buys basswood or uses pieces friends have given him. Once he received a piece of another kind of wood that was considerably harder to carve, but he knuckled down and finished it.
Carving by hand takes “a sharp tool,” he said, so he keeps a strop ready and sharps his knife regularly and repeatedly.
He still uses the box of Flexwood tools he bought when he started carving. He’s replaced a few, but many are still useful since he’s kept them in good shape. The set includes gougers, which are like chisels, as well as various knives with wooden handles.
“I do 90% with two tools,” he said.
He also has a vibrating tool he can use when starting a project “to take off a lot.” But he prefers the static tools.
“I have a Dremel, but I almost never use it,” he said. “It creates a lot of dust.”
Bob compared the hobby of woodcarving to reading a book: “I like to have one going, but sometimes it’s hard to start,” he said.
Frequently he goes through his stock of wood, looking for a chunk the right shape to make a dog or a Bavarian hiker or some other character.
He has his next piece of basswood picked out. It’s in his workshop, just waiting for him to get out his hand tools. “I guess I’d better get out there and get started,” he said.
#
