Wood carving...

[Dirty Karlos]

Hi, I'm sure this will have been done a few times but I'd like to get into wood carving (spoons, mugs, decorative objects etc) and wondering if anyone can recommend some tools. I'm quite artistic and good with my hands so I reckon I could be quite good at it (pure blind optimism .

Anyway, I've seen this kit:-

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/woodcarving-knives/bushcraft-woodcarving-set.htm

Looks good and I almost got the credit card out but what are the alternatives, any recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[mountainm]

For that kind of money I would go with this:
http://www.swanseatimber.co.uk/shop/flexcut-810482-sk-11-piece-craft-carving-set/prod_3850.html

 

[swright81076]

I picked up a carving set from a little independent DIY shop in castleford a few weeks ago. Only cost a tenner.
High carbon steel, Sheffield made and holds an edge brilliantly. There's 8 pieces (I think, not near it at moment). Gouges, flat bits and decent v tool.
I'm chuffed with it. That along with a frost crook and whittling knife from clas ohlsen. I also have an interchangeable carving knife jobby too.
All these were quite cheap.
I wouldn't ever suggest going for the cheapest as I've come unstuck myself with some mild steel silverline rubbish from evil bay.
Best bet is go for best you can afford and listen to advice from some of the master craftsman on here.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[heath]

You can't go wrong with a frosts carving knife and the push knife in the kit you're looking at is also very good, but i think that you would find it to be of limited use to begin with. To start up i would reccomend that you get a frosts 106 knife, a spoon knife (there are lots of good makers including british makers, ben orford and i've heard lots of good things about nic westermann). Don't worry about a saw, as you've probably got a general purpose saw that will do to begin with. With those two tools you can do everything that you mentioned in your post. Then when you want to move on to something else, buy the next tool that you need, but get the best that you can afford. I also use the flexcut tools that have been mentioned and they are very good for detail work.

 

[Mick w.]

What about a whittling pocket knife for a bit of on the fly practicing? You can pick them up for a tenner or so.

 

[bushwacker bob]

Very good advice from Heath there.
For less than £30 you could pick up a small mora and a crook knife blade from Nic Westerman of this parish.(http://www.nicwestermann.co.uk/).
Those two tools will enable you to carve what you like and decide if you enjoy doing it without buying lots of tools you may never use.

 

[Baggy]

Much as I like the flexcut kit I would not want to carve a spoon or mug with it, it is great for small detailed carving... IMHO.

Nic Westerman and Ben Orford make excellent blades, you can get just the blades from Nic which is great as you can put on a handle that suits you.

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Thanks all, appreciated. I just googled Frosts 106 knife and it came up at Amazon along with a load of other carving stuff, is there anything Amazon don't stock!?

Anyway, most convenient!

Cheers.

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Balls to Amazon, just had a look on Ben Orford's site, looks like good kit, reasonably priced, so I'll order from the little guy

 

[heath]

Ben's service is top class, he's a very friendly chap too.

 

[juttle]

You won't be disappointed with any of Ben's blades. Good gear and excellent service, I have a few of his knives!

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Just another thing, can anyone recommend a good book for beginners or maybe a website?

I have googled etc, but it's a minefield, don't know what to read for the best!

Thanks.

 

[Mick w.]

Here's a quick question, which may be of relevance to any other new carvers looking in; is it possible to OVER-sharpen a knife, to the point where it isn't as sharp as you expected? I've been trying to get a good edge on a rough rider pocket knife, been doing a dozen or more strokes on each face of the blade down a sharpening stone, then the same on the finer side, then wet/dry paper, then leather strop (moving blade the other way) but although it cuts fine on the easy, with the grain stuff, it struggles with anything else and also seems to dig in - what am I doing wrong, or is it just my cutting technique?

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

I personally wouldn't use the wet and dry unless you're after a convex edge, which isn't optimal for carving anyway. Also you should slide the knife away from the edge if you do use wet and dry, not just the strop.

I would guess it is your sharpening that's causing the problem unless you're expecting to be able to remove too much wood with each cut. Check your knife is shaving sharp before you start, and keep checking it as you carve if it bluntness too quickly it may have too acute an angle on the edge and my require a secondary micro bevel (though the stopping should do this anyway)

Don't know if that's any help. Lol much easier to check these things in person.

Cheers

Mat

 

[bushwacker bob]

Here's a quick question, which may be of relevance to any other new carvers looking in; is it possible to OVER-sharpen a knife, to the point where it isn't as sharp as you expected? I've been trying to get a good edge on a rough rider pocket knife, been doing a dozen or more strokes on each face of the blade down a sharpening stone, then the same on the finer side, then wet/dry paper, then leather strop (moving blade the other way) but although it cuts fine on the easy, with the grain stuff, it struggles with anything else and also seems to dig in - what am I doing wrong, or is it just my cutting technique?

Its a combination of things that cause your problems, Firstly the grind of your penknife is hollow with a secondary bevel, this can be improved by convexing the edge. I have several penknives and can only carve successfully with a couple of them, an Enzo PK70 being the best as it has a scandi grind. Also it does depend on what species of wood you are carving, pine and other fast growing species tend to have softer fibres that crush rather than cut. Harder woods are often easier to carve or even better is lime which is light and cuts rather than crushes. Try using a scandi grind knife such as a mora and when you think you have the technique sorted go back to the penknife. If you find a penknife with Chrome vanadium(cv) blades rather than stainless steel, they take a better edge than stainless ones.

 

[xylaria]

Very good advice from Heath there.
For less than £30 you could pick up a small mora and a crook knife blade from Nic Westerman of this parish.(http://www.nicwestermann.co.uk/).
Those two tools will enable you to carve what you like and decide if you enjoy doing it without buying lots of tools you may never use.

What this bloke says!!

you need very few tools. The greenman bushcraft set is well thought out, but nic westerman tools are really worth the money. I have one of his spoon knives. I will probably get more tools from hin in the future.

I make lovespoons to sell I mostly use frost mora, a little flex cut pelican, flexcut microscorp, An axe or bilhook, bacho saw, and the nic westerman spoon knife. The vast magority of the work is done with just the spoon knife and mora. Most old pros say it mistake for beginners to buy kits. I agree with this. Buy one tool at the time, and buy the best you can afford. Frost mora though cheap are good knives, but I found their spoon knife hard work. There is something gratifing about making things with the simplest tool set up possible.

 

[awarner]

I've got by so far with a Mora cheap blade which to be honest I use for everything not just carving and a cheap crook knife which I bought from a bushcraft site many years ago. Not carved anything too fancy but spoons etc and the recent acorn playing peice I posted a couple of weeks back it's certainly been fun.

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Spoke to Ben Orford today, should receive my hook knife and sloyd knife tomorrow!

Thanks all