# Mass-producing wooden statues?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 19, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865 "2002-05-19T22:57:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/1 "2002-05-19T22:57:10Z")

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Ummm, yes, it’s possible either using CNC techniques or a kind of lathe with a chisel attached to a cam that presses against an original which is rotating at the same speed (I think this is how a lot of the souvenir clogs that you see for sale in The Netherlands are produced.

That was what you were going to ask, wasn’t it?

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**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/2 "2002-05-20T00:07:38Z")

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- 
  - 
    - Uh, no, -I was going to ask how to teach a fish to sing. But that’s partly helpful, at least. - DougC

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**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/3 "2002-05-20T00:55:18Z")

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…first, you get the goat good and drunk…

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**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/4 "2002-05-20T01:12:45Z")

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There are carving machines which have a stylus used by an operator. The operator moves the stylus over a full scale model, and a series of cutters mimic the motions of the stylus, and shape raw blanks into the desired shape. Multiple spindle carving machines is what I believe they’re called.

[This company](http://www.enkeboll.com/home.html) uses them.

The picture on[this page](http://www.enkeboll.com/facilities.html) shows spindle carvers operated by hand but no good pictures of multiple spindle carvers. If you look carefully in the back of the factory photo, I think that you can see a multiple spindle carver.

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**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/5 "2002-05-20T03:18:34Z")

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Duplicating mechanisms or jigs are sold by most of the large woodcraft supply companies, such as Woodcraft and Rockler.

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**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-producing-wooden-statues/109865/6 "2002-05-20T03:44:07Z")

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I’m so confused!

I’m figuring this was meant for another thread or sumpin. Email me if I closed this in error.