WHITTLING & WOODCARVING PROJECTS

ALL ABOUT WOODS

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Ultimate Wood Guide

This is a resume of a range of 22 different woods that are generally available in this range in most developed economies. The woods can be used for Hobby Craftsman or Professionally for the Owner Wood Workshop Carpenter in his trade.

The summary gives informational guidance about the the characteristics, workability, finish and cost factor.

HARDWOODS

1] Red Oak

Uses: Trim, Indoor furniture, plywood & veneers, flooring

Sources: USA, Canada

Characteristics: Straight, wide grain pattern with large pores. Tan to reddish pink in color.

Workability: Easy machining with sharp steel or carbide plates and bits. Not prone to burning when machined. Drill pilot holes test before nailing or screwing applied.

Finishing: Can be stained and clear finished but need to be filled if painted.

Cost: Moderate

2] White Oak

Uses: indoor and outdoor furniture, trim, flooring, plywood and veneers

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Straight, wide grain pattern, Tan with yellow cream tints.

Workability: Easy machining with sharp steel or carbide plates and bits. Not prone to burning when machined. Drill pilot holes test before nailing or screwing applied.

Finishing: Can apply stains and clear finishes like red Oak back for painting will require filling of pores

Cost: Moderate to expensive

3] Hard Maple

Uses: Indoor furniture cabinetry, trim, flooring, butcher blocks, instruments & plywood and veneers

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Straight, wide grain with occasional birds eye pattern

Workability: Machining difficulty without use of carbide blades and bits. Will burn if blades not sharp

Finishing: will take clear finishes

Cost: Moderate too expensive

4] Cherry

Uses: Indoor furniture, cabinetry, carving, turning, plywood and veneers

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Fine grain pattern with smooth texture. Would darkens as it ages

Workability: Machining easy with steel or carbide blades and bits. Burn prone with machining.

Finishing: Takes stains and clear finishing well.

Cost: Moderate

5] Walnut

Uses: Cabinetry, indoor furniture, clocks, boat building, musical instruments

Sources: United States and Canada

Workability: Easy machining with sharp steel carbide blades

Characteristics: Straight, fine grain. Color ranges from dark Brown to purple or black period

Finishing: Takes natural finishes well

Cost: moderate

6] Birch

Uses: kitchen utensils toys, dowels, trim, and used for plywoods and bananas

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Straight grain with fine texture and tight pores.

Workability: Easy machining with sharp steel or carbide blades

Finishing: Takes finishes well, but penetrating wood stains can be blotchy

Cost: Inexpensive to moderate

7] Hickory

Uses: Sporting equipment, handles for impact tools, furniture and plywood and veneers

Sources: Southeastern United States

Characteristics: Straight to wavy grained, with coarse texture great shock resistance

Workability: Good for bending or forming. But can blunt cutting tools quickly

Finishing: Take stains and clear varnish well

Cost: Inexpensive in local regional areas

8] Aspen

Uses: Crafts, and wood used for drawer boxes, cleats, runners and hidden structural furniture parts

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Indistinguishable, tight grained pattern

Workability: Machines easily with sharp steel carbide blades and boots

Finishing: Better suited for painting standing tight grain good for smooth printable services

Cost: Inexpensive

9] White Ash

Uses: Baseball bats, boat oars, furniture, handles for impact tools, pool cues. Used for veneers

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Straight, wide grain pattern with coast texture hard and dense. Excellent shock resistance

Workability: Machines easily with sharp steel or call by tools. Drill pilot holes first for nailing & screwing

Finishing: Thanks stains and clear finishes will

Cost: Inexpensive

10] Poplar

Uses: Secondary wood for cabinetry and furniture, carving and veneers

Sources: United States

Characteristics: Find textured straight, wide grain pattern. Beige to greenish in color

Workability: Machines easily with sharp steel carbide blades and bits. Doesn’t burn when machined.

Pre drill pilot holes for nails and screws

Finishing: Better to paint rather than stain. Tight grain provides for good painting

Cost: Inexpensive

SOFTWOODS

11] White pine

Uses: Indoor furniture, plywood, veneers and trim, construction lumber

Sources: United States and Canada

Characteristics: Straight grained with even texture and type pores. Resin level not as high as with other pines

Workability: Easy machining with sharp steel or carbide blades and bits. Doesn’t burn when machined.

Finishing: Stains may blotch. Takes clear finishes and paints well .

Cost: Inexpensive

12] Western Red Cedar

Uses: Outdoor furniture, exterior millwork, interior and exterior siding.

Sources: United States and Canada.

Characteristics: Straight variable grained pattern with coarse texture. Light weight low density.

Naturally resistant to deterioration from UV sunlight and insects.

Workability: Soft composition machines easily but the ends prone to splintering and tear out.

Finishing: Takes stains and clear finishes well, but oils can bleed through painted finishes. At least prime surface first.

Cost: Inexpensive to moderate.

13] Aromatic Cedar

Uses: Naturally occurring oils make this would common closet and chest lining. Used for veneers and outdoor furniture .

Sources: Eastern United States and Canada.

Characteristics: Straight to wavy grained pattern with fine texture. Has streaking yellows and creams.

