A Woodcarving Hobby – review of Carving Procedures

A Review of Carving procedures

A woodcarving hobby can be absorbing hobby or a profitable one providing some money to buy the tools that were out of your budget at the start.

What types of woodcarving are there?

Using just a knife to produce a design or model figure is called Whittling.

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The Whittling Cuts

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This is one of the oldest methods of carving and doesn’t need an expensive outlay in tools or materials to carve.

Whittling require 3 basic cuts ‘Push cut”, ‘Parring Cut’, and a ‘Stop Cut’.

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• The push cut is where the knife is cutting along the grain away from the operator.
• The parring cut is where the knife is cutting along the grain towards the operator.
• The Stop cut is the blade cutting across the grain, used to limit the travel of the push or parring cut.

To illustrate in detail, see the following video of how to carve wood:

 

 

First of all get a piece basswood for carving. Probably one of the best carving woods. So practice these cuts until satisfied with the technique.

Also recommended a glove is worn on the hand holding the knife. Also, thumb protection is warn on the other hand.

The professionals in the videos don’t but that is because they have been carving for a long time and know the pressures they are using.

 

The Penguin 

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The following video is in 3 parts showing how to produce a penguin from a small wood carving blocks using the three types of cuts explained.

 

 

 

 

 

First Video 

 

Second Video

Third Video

 

Hollow Spiral Puzzle

If you feel more confident the next video shows how to produce a hollow spiral from a small wood carving block just using the three cuts with a carving knife.

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The following Video describes in detail:

Ancient Art of Lovespoon Carving

To progress further to produce intricate designs and shapes it will require some outlay into more expensive range of tools and equipment.

An ancient woodcarving craft was the carving of Lovespoons as far back as the seventeenth century.

Maybe done by the suitor of a young women, to express his love. Also the father of his daughter would see the skill of the suitor. Hence able to provide for her with his woodworking skill.

The lovespoon is now a very decorative piece of carving to include at times the signs of his work as well as love shapes, such as a heart.But to offset this the results can be more dramatic and useful.

Picture woodcarving for beginners

Other forms of carving is to produce a picture using a flat piece of wood, the shape of it can be round, square, oblong or any irregular design.

The picture outline, be it a scene or abstract.  Similarly, draw direct onto the wood or glue a paper design on it.

Then carving the design to make it appear in relief, the amount of relief will depend on the thickness of the wood.

The choice of the finish, the wood carvers choice. Probably painted and then varnished.

Video Farm Scene:

The School Mary May 

This is the wood carver Mary May. She operates a school on line giving excellent lessons on wood carving for beginners onwards.

The video is more advanced than absolute beginners but it does show what is obtainable.

Also good explanation, why use the chosen tool.

 Shown in detail in the following Video:

A Woodcarving Hobby – review of Carving Procedures