Ah where to begin...

[pnhearer]

That seems to always be the question I pick up a new hobby. I did a little homework and read suggestions and it seems the general advice is to grab a tool, grab some wood and practice. So I'll start my questions from here in the hopes I had picked the correct location to post this.

1.) I have the money, do I spend the money and get a nice starter set from say Two cherries or Ashley Illes? or do i find a v gouge. a knife and start there? or both even!

2.)Wood. Well Wood in Hawaii isn't non existent but they probably don't have basswood here either. Anyone know a guy who knows a guy on the island of Oahu who sells wood? I have been poking around and I haven't found anyone. V/r, Eric USN

[jmischel]

I would suggest the following to get started:

• A bench knife. A good and inexpensive knife to start with is the Murphy bench knife.
• A leather strop and stropping compound.
• A kevlar carving glove.
• A thumb guard.
• A good block of basswood.

Everything else is optional. You can get the above for under $50, and you can carve many, many things with just that one knife. As for where to get it, I highly recommend Little Shavers.


After you've determined that you really enjoy this hobby, then start looking for recommendations to expand your tool set.

[mpounders]

Jim is not steering you wrong.....start slowly before you purchase massive quantities of tools. Specific tools will not magically make it easy to carve! But learning to sharpen and keep your tools sharp, and the right kind of wood, will let you learn some important cuts and how to make them before you buy things you discover you don't need. Here are a couple of places to order some wood:
Heinecke Wood Products 715-822-3524 Heinecke Wood Products best basswood
Itasca Wood Products 218-256-8094 Itasca Wood Products basswood, diamond willow
Most people order their bass wood, because it is better wood than what you will usually get from anyone locally. Don't forget the glove and the thumb guard! Carving isn't a lot of fun with a gash in your thumb or hand! And you can cut yourself really easily and rally badly!

[Robson Valley]

Eric: Have you looked at enough carvings to get some sense of the carving style that's appealing?
The tool selection changes quite a bit. I'll tell you which Pfeil gouges to buy, what weight of mallet and so on. Knife or knives? Kevlar glove? Not needed at all.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Ditto Jim and Mike! Most of all, just have fun!

Dave

[Beaujangles]

I bought my first little set of gouges and a few blocks of basswood at the woodcraft halfway between the airport and Honolulu. Spent about a hundred bucks. You probably would be a bit happier with the stuff the guys recommended above, but I'm also active duty also and sometimes you just don't know if you'll still be in town after the 3 weeks it takes to get out to the island. It's also nice to walk in and walk out with something you can inspect in person before you buy. Most of their stuff earlier this year was flexcut.

[pnhearer]

Originally Posted by Beaujangles

I bought my first little set of gouges and a few blocks of basswood at the woodcraft halfway between the airport and Honolulu. Spent about a hundred bucks. You probably would be a bit happier with the stuff the guys recommended above, but I'm also active duty also and sometimes you just don't know if you'll still be in town after the 3 weeks it takes to get out to the island. It's also nice to walk in and walk out with something you can inspect in person before you buy. Most of their stuff earlier this year was flexcut.

I had seen the store add and did some looking around in there and noticed that they had flexcut stuff. I saw that the flexcut is made to flex in some form or another and I figured that it wouldn't be a good choice due to that special property. If I don't know if I like the standard tool that doesn't flex why would I buy something that does when starting out? It could totally throw me off an experience i quite enjoy.


I think I will try Jim's selection first as it seems the most money efficient and I will give the wood supplier a try as well.

Robinson: I don't want to adopt a style from anyone, I'd like to develope my own. I have looked and seen interesting pieces that give me that "OH COOL!" feeling but none of the stuff really strikes home with me.

So now that I got some direction, how about something a little more specific. Sharpening.. or honing as I have seen it called. Anyone got a suggestion?

[Steve Reed]

pnhearer, you ask the questions that will get a bunch of responses! As far as tools, the advice above is sound. Too many times beginners make a massive investment, find out it's not easy, and there sit the tools. Jim is spot-on. As far as sharpening, learn to do it and learn to strop often. A properly sharpened knife or gouge really should only be "sharpened" again if there is a nick in the blade. Most of the time stropping will freshen the edge. There are a zillion ways to sharpen from cheap (sandpaper and a flat surface) to expensive (various sharpeners by various makers). I would recommend staying away from sharpening machinery until you get the hang of it. It's real easy to ruin a good tool when learning on one. A good set of ceramic stones like the ones that spyderco sells will last for years and work really well.
Best of luck and keep us informed on your progress!
Happy Carving!

[jmischel]

There's nothing wrong with Flexcut tools, by the way. In fact, they're good tools. I have a couple that I use regularly. The KN12 "Cutting knife" is the first real carving knife I ever purchased (before that I used a couple of pocket knives and a utility knife), and it's what I typically use on my small "found wood" carvings. It's a good solid tool that sharpens easily and holds an edge well, even when I'm carving harder woods like apricot, mesquite, and pear. If it flexes, I haven't noticed it.

That said, I wouldn't recommend the KN12 as a first knife. I think that Murphy bench knife is a better all-around tool for the beginner. I suspect that Flexcut makes a good bench knife that would rival or surpass the Murphy. But I don't know for sure. I have used the Murphy, though, and know many other carvers who started with it. They've all said that it's a great tool.

Oh, and I can't stress enough the importance of the glove and thumb guard. Learn from our mistakes, and wear them. Every time you carve. Please be the one carver who doesn't leave a message one day saying, "I knew better, but . . ."

[mchuray]

Wood; Rockler has a sale on a basswood box of 20lbs for $25 . Basswood Carving Blank Assortment, 20 lbs. - Rockler Woodworking Tools It may not be the best , but for a start it seems to be doing just fine. Right now I'm working on trying to do noses. Once I master that to some extent I'll try ears.
Tools: I have a Flexcut knife and a couple of their gouge blades with a palm gouge handle and it does just fine. I do plan to get get some more gouges and several different knives as I need them though. Haven't decided on whic manfacturer yet, Flexcut's yellow stroping compound works well with a piece of tooling leather I got from Hobby Lobby for $6. Glued part of it to a piece of MDF and glued some of it to groves that I cut a a block of basswood. I already have a set of stones although I'll need a tapered gouge stone (slip) of some type I expect.
Get Physically ready: At my age I'm going slow until I can get my strength up for carving. Like any new endevor you have to get your body ready by regular workouts. In this case it is the hands and arms. Keep your carving sesions short at first. Cuts occure mostly when one is tired. Accessories: A filet glove from Bass Pro or such is cheap insurance. Also bought a thumb guard, but found that they slip a lot so I ordered some carver's tape. Seems to work better. Found out that this is some sort of veternary tape that sticks to itself . So you can check out those resources.
Knowledge resources: Check out all the tutorials on the web. There are many. Harold Enlow's book on carving faces for $14 from Amazon is also helpful. There are several books on caricature carving
HTH,
Mark