Greetings, I'm new.

[Greg R]

Greetings! I'm an amateur woodworker and am very interested in beginning to carve. Can anyone suggest good books to purchase to help me learn?

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

if you look in the top left hand corner of this page you will see in the first block "give a gift" click on that and in the column on the left is a whole series of books Fox Publishing prints!

[AlArchie]

Greg, "carving" covers a whole spectrum of disciplines. Relief, caricature, animal, human, birds, fish, architectural, canes, furniture trim.......well, you get the idea.

Figure out what your passion is, and then look for some books to cover the material.

Make sure you pick some with BASIC instructions, and simple patterns to start with.

Another good idea is to find at least one good book on selecting and sharpening tools. A lot of your decisions on which tools to get will depend on the type of carving you wish to do.

Al

[Donna_T]

Welcome Greg,
A big HOWDY from Missouri. We're glad you're here and this is where you'll get all kids of carving help.

Rick Butz has a couple of really great carving books that will give you some exposure to 2-3 different types of carving. It's been a favorite of mine from the git-go.

Al Archie is right. You really need to identify which kinds of carvings you want to concentrate on first. Caricature, relief, chip, animals, realistic, stylized--they all have particular carving tools that make it easier to get the look you want. Whether to use palm tools vs mallet tools is determined by the types of carvings you'll be doing.

Regardless of kinds of carvings and tools, it's important to learn how to select, care for, sharpen, and use them safely.

Again, we're glad you are here. Let us know if we can help.

Donna T

[Tom-H]

Greg, Welcome to this board. I too am a woodworker from Ohio, who is trying my hand at carving. New to Board and carving. Lots of experience and answers here. TOM H

[Greg R]

I appreciate all the great feedback from you folks. I've found over the years that woodworkers are among the most friendly and helpful people around. I believe my primary
interest(s) are caricature, canes and relief. God bless all!
Wink

[Mitchell]

Greg,

The "BEST" way to get started is to find someone to teach you one-on-one. If you can find a club nearby, that would be a good start. There are MANY EXCELLENT carvers in Ohio.

Tips:
1. Learn to use safety practices early - how to handle a knife, gouge, etc. Wear a glove and thumb guard.
2. Learn how to sharpen your tools and keep them sharp
3. Learn about tools - specifically the types of gouges.

When you get those three things down, then you start enjoying carving a bit.....
That's sort of a joke, but there's some reality in it. I offer it only from experience.

Go to some of the sites that have beginner information and read a bit.

www.littleshavers.com
www.carvingpatterns.com
www.woodcarvers.com


Lastly, feel free to come here and ask any questions that you may have!

[Tom-H]

Greg, Where in Ohio? TOM H for Ohio too.

[Mark N. Akers]

Greg:
Welcome to the site you will meet some
neat people willing to answer any questions.

[MDWine]

Welcome to the forum!

You could follow my example, and try to buy them all!!! I'm getting a rather large collection including the large backissue-buy of WCI!! (I can't wait!) Problem is, I'm a book junkie!

I really like Cyndi Joslyn and Sean Cipa up to this point (rank beginner). Both provide excellent step by step instructions that will get you well on your way.

Try the Dec issue of WCI, Cyndi had a Santa ornament step-by-step article that was EXCELLENT, IMHO! (Thanks Cyndi!) This was my first carving, and I made three of them. The s-b-s guide shows exactly how, it was great!

Just get to carvin', and keep at it! The worst you can do is learn and make chips!

Most of all, have fun!