gift for my dad

HELLO , I need some help ....my dad is a begining carver and asked for some carving tools for christmas. I have no idea what to get him . Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
~Michelle

[Nancy-G]

Michelle -- You're a lucky person! Usually parents are so difficult to buy for and now you have unlimited choices. I suggest the first thing is a really good knife and strop to get him started right. There are many great brands to choose from. A Denny brand knife costs around $17 and a Diobsud is around $38 with other brands ranging between. You'll find many on-line catalogs ready to help. I buy a lot from Little Shavers Woodcarving Supply http://www.littleshavers.com.Merry Christmas

: A good knife and strop are absolutely essential and there are a lot of different shapes. The two most useful are about 1-1.5' long with either an upcurved cutting edge or a straight, flat edge. A good set of small chisles and gouges will be useful, too. You will often be told to buy the best tools available, and thats true but budget limitations may force you to compromise. A good, low cost set of 6 palm tools can be had for about $40. Top grade tool sets will go for about $100. Stay away from Chinese made tools.

Find someone in your area that can explain the basic tools for a beginner. It can be very frustrating to try and do it on your own and really expensive. Most carvers end up with a lot of tools and books on carving that are unnecessary. There has to be somebody around that you can talk to!

Would a gift certificate be in order here? Visit WWW.littleshavers.com and send Rick and e-mail from his site. He can help you choose the right set or arrange for a gift certificate and he can be trusted to give you good advice.

CB

Another place you can look at is www.woodcraft.com. This is where I've gotten alot of my own things. They have several begining sets, from Pfiel and other makers as well as Woodcrafts own products. You can also get wood from them. They have stores in most major cities in the US if you can get to one of them.

Joe

As a beginning carver, I am sure he would appreciate anything. Depending on the type of carving he is pursueing, a set of palm tools (around $30.00) woud be nice; a carver always needs a knife & there are many styles and price ranges to choose from; wood is good; patterns are helpful; a subscription to Woodcarving Illustrated would be a great present; if he is looking at becoming a bird carver, a subscription to Wildfowl Carving & Collecting would be very helpful; and a year of 'Chip-Chats' will keep him interested and up to date on whats happening in the carving world. Any or all of the magazines will introduce him to the variety of carving techniques out there and he will think of you each time he gets one in the mail!

Good Luck,
The Moonraker

I know that Christmas has come and gone but if you did buy your dad carving tools a good follow up gift would be a carving glove made of kevlar and or an assortment of band-aids.