Almost finished 1st carving

[Kitbass]

Hey folks,

I have almost finished my first carving and I am part way through colouring it. I have had an absolute blast doing it and I am definitely up for more .
I have done it all with the 3 knife set from Flexcut but I noticed there was times when I though a set of chisels/gouges might have helped out a bit. Should I go for one of the sets from Flexcut as well or are there other makes that are of better quality?
I will put up some pics of my project once I have finished it and I would love to get some feedback on it. Also if anyone can suggest some other things to carve I would love to hear them as I want to try a few different styles before settling on the subject that I want to keep carving.

Thanks again all

Keith

P.S. I got my first Issue of the magazine and it was awesome, I learned so much from it, can't wait to get others

[blanchard65]

look forward to seeing carving painted, Check some of genne messer or lynn doughtys vidios they are what got the knife in hand for me

[LBlake]

Sounds like you have an idea of the profile(s) you would like to use, which is good. It's easy to go crazy trying different profiles. I tried lots when I was starting out, but after a while, found myself doing almost everything with just a few profiles. I started with the small Flexcut palm carving set, then I eventually moved to some Pfeil tools which are what I use almost exclusively now. I found the Pfeil (Swiss-Made) tools held an edge a bit longer. Just my two cents. Have fun!

[Ed Redwine]

A plus for Flexcut is they come to you already sharpened. A plus in my book.

[Kitbass]

Thanks for the tips. I noticed when I was carving the figurine I really could have used a V tool but I am not too sure about others I may need. I am still trying out different styles but I would love to get a bit more detail on future ones. Is it better to get a set now or just buy individual ones once I think I need them? I notice on a lot of patterns I have seen that people use a variety of different ones so I am a bit unsure whether to make the purchase now or later.
What do you guys think?

[Dpinkham]

I am relatively amateur at carving, but I would say it depends on your money situation. If you have the time and money to invest, then get a good set with diversity. But, if you find that you do not have lots of money laying around, get what you need one tool at a time, over time. You'll find years down the road that you have all you need. The advantage to getting them all together though, is that it's a bit cheaper, depending on where you look.

Hope that helped.

[Claude]

Keith:
Of of the first things I bought when I got back in to carving several years ago is this set:
Carving Tools - FR310 Beginners Palm Set Flexcut Tool Company from Flexcut. I mostly carve santas/caricatures less than 8 inches tall, so this set, plus my Dockyard micro Sculptor's set, is quite adequate for nearly all my carving. I still use this Flexcut set today, and the most overworked gouge of the bunch is the #3, followed closely by the V tool.

Claude

[Big Barn]

Like Claude, I have & like the Flex-cut set. I also have the Warren set. They have advantages of changing blade configurations & handles. Some swear by them & some swear at them. I'd recommend if you have a carving club near by - please attend. I'm positive you will get all the 'hands-on' testing you'll ever need to make your own decision.

[Kitbass]

Well my wife bought me a set of the interchangeable Flexcut carving set and I have had so much fun with them I splashed out and ordered myself the 20 piece kit to get some extra tools. I am loving them and they have made a huge difference to my carvings already so I can't wait to get the bigger set to be able to do a lot more.
I also found that I enjoyed relief carving quite a bit. I still haven't fully decided what style I am going to concentrate on just yet but I have a friend that asked me to do a figurine after seeing my first attempt. I did an Angel in the style of the Willow Tree figurines for my mum as a mother's day present and she loved it. I will try to put up some pictures in the next couple of days for you guys to look at and give your opinions on.

Take care and stay safe