What’s the Best Type of Wood for Carving?
Preparing A Hook Knife For Action – Bent On Perfection
But if you have one of these wacky looking tools (or are thinking about getting one) and wonder how the heck to put an edge on it, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll show you how to give yours a razor edge, with ease. If you’ve ever seen an old-timer whittle, chances are you saw him using the pull stroke. To perform this cut, imagine you’re paring an apple.
One of the best soft woods that can be used for carving, butternut has large wood grains, it is coarse, and of a light brown colour. Whittling it https://bestwoodcarvingtool.com/ with a knife or carving is very easy, and butternut is typically used by professionals because of its visible grains adding beauty to projects.
To cut out the spoon without cutting into the curves and contours of the piece simply make a series of cuts horizontal to the spoon up to the spoon’s outline. I typically use a bandsaw to cut out the spoon but for the sake of this post I used a hacksaw. It comes out just as good, it just takes a little longer. I use this cheap wooden spoon that I got some time back from a local dollar store to get the basic shape for many of my spoons. For a cooking spoon that will be used you will want to choose a hardwood so that the utensil will hold up to potential daily use.
Hold the wood in your left hand, the knife in your right with the blade facing towards you. Brace your right thumb against the wood, and squeeze your right fingers in order to draw the blade to your right thumb. If you want your whittling experience to be pleasurable https://bestwoodcarvingtool.com/wood-carving-tools-for-beginners/ and relaxing, keep your knife sharp. The first time I tried my hand at whittling, I noticed that the wood was getting harder and harder to cut. I figured it must have been the wood, so I just soldiered on, applying more and more pressure with the knife.
Or for the man looking for something meditative to help him center his thoughts. Or simply for the guy who wants to while away time on a camping trip.
It is soft and forgiving, which means it’s easy on your tools and will hold wood stain well. It’s also the best wood for whittling or to achieve intricate details in relief carving. While the softness of basswood makes it easy to carve against the grain, carving with the grain is always preferable for best results. Besides, you know, actually cutting wood, there are various other quick sharpness tests you can do.
Or you could just sort of wing it and make up your own pattern. I thought it would be cool to whittle a duck’s head, so I took a piece of wood, drew an outline of a duck’s head on both sides of it, and started whittling. After you’ve mastered the egg, you can move on to some simple patterns.Cowboy boots are a popular whittling project as well as animals. You can buy books with ready-to-go whittling patterns.
Robin Wood demonstrates how to sharpen his open curve spoon carving knife. Control your cut by holding it one-handed, thumb on the workpiece.Do not leave too much wood where the handle meets the bowl. The bottom of the bowl should dip down below the line of the handle, and the handle should be either straight or curved downward slightly. Here’s my first Youtube tutorial, it’s on how to rough out a spoon with a hook knife, shown is a basswood blank, it cuts about like green birch. Using hand tools to carve spoons is best done with freshly cut ‘green’ wood.
The First Rule of Whittling: Keep Your Knife Sharp
- As a soft wood, it is ideal for whittling with a simple knife.
- This glue is rated for direct food contact, however, the glue is inside the inlay pocket and most likely will NOT come in contact with any food.
- With all of Mother Nature’s options at hand, you may be wondering which wood is best for your own carving needs.
- In contrast, its softness and grainy texture make it less ideal for chip carving.
- Cuts made with the grain will peel away smoothly; cuts made against the grain will give resistance and eventually split.
- Have you ever felt the excitement of getting a new tool, only to realize you have no idea what to do with it?
By sheer coincidence, MoraKniv also just uploaded a video on sharpening the hook knife. Theirs includes some advice on touching up the outside bevel (which I glossed over here).
Now take light cuts with the grain, beginning at the front of the bowl. Get the surface as smooth as you can with the gouge. The absolute best spoon carving knife for your money is the Mora 106. The thin tips lets you carve tight corners and the laminated steel holds its edge well.
Wood Grain
If you search YouTube for “hook knife”, you’ll find lots of demonstrations covering a myriad of different sharpening and carving techniques. Strop every 5-15 minutes of carving time, depending on the wood you’re working with (it takes only seconds each time and makes a noticeable difference).
Quality, fine-grit wet/dry sandpaper works wonders on woodworking tools. And that’s exactly what I used best beginner wood carving set (along with 1/2” dowels) to make incredibly inexpensive – yet highly effective – sharpening rods.
We’ll show you, step by step, how to make a wooden spatula. Although one of the best woods for chip carving, sugar maple can be difficult to carve as it is a hard and dense wood. Sugar maple has a typically straight grain, with the potential for waviness, and an even and fine texture. It is great for musical instruments, veneer, baseball bats, and other speciality wood items. It is typically light to medium brown but there can be quite a variation in colour.
Now turn the spoon around in the vise and work on the outside of the bowl. Use a drawknife or handsaw to shape three large chamfers, two on each side and one on the end. Use a spokeshave to round over the edges of the facets.
I would advise staying away from the Mora spoon knives (162 and 164). The grind isn’t great, the 164 has a useless and frankly dangerous point at the end and the two edges of the 162 stops you from using several very useful grips. This tool will do the heavy duty shaping of your spoon, removing most of the material that isn’t spoon shaped.
Comments
