Carving Blank

[Carving Canuck]

Brand new carver. I have a couple of knives from pine forge and a bunch of Pfeil gouges that I picked up from a Chris Pye list and for some Follansbe 17th century carving. I saw a couple of videos on YouTube and thought that charicatures looked like fun and something my young children would enjoy. To that end I just picked up some 12/4 basswood (7 1/2" x 3').

After that long intro on to my question, what size should I cut the blanks up into? 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 6? x 9? The easy answer would be whatever design I'm carving but I'd like to know what the most common sizes are.

Thanks
Andy

[Bob K.]

You're right Andy...the size all depends on what you want to carve. Most of the caricatures I do are generally not more than about 6", but I occasionally do taller ones. Pete LeClair has a great book out called Carving Caricatures From Scratch. It's a great book and it shows you how to do a lot of different caricatures from blanks that are just about the size you are referring to. You might want to check it out.

[Doug R]

I agree with Bob it all depends on what your carving, I use 3" thick stock mostly and can cut it to fit most projects from stand alone figures to bottle stoppers to chains ect; if carving figures in motion you might use something bigger but your list is endless with the 3" stock. I suggest you start with whats available to you and just have fun with it as you advance in skill you will have a better idea whats right for you. Welcome to the forum and keep posting.

[JoeVM]

Welcome to the forum Andy. I generally cut my blocks 12, 16 or 18 inches long. Then whack off the length I need on each piece when I'm cutting it out. I leave them as thick as the stock is and choose the widths of the blocks so that none is wasted. If you only do a few at a time then you have more flexibility (like if you want a wide piece). Oh yes, you are right about caricatures -- they are the most fun.

[Steve Reed]

As you can see, all say the same thing, depends on the carving. Personally I've been doing a lot of bottle stopper caricature busts, so my most common size is 2"X2" by 4". This size works well for me. I have done some standing figures in the same 2by stock, but extended to 6 or 7 inches.