Several years ago my father passed away. His favorite past time was to spend hours upon hours
out in the garage carving figures. I have many of them on display in my home. I was cleaning out
my garage the other day and came across several tool boxes full of fine wonderful carving
tools. I would realy like to start carving figures and cary on in his footsteps. I have the tools
I have the wood, he had left me everything. I still can feel his hand as I go through his old kit.
Several unfinished figures and some practice items. Pre cut blocks in rough form/ shape.
Could someone point me in the right direction. I need a good instruction book. I would like to do figures as my father did. My main hobby is sailing and I have plenty of time to carve once im moored for the night.

Let your imagination run wild, your knife will catch up to it! Sounds to me like you may want to keep some of the tools just the way they are. Build a nice display case for them. Ether way that is a nice story, I know how you feel.

[makenchips]

Jack, Â*I too know how you feel. Â*I also took up woodcarving after my father had passed away. Â*Funny how I never took the time to learn this art from him before hand. Â*Anyway, Â*the first thing I would do is look for a local carving club where you live. Â*This has been my best teacher and many new friends have been made. Â*The second thing I would do and you have already found it is this web site along with a subscription to Woodcarving illistrated and Chip Chats magazine. Â*Both of these magazines are excellent motivators and teachers. Â*As for a book I would hold off until you figure out what it is exactly you want to do in carving. Â*Just because your father did characters doesn't mean you will enjoy that the most. Â*I would try a little bit of everything. Â*Good luck and keep us posted. Â*Any questions you have just fire away many good carvers on this board with loads of knowledge. Â* 8)

[mdallensr]

Clubs are a great way to start, and to meet carvers who always seem to want to help. I take a class every week with carvers who've been with the same group for as many as 15 years. All our new carvers start with four basic figures 'in-the-round', to teach the basic knife cuts and safety. You'll see a lot of these simple figures at carving shows: a whale, dog, pig etc. After those basic figures, we move on to other in-the-round objects or try relief carving. Many of our round carvers do caricatures, the rest do birds and other animals. I guess the point is not to limit yourself too early, and to learn the basics of the craft, not just how to carve a figure.

Most of us would agree that carving humans, particularly faces, is very difficult without instruction, and could lead to early discouragement. Most clubs sponsor seminars that focus on one project for a week-end, and you can learn a lot for a few $.

If you want a good book or two, check your library for Chris Pye, Graham Bull, and ? Butz. Take one of their simple lesson examples and follow it all the way through. You'll build confidence before you destroy it. If you visit a carving museum, be prepared to feel totally inadequate. After I visited Mooney Warther's museum in Dover, Ohio, I didn't carve for three months. The masters are awesome.

Chip Chats list carving shows all over the country, and you'd be amazed at the variety of carvings, from beginners to masters, and the helpful folks you'll find. One good show would give you more leads for becoming a carver than you could deal with.

Hi Jack,
All of the above advice is worth taking. Get a good general carving book that has patterns. The carver named Butz has a first name of Rick and he has written several books . He had a series on PBS for awhile. Start off simple and build up the complexity from that point. There is the danger of discouragement if you tackle too ambitious a project to start. This is especially true if you are alone. Learn the different cuts that you can make and the feel of a knife/gouge in the wood. It is worth it to purchase a carving glove made out of Kevlar. Get the heavy one and one that goes over the level of your wrist. It will save you from slices but not pokes. Start off using it and you will accustom yourself to the feel

There are many books that are available. Go to a carving show that is nearby. Let me know if you are in Illinois as I can direct you. Try to join a caving club. I am the librarian for our club and we maintain an extensive collection that is available to the members.Take a class. You can learn in a weekend what someone else learned over years. 'Knowing how' is distinct from doing it. The latter comes from hours of practice. Once you are up and at it, get a book that goes step by step. There are many. The Tom Wolfe series on caricatures is excellent as are Jeff Phares for native American busts. Jeff lived nearby and is an excellent carver. Wolfe also has a video series that is good. There are others as well depending on your interests.

You have to believe you can do it. There will come a point after some years that you will feel more confident but your skills will always continue to improve. That was a good story. Your Dad is probably smiling and saying, 'Finally, what took him so long'. Well, we will try to help you so you can be up to the test when you see him again.

[mdallensr]

Since advice if free, let me add some more. Stick with it! Carve regularly. Make a place to carve that you can go to and carve without a lot of make-ready. My wife paid for my first tools and lessons for Christmas several years ago, and my instructor made a big deal about making sure she knew that wood chips are not 'dirty'.

The strength of clubs and weekly classes is mostly in forming a routine and habit of carving. This is true in spades for chip carving, which takes a little time to develop, and not much time to lose skill. What I know from myself and watching others is that just about anyone can become a decent carver without being born one. You can almost adopt a paint-by-numbers approach. The instructors and books are priceless in moving you along.

It's no surprise to see so many educators in our carving group. If you trust the process, you can carve projects that will amaze you. This is one of those skills that can be taught and learned given willing participants. Probably the best analogy is learning a second language by the 'immersion process'. As we say when we screw up a carving, 'it's just a piece of wood, and there's lots more where it came from'.

I have been carving for about 7 years. My daddy was a carver and I did begin before he passed away. He even got back to it some when I would visit. There is a book 'Wood Carving for beginners' by Ken Scott. I took a course from him at War Eagle and he is a GREAT teacher and this book is 24 pages long and chock full of easy to follow instructions. i also use some of Daddys tools and feel his hand guiding me as I carve. I wish you lots of good times carving. Mary

The biggest step is the 'want to'. Have a hobby and that is great but if you truely love to carve, it will eventually become a passion. Good luck on gaining confidence with each piece. Don't give up. I have an early piece from a great carver. His early piece is very bad but now he is a great carver. He wants it back so he can burn it but it is my inspiration.

You will not believe how nice and helpfull the people at a carving show can be!!! And all you have to do to know where and when they will be held is to subscribe to Woodcarving Illustrated and Chip Chats. Show information is ALWAYS posted in the back of these fine magazines. Look through these postings and you WILL find one within driving distance of you.
WoodCarving Illistrated (the sponsers of this message board) also has step by step how-to projects in every issue that even a beginner can do.
Learn to sharpen those tools properly first, get a carving glove second, and carve. Don't expect to hack out an award winning carving the very first time(unless you are much better than you let on) and never quit trying. Clubs,shows,this message board, and many individual web sites (many of which you can find right here by simply reading all of the messages) are always available to you .
Carving and remember to protect your lungs from dust as well as your hands from cuts.

Grumpy,
Did you ever find out how to build up eyes to make them look more real?
I do it by covering the painted eye with High Gloss Poly (varnish) put on each eye with a toothpick...Just dip the tip of the toothpick (about 1/8') in the poly and touch it tothe center of the eye. You want enough poly that it will just spread out to the entire eye, but not so much it runs out onto the face. Prop the carving to where the eyes are facing up and let each coat dry 3-5 hours before applying another. Each coat builds up and adds shine. As you get to the last coats, just put smaller drops in the very center and it helps build up the dome shape. It's a great way to finish animal eyes as well as human and makes them more lifelike. I just get a small can of whatever poly (usually Red Devil) that hardware or Walmart has.

If I screw up when carving an eye and don't get much of a convex, or have trouble with the lid, I just go ahead and clean it out to the almond-shape of the eye socket and paint it anyway--and don't forget to add a white highlight for the human eye (not animals).

Anyway, somewhere back in time I saw where you'd posted the question but didn't remember if it was answered.