Intro to wood carving


rnkvale

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Hi everyone. I have had a lot of ideas regarding wood carving milling(pun intended)around in my head. I had a coupon for my local woodworking store burning a hole in my pocket sooooo... I picked up a starter set of Flexcut palm chisels and a sharpening set. What can I say, I am dangerous when it comes to coupons nearing the expiration date. Here is the set I picked up. So my question is what kind of reading materials, websites, or allround advice would you give in starting. My aim is to carve box tops, door panels, or just a wall hanging. Thanks everyone.

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Flexcut are great tools, I've used them for years, palm tools is what I used to carve the mantel below. Woodcarving illustrated is a great source for carving info, both the magazine and the web site. Chris Pye's and Nora Hall's books and videos are also recommended. A few more carvings can be seen here: http://djofurnituremaker.blogspot.com/2010/01/few-carvings.html Pick up some basswood and start your journey.

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Excellent advise DJO. I would also recommend getting a book from Fox Chapel by David Western titled "Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons: Understanding, Designing, and Carving Romantic Heirlooms " (from Amazon.com) . Not that you necessarily want to care those but he is a fabulous teacher (I've taken some classes from him) and he goes over basic carving techniques such as carving chains or balls in cages and just generally how to carve wood. The one flexcut knife I would also recommend is the small or detail pelican blade. It is fabulous for getting at angles no other knife seems to be able to.

Good luck with the carving.

John

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Thanks. I am considering taking a class that Highland Hardware is offering. It is not till November so I can start with some reading first. I have always had trouble taking things from an image in my mind and making a finished piece out of it. I hope to overcome that. There is also something about carving something by hand that really appeals to me. Thanks again for the input.

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