Workability: Machines similar to wit to western red cedar.

Finishing: Take stains and clear finishes will.

Cost: Inexpensive.

14 Redwood

Uses: Outdoor furniture, decks, fences, sidings.

Sources: West Coast of United States.

Characteristics: Straight fine grain with a few knots or blemishes. Light weight. Reddish Brown with cream colored sapwood.

Workability: Machines and sandpapers easily period

Finishing: Take stains and clear finishes well.

Cost: Moderate to expensive.

15] Cypress

Uses: Exterior siding and boat building. Interior and exterior trim, beams, flooring, cabinetry and paneling.

Sources: Mississippi Delta region of the United States.

Characteristics: Straight, even grain pattern with low resin and content. Naturally resistant to deterioration from UV sunlight.

Workability: Machines and sands easily.

Finishing: Take stains and clear finishes well.

Cost: Inexpensive if available in local region

EXOTICS

16] Paduak

Uses: Indoor furniture, cabinetry, flooring, lathe turning, veneers.

Sources: West Africa.

Characteristics: Course texture, straight grain.

Workability: Machines easily with sharp steel or carbide blades and bits.

Finishing: Take stains and clear finishes well.

Cost: Moderate to expensive

17] Zebrawood

Uses: Turning, Inlay, decorative veneers, furniture and cabinetry.

Sources: West Africa.

Characteristics: Light and dark variegated dark grain pattern

Workability: Can be difficult to machine. Use carbide blades and bits.

Finishing: Can be difficult to stain evenly.

Cost: expensive.

18] Wenge

Uses: Inlay, turning, decorative veneer.

Sources: Equatorial Africa.

Characteristics: Hard, dense straight grain with coarse texture. Heavy.

Workability: Dulls steel blades and bits quickly must use carbide cutter.

Finishing: Pores need filling before finish is applied.

Cost: Moderate.

19] Honduras mahogany

Uses: Indoor and outdoor furniture, veneers and trim, boat building.

Sources: Central and South America.

Characteristics: Straight, interlocking fine grain. Dimensionally stable.

Workability: Machines well with carbide blades and bits.

Finishing: Take stains and clear finishes well.

Cost: Moderate

20] Purple Heart

Uses: Pool cues, decorative inlays, veneers, indoor and outdoor furniture.

Sources: Central and South America.

Characteristics: Straight grained with coarse texture.

Workability: Gum deposits in wood can make it difficult to machine. Cutting edges dull quickly.

Finishing: Takes stains and clear finishes well.

Cost: Moderate.

21] Teak

Uses: Boat building, indoor and outdoor furniture, veneers, flooring.

Sources: Southeast Asia, Africa, Caribbean.

Characteristics: Straight grain with oily texture. Dense and hard.

Workability: Steel blades or dull quickly. Oily services require cleaning before gluing can take place.

Finishing: Takes oil finishes well.

Cost: Expensive.

22] Rosewood

Uses: Inlays, turning, veneers, cabinetry, furniture, musical instruments.

Sources: Southern India

Characteristics: Interlocked grain with medium to coarse texture

Workability: Hard, dense. Dulls cutting edges quickly.

Finishing: Takes stains and clear finishes well

Cost: Expensive

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VIDEOS

Whittling and Wood Carving

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Introduction to Whittling

Here we define the whittling of wood and the carving of wood using simple hand tools such as a whittling knife or a Flexcut blade of wood carving tools. The techniques and instructions with examples are included for all to get inspiration from.

Patriotic Wood Carving c 1800 - On mount and Decorative Painted

Whittling and Wood Carving

Carving wood in its simplicity and pure form is the message. To produce something in a spontaneous manner and which is personals for that moment this is what it is. In this day of mass production and copying this activity is original. What the craft man produces is original. This item is the only one of its kind.

It is unique and this is the satisfaction for the craftsman.

Ever since man could source and hold up a stick he has tried to whittle wood in some way or  another. The first fashioning of a stick point is the most primitive action of whittling or wood carving or wooden icon or utensil .
Down the ages from a clam shell or a sharp edged rock to a pocket knife or a specialized knife this activity has evolved in to an art form.
In modern society the earliest image is that of the old guy sitting on the porch in the country with a piece of wood in his hand cutting and shaping away.
Today this process has reached a very evolved art form which has even commercial possibilities. You can sell these special today carvings into a market where there is demand or you can become a paid teacher to students here.

Recreation

The first point about whittling is that it is for recreation and relaxation. Like all hobbies where you  do things with you hands and actually create some thing for keepsake or for use this is deeply satisfying.
Creating something through you hands is therapeutic and even meditative. It is active and therefore  positive to your well being in a way that builds. This is different to going to the bar every night to come back to peace and calm again after a hard day or a restless period. And it is portable and very cheap activity to do. All you need is a pocket knife and a small piece of wood and you’re all set to go.
One of the nice things is that you can be working on different projects at the same time.

You could say there is a difference between whittling and woodcarving by way of mind space. Basic whittling can be a purely spontaneous affair Or whittling and carving or sculpturing wood could be set up as a project in a planned way with an exact form shape and materials in mind.

