Hey guys ... never carved a day in my life but am very artistic in many other ways .. i've been wanting to learn a little more about carving so that i can perhaps work on carving my own chess set ... if some1 could e-mail me sum info on what kinds of tools i need and what kind of wood is best to use etc. it would be much appreciated. Email me @ rodrigoneves@rogers.com please

[Kenny_S]

Contact Rick at:

Little Shavers

Woodcarving Supply

423 SW 104th St.

Seattle, WA 98146-1545
Web: www.littleshavers.com

e-mail: rick@littleshavers.com

e-mail: theresa@littleshavers.com

Rick will stear you in the right direction and will no tell you to buy tools you don't need starting out. Hope this helps you and WELCOME to a great relaxing hobby.

[BobD]

Welcome,
There's a lot of stuff out there on carving in general. A lot of what to buy is based on your own preferences. I'd suggest that you find a carving club in your area and hang out with those carvers. Many will let you try their tools and give you pointers on using them (there's something about this hobby that makes people come out of the woodwork to help you out. When I started carving 8 years ago, I had carvers giving me knives, roughouts, patterns and lots of advice.

If I can be of any help, I'm usually only a click away!!!

Bob Duncan
Fox Chapel Publishing

[mikeg]

You might check out 'Carving Small Characters' by Jack Price if you want to do a charicature type chess set. He goes into carving 2' tall figures which I've thought would be a reasonable size for a chess set. There are probably plenty of other books that would help as well.

mikeg

[Chahlie]

Welcome Rodrigo!

I would echo the advice to connect with a local carver's club...lots of different people with different ways and styles to help you learn this wonderful hobby.

Chahlie

[squbrigg]

Welcome Rodrigo,

Carving is a wonderful, relaxing, imaginative and rewarding hobby. You will never regret beginning.

I would suggest a few simple and in-expensive tools to begin with. You can spend a fortune on tools , so be careful and purchase only what you need to get started.

For carving a chess set, a good project to start with for beginners, as simple as you wish or as detailed as you wish. You'll need a good carving knife, some stones to sharpen it, a strip of leather and polishing compound to keep your edge keen, and lots of time. Simple as that. Oh yes, a carving glove will be most useful, helps protect you from thos sharp edges.

As for buying all kinds of elaborate carving sets and the like, tread carefully. Attend a carving club meeting or take a class in carving, or if none are available in your area, ask around till you find a local carver and go talk to him and see his work. Most carvers will be happy to let you give their tools a try there and then, but don't ask to borrow them, that's a no no.

You don't need to spend a lot to get started, just some basics, so do some homework and only buy what you need. Collecting tools will come naturally over the next years, and will provide all kinds of ideas for family gift buying for holidays and birthdays.

Good luck and happy carving.

Bob

new whittler-carver on the block...

dont think ill afford much compitition,,

just posted some of my stuff on the pictrail site
http://www.picturetrail.com/thomp ..

nothing too great just whittlings, i think there major accomplishments with as little bleading as i went through,,,
most of my carvings were given away these are ones that i managed to hang on to..

thanks for the oppertunity for me to share,

wish you good eye sight and sharp knives, carve on..
thomp

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Hey thomp, you have a good start there, except ???? that looks like a right foot to me! ??? :

Welcome fellow knee carver

[Donna_T]

Welcome Thomp,
You'll find lots of good advice, sympathy, and a few chuckles here. Most importantly, you'll make some good carving friends on this site, and even though you may never meet them in person...they'll be good friends.
Donna T