Thread: Beginner Carver/Whittler - Advice?

I don't have any advice as I've never done any carving either, but I want to, so I'm watching this thread to get advice also

Oh boy! Hindsight tells me it's too big a job to try to start everything at the same time.

Simple wood carving first. By that I mean not too many tools but make something.
I do not believe in buying sets of wood carving tools and cheap sets are a nightmare = they
don't hold an edge for long and are terrible to sharpen.

Different styles of wood carving require very different tools. Like golf clubs for a plumber.
You have to pick something to begin with otherwise, any tool recommendations are not too useful.

A top brand, like Pfeil, usually comes "carving sharp" which is equal to if not better than a straight razor.
They are not cheap, anywhere. But, they are open stock and you can buy what you like.
That will last you about an hour then you need to learn how to restore the "carving sharp" edge.
Scroll down a bit and read all of Star's Sharpening Journey. You have no choice but to get into sharpening.
That spills over to every tool edge in your entire house = not a bad thing to learn.

Plain, off the rack shotguns fit about 15% of shooters.
I do not hesitate to take my carving tools to a shotgun stock to change the point-of-aim to suit me.
The carving skills are directly applicable when I needed to take 1/4" off the comb and 3/16" off the cheek.
Now I have a s/s 20 ga which is a real delight on a grouse hunt.

Thanks for the reply Robson!

I had actually been planning of Pfeil or an equivalent. Buy the best, cry once, is how I look at it.

As for picking something simple to begin with, what would you recommend? I was thinking simple utensils - a wooden spoon, dish etc. Would that be a good place to start? If so, could you recommend tools? I assume a gouge or two and possibly a knife but I'm not 100% sure.

OK. This has to be brief.

When you ask an open question like this, you can expect a different answer from every carver who responds.
There are a bunch of different sharpening systems, all of which work just fine.

The key thing is to pick one and become adept at it. Then you make it look easy.
Whether it's what I do & was taught or a TOMZ or the "Scary Sharp" sandpaper system, does not matter.
I use water stones & a conventional strop. I have no choice but to use the fine sandpapers (1500grit)
for my crooked knives. They all work well.


Sharpening: Lee Valley = combo 1000/4000 water stone. Leather strop on a stick & chrome green honing cpd.
I've posted quite detailed instructions which work for me, in Star's Sharpening Journey.
Wood: BIG choices. I'd suggest basswood to begin with to make a 6-8" bowl (a spoon is a small bowl + stick, yes?)
You should move on to birch, cherry, etc when you get the hang of sharpening. Harder woods are just plain harder to work.
Tools: A bent gouge has a crook in the steel so you can come down the sides of the bowl. Mora makes crooked knives specifically for bowl & kuksa carving but they are another level of challenge to sharpen. My Haida-style crooked knives are just as difficult. (crooked means the whole blade is bent a little or a lot.)

In gouge designations, the first number refers to the shape of the edge. 1 is flat, 8 is quite a U-shape.
The second number is the width in mm. Anything bigger than 12mm and you have little choice but to use a mallet.

OK: 12oz ShopFox mallet.
1/8 stop chisel 8/7 gouge 3F/8 & 5F/14 (the 'F' means 'fishtail,' the shanks are skinny)
Some sort of straight knife: Flexcut KD14 or Moor large chip (LV sells these.) or maybe a Pfeil PFE-1
Living in McBride, I have no choice but to shop on line for these things. There are a bunch of good vendors.

The gouges are sharpened at 20 degrees included bevel angle, the knives are 12 degrees, total.

There is absolutely no substitute for getting along side someone with knowledge and watching them work. This applies to just about any manual skill but particularly in carving. Your bio says you are from Canada. West or East or somewhere in the middle. I can recommend a contact in BC who can help get you started and I stronly suggest that you contact him or someone of similar skill in your area and do a course or two. It will save you HOURS of time and HEAPS of dollars.

Thanks Whittling, I never would have been able to get started without a carving course.
My beginner's tool choices are some of those offered to me! I could have got going with less than I did.
But that's hindsight.

Hello!

I'm also a beginner, and I started with carving spoons. Just get a nice piece of easy-to-carve wood (depending on where you're from, people here are amazing for timber advice) and go for it. As far as tools go, I got a starter set of Two Cherries (Zwei Kirschen) German tools, and they seem to be holding up beautifully with a good sharpen every now and then. Find the tools you use most along with any shapes you find you'd like to work with, then go from there.

Spoons are great. Not only useful, but you can start with a simple "stick and cup" type and then go to something more specialised, like a slotted spoon or salad servers. From there you've got everything from pasta servers to comfy handles for steel tools. I'm currently trying my hand at some cookie stamps for a medieval feast. There are a lot of fun and useful things you can craft out of wood, though oddly enough you seem to forget about all of them as soon as you're pressed to come up with examples. Heh.

Wow, thanks everyone! I didn't think I'd get so many replies.

Robson - Thanks for all the recommendations. What really stuck with me was your point about picking one thing and getting good at it. This whole carving business is kind of information overload and I think it would help to focus.

Whittling - Western Canada is where I'm at. Not so far as BC though. Would you know of any teachers in Saskatchewan or maybe Alberta? I'm inclined to agree that taking a class is an excellent place to start.

Fallimor - Congrats on sticking with it. I have to agree, my family asks me what I could carve and I always end up scratching my head, thinking about all the ideas I was sure I had before.

I would LOVE to carve my own knife handles. Let's say that's what I want to become adept at, any suggestions on where I would/should start?

Hi W1nchester,
I've just been carving a year and started with a crap set of ebay chisels which I soon ditched for a good set, I also have flexcut knives which are reasonably priced and I find very good. You definately want to start with a soft wood like western red cedar or bass is it? you get over there. I started with pine which was ok for practice but thats about all. I have never had a lesson, just trial and error but i've learnt heaps from the brilliant people on this site, just keep reading and have a go. good luck it's great fun. oh yes, a dremel with carving attachment set is good for engraving.

Try getting hold of a guy called RickWiebe. You'll find him at www.woodcarvingbiz.com He's a lot closer to you than any of us and he can definately help you withwhat you want to do. He may get over as far as <st1:state w:st="on"><st1Alberta</st1 but even if not, he's an excellent source of both info and tools.

You are already getting conflicting info... its only going to get worse. Go to someone who can show you 'hands-on'. Once you have a grounding you are in a better position to make informed decisions about future directions.</st1:state>

I agree with Whittling. You should make your acquaintance with Rick Wiebe.
I've bought everything from a sculptor's adze to gouges from him.
Even did my best to write a product review for the NAREX skews for him.
He's in the Okanagan, I'm 8 hrs north by car.

I think that the deal is, there is a variety of ways that people accept as the easiest way to learn.
Carving by it's nature is a terribly visual activity. Yet, there's a ton of stuff to learn about the tools.

I'm convinced that the absolute worst frustration is to try to carve the cut you want, the cut you need
and the tool is too dull to do your bidding.