Basic whittling you just sit down with your materials at hand and carve away with not too much in mind and let some spontaneity com out of it

Commercial

As said before this art form has reached such an evolved level that it has commercial value. That objects can be sold into a market such as craft fairs or into retails outlets or online sale outlets. Only certain whittling woods are mostly used here .

Liberty Cap Wood Carving c 1800 - Decorative Painted

Woods for Whittling

Here are many types of woods suitable for woods for whittling and wood carving and the choice is personal and is around the type of project to be made. Before using a wood there are some considerations.
There are the issues of type of grain, damage to the wood, imperfections and the wetness. Damp or wet wood is more difficult for carving and could warp or crack on drying

Read More on Whittling Woods >>


Whittling and Wood Carving Techniques

The techniques for wood whittling or carving or sculpting are the standard ones in use for learning how to  carve in wood. They have been use in time and memorial here for this art of shaping wooden figures
and the like........More on Carving Techniques   >>

Knives used in Wood Carving and Whittling

If you want to know how to carve wood then one needs the right tools to whittle or carve with. This is both a personal and technical quest to produce the most lovely carvings. study of what carving tools are available and what suites you is by experimentation and research. Here are some of the best around............... More on Wood Carving >>

Resources
Every hobby such as this wood craft of carving in wood needs resources to have best results . Whether this be an instruction book on whittling or a thumb guard these are outlined here and are all important.........More on Resources >>

YouTube Videos on Whittling and Wood Carving Wood

Here we present examples of wood whittling and the carving techniques for timber by way of You Tube videos ........ >>

Wood Carving

The carving of wood can be a deeply satisfying pastime as both a Hobby of passion and a business opportunity . Yes there are people who earn a full time living doing this as there is an ongoing demand for old tradition in this techno bent world. Its a stable sane way to literally carve a  place for you in the world toady if you want .... More on Wood Carving >>

Finishing and Decorating Wood Carvings

When we have the final carved project one can leave it just as it is natural state with all
the rough chiseled marks and gouges that the carving has . But there are a range of finishes and techniques which are very available and widely used that increase the appeal and desirability to enjoying the carved or whittled project even more so.....More on Carving Finishing >>>

Gallery of Wood Carvings

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Wood Whittling Examples

The examples here of whittling in various woods shows up the different approach and methods to this art by the wood carvers. It shows up in their humor and sensitivity or simplicity of style

Wood Spirit. This is a walking cane top executed in pine. Simple lines are evident but the feeling is totally there. There is obviously some good sanding and finishing in the detailing.

Gnome. This bearded little gnome shows how just at the end of roughing it out and basic shape carving, the spirit of the figure is totally there already. You can leave this as finished anywhere between now and the final stages of detailing and or sanding and polishing and it will be OK so good is the initial work

Hobo and Caricatures. The capturing of the character here is wonderful To emphasize the comical side the hands and feet are made larger. The finishing by staining/painting is very well done. Just right and not over done. This can kill a piece.

Cartoon Carvings. This type of whittling gives wonderful satisfaction and pleasure to all age groups. It seems the simpler the more appealing

Articulated Bunny and Shaved Bird Carving.

These two carvings are delightful. It is interesting to see how very simple the components of the rabbit are to make. The bird is of one piece and very simple but more skill is required to execute the shave feathers.These are then folded in of themselves to produce the effect

Whittled model of articulated rabbit Prone Bird Wood Carving

Carved Cane and Spoons
This is a good example of innovative whittling technique with simple design but requiring good control and carving technique in stages of reverse in cutting and woo grain directions

Three Cane Tops

3 Cane Tops. These little pieces are delightful. The carving and finish is very simple but non the less the feel and charm is there . Its an inspiration to those who are new to whittling how so much effect is created by such little work. If you want to learn how to whittle or carve then this is useful

AFRICAN CARVING

A huge area for Wood Carving and whittling is in Africa. The variation and subject matter is huge from spiritual to cultural to art works and also utilitarian, Africa has to be the world stop over point for hand made wooden objects .
There appears to be no limit in approach and subject matter . From household objects to artwork, items are finished by polishing, burnishing, staining, painting or just leaving in their natural state. The range id huge in every way.

Wooden Chair Backings

Wooden carved and Shaped Bowls with Covers

Carved Elder Bust Study

Whittling Techniques

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Sweep or Rough Cut

Whittling Techniques

Whittling Basics

First thing is to choose the right blade for the task at hand . Are you moving wood that is are you bulk cutting or rough shaping or detailing. All of this may need a different blade as choice. It could be a "Sheep’s foot" standard blade shape or a narrow finer pointed one. Next make sure your blade is sharp even keen as this makes it so much easier that battling your work piece especially if the wood is a harder type. A blunt blade tires out your hand and even results in cramping.
To avoid cutting yourself and getting blood over your work it is a good idea to wear a thumb guard or mesh glove

Types of Whittling Cuts

There are several cutting styles in whittling, and here below we’ll just stick with the basics most well known for the purposes now.

