Beginner Books?

[Boy Scout]

Hello all,

I am in search of a few good beginner books. I am very interested in flat plane carving to start with. A book that covers all the basics would be helpfully but I am also in search of a book with some patterns.


Any help is greatly appreciated

[Claude]

Either of these by Harley Refsal would be good.

Fox Chapel Publishing - Woodworking books and magazines for the inspired woodworker

You could also look at several of Gene Messer's videos on YouTube - he has several good ones on carving in the flat plane style (search for Whittler0507)

Claude

[A_Swope]

Yep, Harley Refsal.
I don't have any books, but I hear they're good.

[Boy Scout]

That book looks like a great start. Thanks for all the help

[BullRunBear]

Check out "Carving Small Characters" by Jack Price. I just got a copy and it looks like it will be an excellent primer. It isn't specifically for flat plane carving but lends itself to that style. It also provides very detailed instructions on faces and how to vary them. Like Harley, he only uses a few basic tools of all his carvings.

As mentioned above, Gene's video tutorials are excellent.

Good luck.

Jeff

[bigEd_H]

Claude hit the nail on the head, I have both and they are a great start or addition to any carver's book collection. Jeff's suggestion of Jack Price is another good one. Gene Messer's videos are another good thing -- do a search on Youtube for whittler0507.

[Graywolf71]

I'm going to jump on the Gene Messer band wagon here, though i do like Harely's books, But i learned by watching Gene on his first youtube videos and i've never looked back. The first plus with Gene is he post his instructions for free and his teaching method is so simple to follow its easy to get a great carving in no time flat. So save your money till you see if your going to like flatplane, but i know you will we all do, and start with Gene. I know i sound Biased

Michael Gray