Very new to this

[saemerson]

Hello all.

I just signed up for this tonight. Glad to be on here. I am a business man, but love working with my hands, and making things. I have always been intreged by the art of wood carving, but have never had any exposure to it.

I have 7 boys, and I thought that this would be something really fun that we could all enjoy together.

Please let me know how to get started, what I need to learn, what tools I will need for the very beginning, etc..

Looking forward to your reply.

[Ron T]

Hello and welcome. Carving will indeed be something some, if not all, of them will enjoy. You've certainly got your hands full and I would suggest you take it slow as far as tool are concerned since you've got seven pairs of hands to fill.

You could just get them some pocket knives and let them whittle or you might try to find a local carving club to go to. I don't know what area you live in but the carving magazines list carvinbg clubs. There's also the scouts to consider.

Good luck.

[lorax]

It's cool that you are doing it together. I don't know where you are, but if you are close to a carving club, that might be an idea.

[blanchard65]

wouldn't be nice if you do this and your kids do it, And then it gets past down. Its better than running the streets and get in trouble

[tucker1931]

Hey there new friend, if'n I had 7 boys, there wouldn't be any money left over for wood or carving tools, I suggest you take up knitting, it'd be a whole lot cheaper. (of course I'm only kidding you) it's a wonderful hobby, I've been at it less than a year and I'm having a great time. Welcome to our little group, you'll find lots of help on here for sure. Good luck.
Ciff

[gene-messer]

YouTube - whittler0507's Channel

With 7 boys .. who has the time .. but if your interested for beginners .. I have left you a link above to watch the actual process of carving a project for beginners ..

Check it out and see if you are interested .. Anyway I .. can help .. please feel free to ask

Gene

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Beginner's Carving Set at Little Shavers

As for beginners tools and anything else you may need, this is a good place to start. Good honest people. Good luck.

Dave

[chuckt]

Welcome to the wild and wooly world of wood carving and the WCI board! Turn back now - while there's still hope for you and your boys. ;-)

Seriously, I wish I could get my two boys into it - but they're too busy banging on the drums and playing bass and guitar. At least my youngest - one of my daughters has shown interest and came to the woodcarver's roundup with us last year.

So - you've received great advice so far. One of the first things to realize is just how many different styles of carving there are. Before you invest in any tools you may want to read up (there's a TON of great books out there, as well as LOT'S of info on the web) and see what kinds of carving whet your appetite. There's chip carving (which is basically using patterns of basic triangular cuts to remove chips and decorate wooden objects), there's flat plane Scandanavian style to create characters and animals(simple cuts that leave flat facets without much rounding out), there's relief carving of any subject matter (landscape scenes, faces, etc. - think drawing a picture in wood that has a little depth too), there's "in the round" sculptural carving both life like and also more stylistic (giving the shapes without much or any detail). Then there's a HUGE range of subject matter - holiday (Santas etc), animals and wildlife, faces, mythological creatures. As you can see there's a HUGE range to choose from and I've only scratched the surface.

The reason this is important? Well - the tools you buy should be appropriate to the type of carving you want to do. My guess is that the suggestion to start with Rick's (Little Shaver's) beginner's kit is the right way to go if you are looking to start out carving simple characters and/or whimseys (things like a ball in a cage, or wooden chain links etc.) This will help you get oriented to learning basic cuts, how to handle knives and gouges safely, how to sharpen them and maintain an edge etc. without having to spend a bundle on tools. This way you and your son's can learn basics, test the waters, and see if this is really the thing for you before you get a bad case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

Hope this helps a little! Best of luck. OH - most importatly if you're doing hand held carving - GET A CARVER'S GLOVE and THUMB GUARD and USE them!!! (This IS in the Little Shaver's Beginner's Kit btw)

ChuckT

[GeorgiaCarver]

Welcome to the forum. Jump right in and enjoy it.

Greg

[squbrigg]

Welcome aboard, and congratulations! Seven sons...... wow, I can't even begin to imagine a household with seven boys! I barely survived raising two girls and thank goodness they made it to adulthood and are off on their own. But boys I understand and I applaud your decision to get them interested in wood carving. You will be introducing them into a skill that they can take with them into their whole lifetime and provide countless hours of enjoyment, for a very modest outlay of cash.

A beginners set or two from Little Shavers will provide the boys (and yourself) with a good beginning, a bit of Basswood or Pine or a host of other woods, will keep them busy and focused, for hours. Some good instruction on the safety merrits will be required, carving gloves and thumb guards for each carver and a extra-large supply of bandaids for the shop will be essential. A couple of books about carving would add to your pleasure and the boys learning experience. "Elements of Wood Carving" by Chris Pye, and "How to Carve Wood" by Richard Butz, are the two I recommend most often. Check out your local library to keep costs down and see what they have on their shelves to borrow.

Each carver should have their own knife, just a simple Murphy's knife to start with, and strop (A leather strip usually glued smooth side down to a board and rough side used for quick touch up sharpening).

Feel free to ask lots of questions here, it is a great resourse and some great carvers here ready and willing to help you along the way.

Bob