Straight Rough Cut

Sweep or Rough Cut

This cut is used at the very start of your project to carve out the basic bulk to your project size. Hold the wood with one hand and your knife firmly in your other. Make a long, sweep slice cuts with the grain across and away from your body. Don’t cut too deep or and start making several, light slices to eventually reduce the wood to the desired size and shape.

This also helps to get the feel of the wood and its condition and the direction of the grain. As a beginner its a great idea to learn off woods that have regular even grain structure

Thumb Pushing ( Push Stroke)

Thumb Push

Sometimes where you want to cut won’t allow you to do the pull stroke. That’s when it’s time to bust out the push stroke. Hold the wood piece in one hand and the knife firmly in other with the blade facing away from you. Place both your right and left thumbs on the back spine of the knife blade. Now cut by pushing the blade away from your body with your thumbs using these alternately to cut and steer to direction the of the blade through the wood.

This cut has a good deal of control to it. The push stroke, like the pull stroke, gives you greater control and power over your knife for detailed cuts. The type of wood you are using and its condition is very important and will enhance or limit the outcome and quality of your project

Pare Cut (Pull Stroke)

Pare or Pull Cut

    This is the most used cut in whittling. To perform this cut, imagine you’re peeling a potato. Hold the wood firmly in one hand , with the knife in the other with the blade facing inward. Position the thumb of that hand against the wood, and squeeze those fingers inward in order to draw the blade toward your thumb that holds the knife. Make your stroke is short and controlled. Keep that thumb out of the path of the oncoming blade. It is a good idea to wear a thumb pad and or a mesh glove to avoid cutting yourself.

   There are different schools of thought about straight edge and curved edge blades for whittling and carving .Some have found that a curved edge allows many more types of cuts to be made & more easily with less force.

This allows for a much wider range of whittling cuts to be made. You can also gouge easier and achieve hollow cutting therefore making convex or concave surfaces.

AXE cutting

There is a historical decorative technique which is in Norway using an axe to create a herring bone pattern called "Splash whittling". Axe chopping or cutting is some time used especially in foreign ethnically differing communities such as in Asia or Africa

Here it is useful to distinguish between whittling and carving .These are some times used interchangeably, but they are different arts. Carving employs the use of mallets, chisels or gouging tools while for the purist whittling involves using only knife. Also Carving frequently uses powered equipment such as drilling machines, routers and lathes.

About the most that whittlers deviate would be the use of specialized gouging tools and these are often included in the set of whittling kits sold today.
Specialized whittling knives, with fixed single blades, are preferred for sculpting artistic work. They have thick handles which are easier to grip for long periods, allowing more precise control and pressure.

CHIP CARVING

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WOOD CHIP CARVING

This is apparently the oldest technique for wood carving. It involves carving a pattern into the wood base which is very often flat stock piece to form a pattern or decoration. Because the depth is relatively shallow the removed pieces of wood look like chips hence the name. The type of projects that are chip carved are for decorative items like plaques, bowls, walking canes or walking sticks, boxes [round or square] and boards .

Because this technique is regarded as the most simple it is a good staring point for whittlers. Wood carvers begin with just a new wood blank, prepare this add a pattern or decoration, clamp this up and carve to form the chip cavities, The process is repetitive but requires a high level of skill and consistency.

Sourcing and Adding the Pattern

There are a wealth of patterns that can be sourced and use here. After accessing these you can enlarge these or reduce these to suite the area. For this there is a well known source for this available here

You can add the pattern either by using tracing paper to trace the pattern and then carbon paper you to transfer this onto the wood surface . Use of graph paper is very useful so as to maintain symmetry and proportion.

Another way of pattern presentation is to print this on a sheet of paper to the exact size area of the final piece and then glue this to the wooden surface

Clamping

The work needs to be fixed tightly onto a flat surface and this may be done either by a clamping arrangement setup, or onto say a table via first screwing the piece to a larger surface board then clamping this board down to the flat table surface.

Carving

The wood carving technique of chip carving removal is basically two a dimensional operation and it involves just following the pattern outline with the carving tool. which is usually a V cut chisel or a curved gouging chisel of different depths or curvatures.

The skill is in guiding the chisel along the pattern lines at the exact depth needed to remove mainly pyramid shaped chips which are to predetermined depths.

And this is a great skill. Like following a trail. Its all about control and consistency. A good training point for future skill development !

Finishing Wood Chip Carving

The final project can be left "au natural" or it an be finish decorated. This is by a combination of staining by wood stains or colored by use of colored dyes. It may then be sealed or oiled. Or it could be vanished in some way for a particular desired result.

Two of the Original Patterns side by side showing one stained

Sharpening your knife

Every whittler or wood carver needs to keep their wood working tools in tip top shape.
Hand sharpening of blades is not a high degree of difficulty and requires one to get a feel of the technique and have the right sharpening materials
After a while it becomes second nature. You need some sharpening stones, grit sand papers a leather strop and some honing compound

Sharpening a shaped knife edge means to bring this to a razor edge again. Here the tools and technique can be brought down to a very simple procedure.

