[pwood]

just wanted to check in with the board. i'm brand new to carving and
i really enjoy it. picked up a class at a local community center. some
nice folks willing to share knowledge and tools.

i'm on the carving the dog stage right now. next is dinosaur :>) i really
want to get started on the tanglewood fireball this week though. i'm
setting up a shop in my garage. holding off on buying any power tools
for now. the community shop has a band saw for use in class.

i'm reading everything i can and keeping an eye out on eBay and Craigslist
for hot deals on power tools :>) if anyone has a lead on a band saw or
the dremel type tools please feel to contact me.

has anyone ever hired one of those "master german" carvers for private
lessons? we have two nearby. i'm waiting to see how i do for a few months before i sink any $$ in private lessons though.

i'm looking forward to chatting with you all. feel free to contact me anytime.

sincerely,

pwood
so.cal.

[Donna_T]

Welcome Pwood,
Glad you found our message board. There's good stuff here!

I've never hired a professional, but after I struggled on my own for a couple of years, with the assistance of the fellas in our local carving club, I took a carving workshop where 10-12 of us carved for several days under a professional carver. It was a real eye-opener and well worth the investment. I still like to get away once or twice a year to take a 2-3 day carving workshop--just to enjoy the company of other carvers and do nothing but carve all day for that time.

I really recommend finding a carving club--they are a great help and usually really generous with their assistance.

Donna T

[Mottles]

Hello and welcome, A carving class is a great place to begin as you have experienced.
Sounds like you have the carving bug alright!
Here is a link to posting images on this site when you are ready.
Posting Photos

Carvin,
Kathy

[Doug Ridley]

Welcome Pwood. This is a good place. some pics so we can see your work.
Doug

[Mytyre]

Welcome to the boards from another noob. I found alot of good info here just looking around.

[pwood]

Thank you for the warm welcome. I have found carvers to be the nicest folks! I'll keep an eye out for a local club. I believe the class at the senior center where I'm learning now is run by one. Woodcarvers Guild or something like that. I'll ask if they have any other activities. I do enjoy it very much. Spending hours out in the garage now. I built myself a nice wall desk to work on and a hobby vise. And, found a nice dremel kit online cheap !

I'm starting a small project as a gift for my mom. It's a chip carved cross. Something simple. She'll like it. Chip carving is very time consuming, eh? I'm not a great drawer either. Will work on that. I would imagine taking an art class and working on the human and/or animal form drawing could be very helpful? Has anyone done that? We have a local community college I could attend.

Well. Good to talk to all of you. I"ll keep checking in.

Sincerely,

Pwood