Getting Started
If you are thinking about getting started in woodcarving you are probably wondering what you need to get started. Well, to begin with you need a good imagination. Can you look at a piece of wood and see something in it. If you can it helps. Can you imagine a bird, a human figure, a face or a cartoon like figure, human or amimal. As far as material all you need to get started is a piece of wood, any size and a knife. Do you need one of those fancy $50 wood carving knives. No! A good pocket knife will do. However there are some very inexpensive woodcarving knives that are excellent to carve with and are of good workmanship. These knives can be purchaced for less than $10. But remember, I said woodcarving can be addicting. If the bug bites you will be tempted to spend a lot of money on tools. This is not necessary. More tools and more expensive tools will not help you to carve that much better. What will help you is more practice and carving with other more expirenced carvers. This is where joining a woodcarving club might be a good idea.There are some hazards associated with woodcarving as you might imagine since you will be handling razor sharp knives and cutting tools. You might as well get you a good supply of band aids ready because you will get cut and possibly seriously if you are not very very careful. So when carving think about your safety at all times. Also you need to think about the safety of others and don't leave your knives and tools laying around with the sharp edges exposed.
What kind of wood should you use? The best wood to use is whatever is easy for you to obtain. Most carves prefer basswood. Basswood grows in this area and can be cut and dried. It can be purchaced by mailorder or picked up at woodcarving shows. If there is a sawmill in your area they usually have basswood at times. You may need to talk to the operator and have him set some aside for you. Pine is good to carve but splits fairly easily. One of the advantages of basswood is that it is tight grained unlike pine and holds together well. It doesn't split easily and carves easily. Walnut carves easily but is a little brittle and splits and breaks fairly easily. It also is plentiful in this area and is easy to obtain. Walnut is a beautiful wood which makes up for any difficulty in the carving if it. Of course if you use Walnut you would want to finish it with some type of clear finish to let the natural beauty show through. It would be a waste to paint it with an opaque finish. More on wood later!!