For the first step you need a flat surface such as a wooden block or even a table top and drag the edge of the blade at a roughly 12 degree angle with the long edge held at 90 degree to the direction of dragging along the wet
surface of 400grit paper . This angle is called the secondary angle or bevel of the blade sideways profile.
The primary angle is the included angle between the knifes surface as originally supplied by the manufacturer.
To sharpen and hone you will need to angle the knife again to this 12 degree angle and sharpen in this
position. This is the first stage and is primarily to remove any fin nicks or damage to the blade.
You then repeat this using a wet 600 grit paper. You can wash and re wet the paper from time to time.
To determine an eleven degree angle it is roughly equal to putting a coin under the spine edge of a one inch wide blade or you can cut a template from a piece of cardboard as reference.
To hone you sharpened edge you will need to strop this . This is done by using a strip if leather hide or tight felt piece and adding honing compound to it.

Stones
There are a variety of stones of type and grit . There are wet stones and dry stones.

There are stones such as Arkansas and Japanese wet stones. There are also compound stones which are formulated from grit and resin into a block
To be effective theses stones work best with water, oil or dry .You will need to read purchasing directions as to what these are for and to follows best practice here from the instruction sheets.
These stones come in different shapes which you need to have for different sharpening requirements.
Here a good idea is to go to various hardware or hobbyist shops to get the feel as to what is in the marketplace .

Ceramic stones are very convenient as they operate dry and are easily cleaned up with detergent for next use
In addition these do not develop an irritating wearing groove causing the knife edge to be sharpened away from the specification you wanted it to originally be.

If wear on these stones becomes an issue then the stone can be "dressed" to regain their original perfect condition.

Chainsaw Carving

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Chainsaw Wood Carving

The history around this form of wood carving starts about 1950 and really took off in about the 1980's where the forms became more evolved and national competitions took place in the USA. Woman also became involved and the form became international
and there are many famous internationally well known artists.
Other tools are sometimes used alongside the saw such as the wood chisels, but the primary tool remains to be the saw.
There is an accent on safety around the use of the saw in wood carving to do with basic initial training and use of safety clothing.

The chainsaw "blades" are technically known as "guide bars." These saws are also modified in that they have smaller noses[about 25mm in diameter] .

This allows for greater carving detail that would be impossible with a standard guide bar.
The chains used with these guides are also modified so as to give greater cutting efficiency and give better detail in wood shaping and carving at the tip.

The other very important advantage with these guide bars is that they do not
"kickback" when using the tip. So in Comparing with standard guide bars they are much safer to use.

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Examples of Chainsaw Wood Carving

Here are sculptures of wood carvings with finishing details supplied by chisels and sanding.
This is one skill of others that can be used in shaping and carving wood
These carvings in wood pretty large and are carved and chiseled from tee trunk logs some 4 foot in diameter across.

Outdoor Chainsaw Wood Park Carvings

Knives for Whittling

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Wood Whittling Knives

Choosing a knife or knives is a very simple but personal process as far as whittling is concerned. Basically it is for removing material efficiently and effectively and while being comfortable to the user. There seems to be a chemistry or relationship built up between whittlers or wood carvers and their tools which has no definite or ultimate answer. Its not like racing cars there is only one car make that is the best and that is the one that wins that season. Whittling is done by use of these knives mainly but also assisted by gouges, chisels and special purpose custom altered tools at times.

*****

Schrade 44OT Old Timer Workmate

Knife Details

The “Workmate” features two 2.2 inch. 7Cr-17 high carbon stainless steel blades. There are 4 blades two short and 2 loner ones. The closed length is 3.2 inches long. Handle base Material: Delrin. This is a true pocket knife Blade Detail: 4 Blades Blade Material: Stainless Steel and the total weight is 1.8 ounces. One owner said they they recently bought another new one to go with the other one that was 25 years old. The knife you choose is related to the category of the project tot be carved as well as the actual project. The knife for a whittled figure could be different to that used to carve a wooden block for printing use.

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Flexcut 2-piece Whittler's Knife Set

Knife Details

Comes with two fixed blades, being 1 ½ and 2 inch in length and according to very favorable reviews the only two you will ever need, and a sharpening stone The ergonomically shaped handles made of hickory wood.
Blades are resilient and have flex to them and reports say they just do not break. They stay sharp with a keen edge for many carvings.
The product reviews post fast shipping

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Buck 371BRS Stockman

Knife Details

Buck Knife 0371BRS-B Stockman is a large and true pocket knife with 3 folding blades and wood grain handle paneling. It weighs 3oz with stainless/ silvered bolsters. This is the largest 3 bladed knife available from Buck. The blades are :

2-7/8" clip point

2-1/8" sheep foot

2" pen 420HC stainless steel blade.

