[Fergster]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the site here and new to carving, too. I've browsed round a fair bit though, and it's quite an impressive board.

As for carving, at the minute I'm working on an abstract-y thing which might end up being a candlestick, but possibly a...let's say 'paperweight'.
At the minute it's no more than a block with rounded corners though. But it's working wonders for instilling the gift of patience in me!

Looking forward to viewing a lot of your excellent carvings and comments.
,
Fergster

[doris]

hi welcome :-) great attitude for first carving you have. you will learn a lot about how your tools work, how the wood is, and in the end, you will be happy, since you not set your goals too high... have fun ! ... and dont forget to share your work, when you feel it is ready :-)

[ElWoodTroll]

Welcome friend! What part of the world are you from? I never actually thought of doing something useful with my carvings..... unless you count kindling.

[Joy]

Welcome, Fergster! Hope your "wood journey" is delightful and fulfilling.l

[squbrigg]

Welcome aboard Fergster. Enjoy the journey into the most satisfying passtime there is, woodcarving!

Bob

[Mottles]

Welcome, Fergster, well what ever your carving ends up at please share an image of it with us.
Kathy

[slather]

Welcome fergster, looking forward to seeing whick one you end up with, my first carving was supposed to be a little bear but ended up looking like a wounded duck that had been shot untold number of times but I will treasure it always.

Al

http://picasaweb.google.com/al.hillis/WOODCARVINGSMINE

[Eddy Smiles]

Welcome aboard!

[Donna_T]

Hey Fergster!
Welcome to our message board and to the great pastime of carving. Looks like you've learned early what some of us took longer to learn--don't back yourself into a corner by narrowing down what your carving is going to be until---well, until it obvious to EVERYONE what it's going to be.

ALso, you might want to do what I do when I say I'm going to have "this" carving done by Christmas...I just don't say WHICH Christmas! Leave some wiggle room.

Glad you're here. Good luck and let us know how the carving progresses.

Donna T

[Fergster]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. "Paperweight" was really just a polite way of saying "useless lump of wood"!

Some thoughts I've had since begining, possibly of use to fellow newcomers to carving.

1. "I don't really NEED a protective glove if I'm very careful."

WRONG - I earned a nice couple of cuts yesterday despite wearing my the gloves I wear for work. The Kevlar ones are on my shopping list after imagining what my finger would have been like without wearing my glove!

2. Safety aspect aside, a blunt blade will ruin your wood.

I didn't think my blade was blunt until I compared it with a sharp one.

3. If the blade gets stuck do NOT force it through. Ease it out and take a more sensible cut, possibly in the other direction.

4. Impatience is the mother of all f__-ups.

The last one is especially worth remembering.