This tutorial shows how to finish the Hitty body on the turned Hitty blank. Here’s what the blank looks like as you receive it.
You’ll be using your coarse barrel sander to do the sanding of the sides, back, chest and V-Joint.
SAFETY WARNING: When carving with a dremel be sure to always wear a dust mask and safety goggles. There will be a lot of dust, so a mask and proper eye protection is an absolute necessity!
First sand one side down flat a bit, being sure to center the hole for the arms by sanding evenly on each side of the hole. The flat area should be about a smidgen over 1/8 inch from the neck. Go for 3/16, it’s easier to sand more off than it is to replace that which is removed.
Next sand the chest and back of the body down flat, again leaving a smidgen over 1/8 (3/16) between flat side and neck.
That’s all that’s needed to be done for the body.
Next, sand the V-Joint sides flat, being sure to not go above the hips with your sanding, as illustrated in the photo below. Do not sand too much here, just enough to flatten the sides, you’ll narrow this area in the final step.
Now sand the bottom of the V-Joint until it’s “rounded” as shown in the illustration below.
Here’s the V-Joint with sides flattened and bottom rounded.
Now sand the sides a bit more to create a narrow V-joint, being sure to keep the bottom of the V-Joint centered. At this stage, you don’t sand the top of the V, just go at an angle down, to narrow the bottom of the V.
Your body is now completed, now all it needs is sanding. I usually sand after the whole Hitty has been carved completely.