These three blades are good for a variety of tasks, the spey blade allows you to perform skinning or sweeping knife strokes, While the sheep's foot blade gives a clean cut, especially on a flat surfaces.
As with all cutting tools there are complimentary resources to provide ease and safety for whittling and carving procedures .Be sure to use these

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Finishing & Decorating Wood Carvings

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Decorating Wood Carvings

Finishing and Decorating Wood Carvings

One approach at the end of the carved project is actually to just leave this in the natural state even to the extent of showing the rough chiseled marks and gouges that the carving has left. But there are a range of finishes which are very widely used that increase the appeal and desirability to yourself and others in enjoying the whittled or carved project more

Sanding

Just plain sanding down with gritted paper will give a lovely result. Using rough to take away the heavy makings and also to improve the sculptured line is the first stage . Then to change to the finer paper grits down to the water paper levels of say800/1000 grit gives a final satin finish

Oiling

Using vegetable oils which are applied with a soft cloth can give the carving a richer appeal and darken the look to the work. Also it prevents possible cracking to it because of shrinkage due to loss of volatiles in the wood. You may want the carving to be deeper in color so this can be done by applying oil again after a few days. Be sure to wipe away excess oils between different applications so as to prevent stickiness or gumminess developing.

Staining and Painting

Here there is a wide range of technique available to use on the woodcarving for great results. there is a wide color range from using the traditional wood color shades to primary colors like anything from yellow to blue and red. Different colors could be used on different parts of the carving giving a polychrome effect

Paints and stains are applied by traditional brush or even a sponge brush. This is best done in the direction of the grain. You can use here wood stain, tinting stains and watercolor paint or if you want opacity one can use full bodied paints like acrylics although you have to be aware that the latter will mask the wood grain appeal..

After the various colorings have been applied there is the option of clear varnishing or top coating the project the work there are different finishes available including matt, satin and gloss finish . Be sure to apply these in thinned format and applied again thinly so as to avoid runs and clogging up of the carved details with varnish . The best action is a slow build up of a good few layers for even results

Marbling and Scumbling

Here this affect can be achieved by doing the above staining and removing some of the color with fine gritted paper in a patch like way to give a marbled or antiqued distressed effect. This is better done it to a rough carving that has not been finely sanded. Or one can achieve this by adding color to a work by daubing with a felt swab that is semi dry with tint or stain. Once again different colors can be used together of the same woodcarving to give a polychrome effect

Burning

The wood carving is placed on a cement or brick surface and the burnt using a blow torch or the like to char or burn lightly the surface . Using gloved hands the wood is then rotated to burn the full area envisaged. The carving is then scoured with a copper pot scourer or a brass brush so as to remove some of the blackened area. This results in the wood showing up a layered effect of the different grains. This is best done on the evergreen woods such as pine or spruce which has marked annual rings of differing hardness’s and therefore burn at different rates in the flaming. You then get a wonderful swirling effect of the rings and grains showing. . One should be careful of the coarseness of the scouring medium or say steel scourer as these may give an excessively rough look

Leaves Burned into Wood Grain

Stippling

Here a wonderful effect is achieved by using stippling punches where areas of the wood carving have a selected area surface lightly indented by striking the punch into the wood lightly all over that area to give an even stippled surface. You just keep on pounding the punch onto the wood all over at the same intensity to extend this pattern of dotted all over that area

Stippling punched can be made easily by custom grinding thick nails or short pieces of rod. You can just clamp these in a vice and file across the flatten end the crisscross pattern you want.

Examples of Finishes of carved Wooden Projects

Below is a range of examples of wood carved projects with unique finishes. Each finish has its own style and appeal to the craftsman or the end user.

NATURAL FINE SANDED FINISH

WOOD STAINING

FINE SANDED & NATURAL OILING

CLEAR COLOR STAINING & OILING OR TOP VARNISH

CLEAR STAIN & OPAQUE PINTING

PAINTED BOWL

Resources

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RESOURCES

Books

If it looks like whittling is a craft your want to take up and actually do the following classics
are highly recommended .The investment is so small and the value got huge in relation to what
information and manuals and or software etc costs in today’s worlds. These are available immediately ex stock and delivered overnight.

The Little Book of Whittling by Chris Lubkemann.

This is virtually the little bible for beginners. It is a great book for novices.
Lubkemann’s focus a lot is on whittling branches and twigs. This book has a great
guide on how to carve very basic object and has many very basic projects listed
and literally walks you through from the very beginning . This is such a good instruction manual
and helps to build confidence for the novice from the absolute start so that they can go onto
producing eye popping works later. Lovely examples of wood carvings in this book

The Art of Whittling by Walter Faurot.
Go for this book immediately when you feel you want
more after working the project from books like the one above.
there we move on to advanced projects. It’s filled with detailed patterns for projects like
ball in a cage, some simple puzzles and a continuous wooden chain with moving links

Creative Woodcarving for Beginners by Budeker, Hill, Mazrek and others.

This book has everything you need to cover all aspects for the Woodcarver. It is richly filled with color photographs throughout. The indexes are very detailed and covers the subjects of wood, carving techniques, surface finishing.

It incorporates many project ideas and scaled templates for these projects which can be scaled for the intended work to be carried out. Some of these projects are traced from inception in a step by step layout with photos to lead the carver or sculpture throughout to the end. It has a section for kids projects. It is a high quality publication reference format [144 pages]

Thumb Guards and Protective Gloves
To work safely and with ongoing confidence you must think of hand safety. The knives and chisels are extremely sharp and one slip can cause a very bad cut that will put you out for days if not weeks. You may even have a serious injury which will need stitches and cost some time at the doctor. So getting organized with a hand safety set up makes sense.

