Wood carving
Wood Carving is another craft that has been around since the invention of the sharp edge. We have all probably whittled on a stick when we were young and remember watching others messing about with a piece of tree and a knife to help occupy their time. There are and have been craftspeople throughout the ages creating large totems and small wooden toys with their hands. Of course, the really big pieces of a log are nowadays cut using a chainsaw. We follow one family on Facebook that creates some amazing things out of logs and stuff. Check out Jerry Stringham and His Son https://www.facebook.com/gypsycarving/. You can find beginners guides on Amazon and videos on YouTube to get you started in wood carving if you don’t have a friend or family member who does it already. You learn by watching and doing.
“Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. Wood doesn’t last as long as other materials so there are not many examples of the craft over the years.“
Basic tool set
- The carving knife: a specialized knife used to pare, cut, and smooth wood.
- The gouge: a tool with a curved cutting edge used in a variety of forms and sizes for carving hollows, rounds, and sweeping curves.
- The coping saw: a small saw that is used to cut off chunks of wood at once.
- The chisel: large and small, whose straight cutting edge is used for lines and cleaning up flat surfaces.
- The V-tool: used for parting, and in certain classes of flat work for emphasizing lines.
- The U-Gauge: a specialized deep gouge with a U-shaped cutting edge.
- Sharpening equipment, such as various stones and a strop: necessary for maintaining edges.
- A special screw for fixing work to the workbench, and a mallet, complete the carvers kit, though other tools, both specialized and adapted, are often used, such as a router for bringing grounds to a uniform level, bent gouges, and bent chisels for cutting hollows too deep for the ordinary tool.
YouTube Video for Beginning Wood Carving
Wood Carving Beginners Cuts
Wood Carving Tools and Techniques
Of course, we would love to support other North Florida wood carvers out there. If you would like to share your work with us please use our CONTACT US form and provide us with your online store, website, and/or social media page links.
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