[oldirish]

brand new to carving - just ordered carving magazine - have only made walking sticks while walking - don't know`where to start ! what kind of wood to carve small iuems - ? what stores sell tools , wood ?

[Ashbys]

Hi Old Irish ,

There only only a few things needed to get started. First a little depends on what type of carving you want to do .

3-d forms,

1 carving glove
1 detail knife or pin knife, You can use many different knives but a starter set from little shavers is a good begining . This has a few chisels and a good starting knife. Rick will give you excellent information and sharp tools.
clamping vise Little Shavers Wood Carving Supply

Relief carving
a carving glove
a clamping fixture
Here I would suggest chisels , but the starter set from Rick will get you underway , but full size chisels are a real option.
Then check Susan's site Woodcarving Patterns, Classic Carving Patterns Online, Wood Carving Designs & Patterns Online

Chip carving
This is done with knives . Rick can help you again as well as Susan. Spend some time looking at the tourtial section and the different carving sections then we can help you more .

Ash

[Donna_T]

One of the second thing I'd recommend is to find a carving club to join. You can get help and inspiration from them--find out where the closest supplier of carving "stuff" is, and many clubs offer beginner carving classes. If you will look over on the left side of this board, under the title of Carving Community, you can see Club Search. Click on it, select the state you want, and scroll down through the list and see if there's a club in your area. If not, and there's an email address listed for some, email them and ask if they know if there's club in your area. If you find a carving show nearby, go to it and make contacts that will help you identify classes or clubs in your area.

Good luck and let us know if we can help you.

Donna T

[sccarnes]

old irish,
this site can be blessing and also a curse,lol, i discovered this site about 4 weeks ago , and to my joy , have spent many hours on the site, not much carving buts lots of information, also came to relize carving for my kids and what these great carvers do is as much as night and day,
but the great thing they are so ready to help any one who ask for help,
i was not sure if i would ever ask a question, but when i did i was amazed at the response,
these are truly nice people, and egos don't seem to matter
the one thread that jumps out to me,
was ask , have you ever looked at piece you carved and wondered?
i was taken back by the replys, and from top carvers too,
this site will challange you and i hope inspire you to do much more,
yesterday the site was down and i was having withdraw pangs, but the eavning came and my wife said" looks like all is right with the world," indeed it was,
i hope you will enjoy this site, i know you will learn,
so enjoy
sam

[oldirish]

DONNA -- thanks, but NO clubs even close to Utica, NY - old irish