Whole Hand Protection
Get a pair for Kevlar gloves with the micro PVC dots. these are great to protect the whole hand when whittling or woodcarving as Kevlar is knife resistant and the plastic dots are great for grip if smooth surfaces. Also the Kevlar breathes well so you don’t get sticky hands

Finger Protection

Here protection of individual fingers when whittling and wood carving by very items like thumb or finger guards keeps up the safety and confidence when working. You can get individual finger and thumb guards in different sizes and the god ones are mane out of 100% cowhide. Good for whittling with. Remember there is nothing worse that worrying if you are going to nick your self with a whittling knife half the time . It takes away from focusing on the wood carving side

Profiled Honing Block

Honing Block or Strops

For fine honing of the cutting edge it is important to get what is called a keen edge to the whittling knife or chisel. Here there are a lot of resourcesfor the carver or wood sculpture around. There are many that are leather based on wooden blocks with and without hand grips. Some are single faced while others have even four sides to the block and include profiling for sharpening say Vee shaped wood chisels. These should come with rouge compounds of various micron grits. It is important to get one that is user friendly to you and gives the result. An idea is to get two, one for the in house wood carving or whittling workshop and one that is smaller and more portable for you to carry around when you are traveling so you can whittle on your journeys

PRIMITIVE WOOD CARVING TOOLS

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Primitive Wood Carving

From the age of Neolithic man wood has been fashioned from stock pieces be it in pole or a block form.

This was mainly along utility lines for such items as spears or utensils including such products as North American wood fish hooks believe it or not!

Down the ages the first form to emerge was that of the human figure which became more and more refined. Towards the Medieval period where it enjoyed a kind of renaissance especially in a religious form in the churches where the use of wood became extremely widespread and of very high artistic quality.

Of course along this journey of wood sculpting the tools to render this evolved as well.

Tools for Primitive Wood Carving

Adze

This involves scooping out wood in reverse motion similar to that of raking in the garden

Mallet choppers

Removing wood from piece from the side sideways action chopping down. Heavy head axes have a similar principle to the normal axe.

Greenstone Hand Palm Wood Carving and sculpting knife

Greenstone Wood Carving and Wood Sculpting Chisel with Wooden Stock Handle

Maori Carving tools

In ancient times Maoris carved wood with shaped Greenstone fashioned tools such as choppers and chisels. After their contact with the mariners at the time of Cook they came into contact with and obtained some supplies of steel mainly large nails and spikes. These they flattened and fashioned into knives and chisels

Types of Green stone chisel

There has been reported that there were a few types of tools used here , There was a wooden shaft mounted greenstone head with the dimensions and edge being similar to today's chisel with widths of about an inch wide. This chisel could be used with a mallet type hammer to effect cutting. Other tools include a spike type tool out of one piece of greenstone with a very narrow cutting point at the tip for finer detailing.

3 Flat sided point Greenstone Wood Carving Chisel

Then there was a knife type stubby flat stone shaped and sharpened with an oblique edge for removed wood in the carving by a slicing action.The tool was shaped for placing in the palm of the hand. There was also probably available an adze type stone tool for roughing out wood carving.

The features of using these primitive tools was that there was a limitation to the depth of cut and the time taken to complete the work . Also the stone wood carving tools did not give as clean a cut as contemporary tools

Primative type Wooden Chisel Mallet

Woodblock Carving

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Woodblock printing

This is also known as woodcut printing this is a technique for printing text images or
patterns on paper or cloth a method dating from antiquity.
Here prepared flat wooden blocks are marked out with images and or text and then carved to the pattern
in preparation for printing. The blocks are relief carved which means that the part that is sticking proud receives the ink and gets to be printed onto the material. The non printed araes of the wood block pattern are carved away
The carving of blocks from the past have shown very finely carved with finely detail by the master carvers.

Manufacture for one color

The technique is basically the same as wood chip carving both emulating engraving as for
on a flat surface. The resulting block is inked and then printed onto the receiving surface using pressure.
For repeating patterning , the block is re-positioned over and over and printed accordingly.

Multicolored printing

For this technique of producing say a 4 color print , 4 blocks have to be prepared and carved ready for printing. These will each be carved in relief for that color that needs to be printed for that block.
These blocks are identical in size so than they can be accurately lined up in a master frame.

They then are able to be dropped into a holding frame of the same inner dimension as the "color" blocks.

For the printing of the paper, this is first is placed inside the frame. Then the first color block is inked and dropped into the frame and printed. This block is then removed and the second color block is inked and then printed and so on.
The whole trick to this technique is in the carving preparation, by separating out the colors to be printed so that each color component ends up being printed in the correct position so the image is built up by each layering of the color to be printed.
The other trick to this carving of the wood is in the preparation of the indexing frame for the
wood carved blocks so that the blocks can be loaded and later removed smoothly, and also be positioned correctly for printing. Simple almost privative but works well.

