How did you get started in wood carving

[breezly]

My father was a wood carver that's how I got into it .But what made you get into it and who has inspired you in your great adventure?

[Irish]

My Dad also was a woodworker and heavily into gun restoration which brought him to wood carving. When he closed down his workshop because of health issues he gave my husband many of his wood working tools, equipment, and a huge stack of Wood, Wood Worker, and Chip Chat magazines.

So as Michael lovingly oiled, polished, and fine tuned his new toys I browsed through the magazines and came across an article in Wood about carving feathers ... it was just this time of year because it was about three weeks before Christmas.

So ... being a crafter from way back ... I grabbed one of my kitchen paring knives and a scrap of pine lumber and had at it ... those feathers are still hanging here in my studio. I was so proud when I showed them to Dad. But when I told him out I did them he 'hurrumphed' and 'snorted'. About two weeks later under Dad's tree was a package for me.

YEP! My own bench knife, a set of six beginner tools and a bundle of basswood ...

Well, that's my story on how I got addicted to all of this.

Susan

[breezly]

That is a great story mine is somewhat the same .I hacked away at a piece of wood showed my dad and he gave me his set of millers falls gouges the ones with the green tips on the handles .I still have them put them in a display case and put them on my wall in my workshop.

[TreeWizard]

My great grandfather was a master cabnett maker and part of his training in the Black Forest region required him to learn to carve the items necessary for the things he was making.

When I retired my wife decided I needed something to keep me busy while she did her work around the house ( I took over the vacuuming and dusting).

She saw an add for some carving classes and suggested I go see if any of great grandpa's genes had sifted down to me. I took the class and the rest as they say is history.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

My old boss is a awesome wood carver, after seeing his work I was hooked.

Dave

[MackTheKnife]

My dad was a talented folk carver. He worked as an operator in a refinery, a job that entailed long periods of just sitting around. He would take a piece of mesquite and a pocket knife to work with him (try THAT these days!) and filled the down time by making chips. He never sold anything, but the family never let any of his carvings hang around long. He never taught me anything formally. I guess I just absorbed the lessons osmotically.

[BrandantR]

I loved carving when I was young, back in the Boy Scouts. I put my knife away in my teens and didn't pick it up again until about six years ago. I'm a mechanical engineer and after crunching numbers all day, I needed a creative outlet to let my mind relax. I remembered how much I enjoyed woodcarving when I was young, so I went to the local craft store and bought myself a truly terrible bench knife and a set of pittiful gouges. Even though the tools were of awful quality, I was hooked. Been loving it ever since.

[Donsexton]

I started when I was 6 or 7 for no reason other than I liked making things.

[ka0fan]

I got started more or less by money being in short supply and the need for a gift or two.
Wood magazine had an article on a spoon with 3 hearts and I had a chunk of walnut collected at the landfill. I decided I could at least give it a try and I have been carving off and on as time allowed since.
The spoon still hangs in the kitchen and my wife still likes it so the blisters from my old pocket knife were well worth it.
Happy Holidays to All

[cut up]

When I was in high school my grandpa tried to get me to duplicate a carving he had. I didn't have the patience or desire.
About 20 years later, my dad tried to get me interested in a carving program on TV. I had problems gripping anything due to RA, and dropped that idea once again.
A third time came around with tools and magazines that I had inherited from an uncle, and it took me a couple of years then I was hooked. You fine folk at the WCI forum have been my inspiration.
Thanks for a great time!
Michael