Advice for first carving

[Freekboi]

Hey all, being a beginner carver, I'm having a little trouble deciding on what to do for my first project, so I thought I'd turn here for help. I'm interested mostly in caricature (especially gnomes, trolls & hillbillies), animal & animal caricature carving, whittling (esp. ball in a cage) and wood spirits. It doesn't have to be one of these, just as long as it's relatively easy (don't want to get discouraged) and doesn't require a load of tools. Thanks in advance.

[Tom-H]

Do a search for the 5 minute owl plans....But don't get discouraged if it takes longer then 5 minutes..To carve that is.Tom H

[Freekboi]

Tom, thanks for the advice. That 5-min owl looks like a good beginner project. I'm not too worried if it takes me 5 min or 5 days, I'm trying to get into carving for the fun of it and to kill time, so that's no problem.

[gene-messer]

Dont miss checking out Rick's beginners project's on this site .. The little hillbilly ..
also there are wonderful projects for beginners books on the market ..

[Freekboi]

Thanks Gene. Where exactly is the beginner projects page located, I can't seem to find it?

[MelNM]

Hi Freekboi

Here's the sight they were talking about. The carve is Rick in Seattle, he has a great website and also is great to do business with.
Here's the link to his website theres tons of others out there also.
www.littleshavers.com

As far as beginning carving goes, you could do about anything your determined to try. The trick is not to quit, you'll be your worst critic sometimes, but don't let that slow you down. What you'll find is the more carvings you do, the more you will learn.

Have fun carving
Mel

[gene-messer]

Freekbio .. I was talking about in this beginners thread that your in now .. scroll down to the post.. beginners project 111 and look at the little hillbilly project .. But to honest with you .. if you get on google search and type in Little Shavers Woodcarving Supply .. It belongs to Rick ..and go there .. The information to new carvers is priceless .. Everything from beginners carving tips to knives to use of tools is on there .. please as a beginner visit this wonderful site ..
God Bless ..
P. S . Looks like you alraedy got this good advice ..

[Eddy-Smiles]

Freekboi...About four years ago when I finally ran out of room to store all of the wooden fishing plugs that I had carved I decided that I wanted to take my carving up a notch. During a trip to the Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers I ran across the book, "First Projects For Woodcarvers" by Larry Green and Mike Altman. I don't know what level of expertise you have but I found this to be an excellent beginning book. They start you off with tool basics and then give a step by step for three or four carving projects. I started out with the "Scotty Dog" and must have carved a dozen or so before I finally felt confident enough to move on up to Wood Spirits and Ozark Bears. I think that the greatest advantage of carving from a book or article such as those that appear in Woodcarving Illustrated is that as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words!" It's one thing to tell someone to make a stop cut from "Point A" to "Point B" but quite another to show exactly where that stop cut goes, how long, and how deep. Good luck!

[Mitchell]

You know that you really don't have to carve anything specific either - just practice making cuts of different types, shapes, etc. It really does help and I still do it to keep "fresh".

[Freekboi]

Mel & Gene, thanks for the tip to the little shavers site, I checked it out and a lot of great stuff there!

Eddy Smiles, I totally agree with you when it comes to a picture being worth a thousand words when carving. It really helps to see the advice as it's being given.

Mitchell, that's what I've been doing lately is just practicing making different types of cuts and chips. It does seem to help

And thanks to all for all the great advice!