First stumbling steps in wood carving

[red devil]

I've fancied trying my hand at wood carving for a while, largely inspired by the amazing work of the members on this forum.
I'm crap at anything practical (you'd never guess my long-departed old man was a precision engineer!), but anyway, last night I hid away in the conservatory to whittle away at a piece of log I picked up on a recent dog walk, and came up with this, my first spoon



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

It's nothing special and the proportions are all to cock, but I really enjoyed it and I'm sure the blisters will heal in a week or two.
Most importantly, it has encouraged me to try more wood carving, so I have a lovely piece of birch sat in my room waiting to be turned into a kuksa or some more spoons.
I learnt a lot from this first project - like how to handle a crook knife to produce the bowl section - and really enjoyed myself whittling away while the Mrs watched X Factor in the other room.
Thanks for all the inspiration and tips,
Best wishes,
Steve

 

[Hoodoo]

You are well on your way. Nice job!

 

[woodspirits]

well done steve, keep em coming and post them up

 

[Zingmo]

Ha ha! You're hooked now! It starts with trying a spoon but before long the Mrs will be coming in & saying "Put the knife down. It's midnight again!" Or is that just me?
That's a cracking good starter, mine was well wonky and Oh! the horror when I tried to put it in my mouth!
What spoon knife are you using?

Z

 

[persistent king]

Nice work mate

 

[luckylee]

looks great bud, and enjoy a very addictive past time.

 

[Baggy]

Nice work, it will not end there

 

[kodiakjoe]

Nice work Steve Carving is a true pleasure. Just as an aside but IMHO i'd stick that piece of birch outside or somewhere not centrally heated as the more it dries out the harder it will be to carve

 

[cbrdave]

Thats a great job mate, where did you get the knife in the picture and is it the one you used to carve the spoon?

 

[dave53]

its addictive well done regards dave

 

[red devil]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement folks, much appreciated.
I fear I am hooked, and I'll certainly do what was suggested and get that birch log out of the central heating - that little spoon had been left ion the conservatory for a month and was like iron when I came to carve it, hence the blisters... won't make that mistake again.
As to a couple of your questions - the knife is a Swiss Victorinox pocket knife with a lovely 4 inch blade and, yes, I did use it for part of the spoon, but most of the spade work was done with a Mora Clipper. I think I got the pocket knife from the local Cotswold store - wasn't cheap (about £40, I think) but it's a good, solid knife with a deceptively useful and effective saw blade as well as the usual bottle opener-type attachments.
The curved blade I used for the bowl is an Erik Frost Mora knife - the first time I've used it in anger, so to speak. Took some getting used to but I was very pleasantly surprised with the results. The knife has a cutting edge on both sides and on the end of the curve or hook, which makes it a very versatile tool.
Now I'm scouring the internet for some gouge chisels!
Cheers,
Steve

 

[Hugo]

Looks good, welcome to the wonderful addictive world of carving.

 

[Whittler Kev]

Nothing wrong with that spoon.

TIP: :thinkerg:

All blisters are friction burns .
Whenever I start someone carving I tell them to stop after a very short while, work out where the sore parts are starting and cover the sore in Gaffer tape. No-one ever gets a blister then, even if carving for several hours at a stretch.
I know where too cover my hands now
- or I wear carving (anti-cut) gloves

 

[John Fenna]

Dam - another addict on the block ...one taste and then a lifelong addiction....
Nice spoon (if a little short in the handle for rat packs )
If you think Beech is hard - try Oak from a Victorian bit of furniture (it was being skipped as it had a bit of worm...), then you will know what HARD is!

 

[DaveBromley]

dude thats wicked for your first go, my first attempt at carving was AWFUL and i was only trying chopsticks lol

Dave

 

[TomBartlett]

Nice first attempt. Just keep at it and soon you'll be coming up with some real masterpieces. I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of the summer carving and was amazed how much I improved when I was able to do even a little bit everyday. Keep up the good work and don't forget to show us your progress!