Thread: Getting Started

First, take a good look at the variety of wood carving styles (caracature/flat plane/relief/ and others in the Forums of the WoodCarvingIllustrated website.

I say that because the tool selections are really different. It's possible to spend a lot of money going in the wrong direction.

I don't recommend tool sets. There's a very good chance that there will be a tool you never use and the money could be better spent on other things. I have a lot of Pfeil carving tools. Top quality and open stock. I can buy individuals as I sloooowly learn that I need it. They are not cheap. You get what you pay for.

Above all, you must stock up on the tools and supplies for sharpening and honing. Learn the process. The skill spills over to anything you own with an edge. "Carving sharp" and "kitchen sharp" are two quite different things. There's no magic, no mystery, just another very valuable skill you should learn.

I have to add my questions & suggestions as I think of them.
1. Carving is very satisfying, to see your object rise out of the medium.
2. Material = what do you want to carve? Wood, bark, bone, stone, metal? There's a tribe of people that like to carve the guts of golfballs! Flyfisher does exquisite miniature carvings in such material as the lead in the end of a carpenter's flat pencil.
3. Look down this page = look at the doors that Jack Burgess has done. Way further down, you can find a monumental totem pole of his. My stuff is much smaller, the Frog Dish and the Humpback Whale for example.
4. I suspect that Jack's tool collection and mine are quite similar except that he has many tools far larger than I need. I'll bet I have some strange tools which he has no practical use for. Plus, his results are far superior when compared with my skill level.
5. If it is your intention to carve small things where the work is held in your hand, I can't help you at all. Just the concept of carving my hand scares the bejeezlies out of me.

a) Books: Fox Chapel Publishing is probably the global leader in carving and wood working books.
Relief Carving in Wood. A Practical Introduction. 1994. Chris Pye.
ISBN 1-86108-096-4 Guild of Master Craftsman Publications. . . . . about as good as it gets.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

If it is your intention to carve small things where the work is held in your hand, I can't help you at all. Just the concept of carving my hand scares the bejeezlies out of me.

On that note... the above is about ALL I do and am working towards learning to do larger stuff. Starting small and working up has major cost advantages. Less material, fewer and simpler tools, no need for elaborate 'studios' or even a shed, (you can work at your kitchen table)... etc. Add tools as you recognise your need for them.

The advice about not tooling up before you know what you want to try is good! Its easy to end up aquiring loads of tools you rarely, if ever, use.

sorgi:
Sage, sage advice from Whittling. Heed those words.

My range runs from about 10" up to 24" pieces. I started/was taught with relief carving.
I learned an enormous amount from a full time professional carver. But, I was frustrated = I wanted to carve "in the round." That switch is very satisfying despite my lack of fit and finish.

My wood is inexpensive, scavenged from logging waste pile up in the mountains behind my home. 20 minutes(?) away. There are many many other places to get wood for cheap. I have a halibut fish-shaped serving dish, 23" x 13" which should have been firewood Nov/11. I confess that I do buy some wood for specific projects.

What we all do is so different, the tool selection really does depend upon your preferences.

Woodwork has been a passion of mine from a young age which progressed to an interest in making utilitarian furniture for my home and items for my children and grandchildren. More recently I have turned my attention to working mostly with hand tools, suddenly woodworking has taken on a whole new dimension, a world where M+T and dovetail joints are possible ( ie. with a bit of practice) where you can work without the whir and noise of power tools drumming out your senses. But I must confess I still mill my timber with powered machinery though.Now I would like to have go at wood carving to incorporate into my work,Im thinking maybe a small trinket box or similar to start with and go from there.I,d like to say thanks to Robson Valley and Whittling for their helpful advice.

Ah, your desires are revealed! I should think relief carving or chip carving for box decoration. However, this (WWF) website has the best display of box making skills that you are likely to find on the internet. Those people are very, very good at surface styling, fit and finish. Inspirational. Best get on with it.

I don't need to mill timber. I've never had power tools with that capability, anyway.
Power tools go faster than I can think so hand tools are just right for me. Either that or I need to learn to temper my enthusiasm for making sawdust.
I can split what I want from western red cedar log pieces with a 2kg mallet and a froe. Clean the surfaces just enough to lay on a drawing and carve into it so the surface quality isn't an issue. WRC splits so nicely, I can make 1/4" - 3/8" x 6" x 24" slabs easily. Goes to scaled-up hummingbird and butterfly wings. Consequently, one end of my workshop space is piled with 40+ chunks and split pieces of log. I have some milled wood, stuff I bought, with no projects in sight yet. I can throw all the off cuts over the fence into the neighbor's yard, he's happy to burn it up in his backyard fire pit.