Good books for beginners

[Farmall]

Am new to posting here (I think my 3rd or 4th post), but been learning by reading just about all of the threads in the boards. Quite a lot of good material is spread throughout the site. I am looking at adding some good carving books to my library to learn more about this. As I am new, haven't picked (and not sure I ever will) a style or preferred carving form. Up to this point I would call myself a whittler, and am now working on some small santa characters for gifts for Christmas, along with a few other WIP. Here's a pic of some of what I've done, including WIP (that's a 4-inch ruler), I've given most of what I've done away, and have not painted or stained anything yet (that's another reason I am doing some Santas-learn about it!). Anyway, what books would you think every good carver's library would have?

[JIM QUILICI]

Farmall,

with out knowing what you want to carve, it is hard to give you names of books that will help you. I carve caricatures ....and I started with the three books by "Pete LeClair" 1. carving caricature figures from scratch 2. carving busts 3. carving heads...if you take each page and every picture and make sure you do just like he does .....no skipping around....but just like he does you will come to know the basics of carving...I have some carving buddies that I carve with, they wanted to learn how to carve eyes better...mouths and noses too.....but they skipped around did their own thing ........they never got any better and learned......nothing....they are still carving like they did before they read the books. also when you carve ...look at the carving and say to your self....self what could I have done to make this carving better...and try to do better ...next time. the reason I say that is some carvers carve the exactly the same way every time never get better they just carve ......because that is what they want to do ...but they never get any better. hope this helped you.
Jim

[Farmall]

First, I appreciate the post. And the caveat, "without knowing what you want to carve"....and the answer to that is that I don't know yet. Am trying the Santas to see if I like making small characters, and thus your suggestions are well appreciated. I will probably try other styles as well, chip carving, reliefs, animals, etc., to find what I like. It's always easier to learn if you like what your are doing! And I want to improve what I do as I do it....the dream would be that if you took each piece I did and placed them in chronological order, the improvements from one to the next would be obvious! I am old school enough to appreciate holding a book in my hand, reading it, referring to it as I work, and so on. Internet is great for speed and research, but, nothing beats a good book in hand.

I do have another reason for asking this as well..... After reading this site, there are suggestions about books scattered throughout each of the forums. I was hoping to get the suggestions in one place for not only my information, but information for others like me as well. So thanks again for your post as well as any others that are made.

[CarverFromNoWhere]

Every wood carver is going to have a different library. There is one book (actually it's two volumes of one book) that I think every carver would enjoy having since it covers about every aspect of carving, including all kinds of tool making and selection, a number of different styles of carving, information on wood grain, sharpening and a lot of other stuff. Here is a link over to Fox chapel for the book, I hope this helps. I would look through fox chapels book listings and also the different photo gallery sections and find out what it is ya want to carve.

Woodcarving Tools, Material & Equipment, Vol. 1

Woodcarving Tools, Material & Equipment, Vol. 2

Carl

[arbarnhart]

I like to learn by doing. This one got me doing things quickly:

Woodcarving Two Books in One: Projects to Practice & Inspire * Techniques to Adapt to Suit Your Own Designs by Antony Denning, Anthony Denning (Used, New, Out-of-Print) - Alibris

About this title: "There is project after project arranged in order of difficulty. For inspiration, a special gallery section includes dozens of museum-quality pieces with design ideas...you might have never even dreamed of."--"Chip Chats

I like the format and it is well written. It has split pages and a spiral binding so it stays open. The top half has projects, step by step, and the bottom half is techniques. So you pick a project to try (and there are several) in the top and keep flipping around in the bottom half to get the instructions on a given technique. You only have one book open and it stays open.

[DManning]

Just about anything written by E.J. Tangerman is good for beginning carvers. He covered all types of carving and lots of random information. I don't know if any of them are still in print, but, you could probably find them at used book sales, etc..
Rick Butz is another one that has a book covering everything from whittling to sign-making.
Once you decide on what type of carving you want to settle on, the options increase.
Good luck,
Dan

[RUssL.]

How to Carve Wood by Richard Butz covers many different types of carving,
project & techniques.

Easy Woodcarving by Cyndi Joslyn is just what is says and another sort of survey course in various projects and techniques.

The Weekend Crafter series book Woodcarving 20 great Projects for Beginners & Weekend Carvers by John Hillyer is yet another survey in projects in technique.

Any of these will lead you along and let you have a sense of accomplishment right from the get-go.

Good luck. There are hundreds of good carving books but these will get you started.

Russ

[Clifford_Parker]

Over and over I have posted that I believe that EVERY woodcarver's library should contain Whittling and Woodcarving by E.J. Tangerman. This book is filled with information.

Amazon.com: Whittling and Woodcarving: E. J. Tangerman: Books

[againstthegrain]

I have the "Complete Book of Woodcarving" by Everett Ellenwood. It touches on a little of everything.

[Farmall]

Thanks for the suggestions (and please keep them coming). I can see myself adding a shelf to my bookcase now!