Woods for Whittling

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Woods for Whittling

The Woods for Whittling

There are many types of wood suitable for wood carving or whittling and the choice is around the type of project to be made. Before using a wood there are some considerations. There are the issues of type of grain, damage to the wood, imperfections and the wetness. Damp or wet wood is more difficult to whittle or carve and then may distort or crack on drying.

Branches and Twigs. You don’t need regular pre-cut pieces of wood to whittle. A branch or a piece of wood from any tree makes for great whittling. You may be in the middle of nowhere and grab a piece while sitting around a campfire and start whittling away while you talk to your buddies. Nothing more enjoyable. Or you may see a piece of random wood at a building site or anywhere. It’s all good!

Balsa. The wood is a soft, inexpensive, lightweight wood that’s perfect for whittlers who are beginners. You can buy it this from craft stores and hobby shops for pretty cheap. This is available pre cuts for a few dollars for a good selection. As said above you have to consider that the wood may be too soft for the project.

Pine
Is another traditional whittling wood. It is readily available . It’s soft, cuts easily generally, but it has its drawbacks. Some whittlers think pine does not give detail very well. Pine can also be layered texture wise that makes it tricky to work with. By that I mean that the grain may be good but that the wood is made up of hard and soft alternate layering so you cut through a soft layer to get to a hard boundary layer which is resinous and tough to cut through before getting to the soft layer again. This carries on an ongoing way. An experienced whittler can cope with this challenge. Also pine can be knotty. The grain can also curve around a lot affecting your cutting direction.

Basswood. This wood has been used for a very long time for woodcarving and is also called Linden or Lime . This has been the preferred wood of European carvers and sculptors from the Middle Ages for crafting elaborate Religious and altar pieces for the churches. This is a very good wood to whittle with because it’s soft and doesn't appear to have any grain and be cut from any direction with ease. Basswood blocks can be found up in various sizes at your local hobby or craft store for a reasonable prices.

Mahogany

Mahogany carves differently and can vary from being easy to somewhat difficult due to the various hardness’s and grain density found . If the grain density is too hard then the wood chips especially when you are coming down to fine detail. Mahogany is generally free of knotting. This wood is a stable and sturdy wood which is to say it does not dry and crack with time like others do.

Walnut This is a hardwood, which hold detail well but is harder to carve and with woods like this you may need to use gouges and/or chisels to get at the detail. The wood can also vary a lot in color this can give blotchiness and color change which has to be considered in your design planning.

Cedar is a good soft wood and you can find it at a hardware store. In a sense it is similar to pine with less difficult re the resinous layering . Also it gives out a wonderful smell on an ongoing basis. This is available at your hobby, craft or DIY store in pre-cut form

Oak
This wood is generally a light yellow in color and is straight grained . Its properties are connected to how its growing history lies. For example a slower grown oak has a tighter grain and harder to whittle or carve. You need to look carefully at good whittling knives to use here.

Maple

This wood is light in color and straight grained and it dries slowly but evenly. The wood is tough bends well and does not shrink much. It finishes well in that it gives a fine sanded finish and takes well to polishing,staining and varnishing

African wooden carved sculptures

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Ethnic African Ebony Bust Sculpture

ETHNIC AFRICAN WOOD SCULPTURES

African art stretches both geographically from the Saharan area to the lower part of Africa at South Africa encompassing most of the continent. It generally stretches in Africa as from below sub Saharan

Wood Carvings and whittled wood art here are for reasons not just for arts and crafts sake but for reasons ranging from living usage to deep cultural and spiritual, to ritualistic events and initiation times.

These wooden carvings and sculptures range from tokens, sculptured forms to are in the form for furniture, utility applications, or ceremonial such as coming of age or funereal or even communing with the ancestors and spirit world.

A great deal of this wooden art is to do with whittling and wood carving of objects and sculptures. In fact the most part of African art throughout the ages is to do with that of carved wooden sculptures. Regionally speaking this is identified into four roughly speaking

East African

This area is not as well known generally, but probably for its unique wooden pole carvings which contain animal or human figures and objects. These are subject wise about death or funeral matters and are ritualistic in nature. In Kenya warriors are carved by the Masai who are themselves warriors. There are also whittle and carve family figures such as mother and child depicted

West African

West African carvings are around an ideal of peace and serenity so the face figures are depicted thus in the wooden carvings. The figures have elongated bodies incorporating angular lines with cylindrical shaped limbs. Modern Cubist artists such as Picasso have been influenced by this type of art. Also Matisse in his paintings.

Central African

These wooden sculptures differ from the other regions in that the faces are heart shaped and decorated with decoration of dot patterns over the surface. This influence has been seen to reappear in Western art forms

In Cameroon the Fang people have carved garden figures representing ancestors which stand upright. This is to evoke respect and often communion to the ancestors. They are left behind when the group migrates onward.

Southern African

Generally this area has not been so rich in whittling and wooden carving due to the low populated areas and the migratory nature of the people. Carvings were confined to that of utility for in and around the home and for weaponry such as spears, clubs, bows and ornamentation.

Of late in contemporary times this not the case and Southern Africa has become an area of huge diversification drawn from all the cultures of Africa and richly added to. The markets and Craft fairs are bulging with a massive range of whittled and wooden carving too many to name. The volumes traded are huge