Why Are Thumb Guards Important for Wood Carving?

 Beginner Wood Carving Information, Wood Carving Tips  No Responses »
Jun 282011
 

A thumb guard for your wood carving tool hand is a necessity for your safety as a wood carver.  Thumb guards will help to protect your thumb while wood carving, especially when you are using a paring cut that causes the carving blade to be directed towards the thumb.

There are several options to choose from, depending on how much you want to spend.  Leather thumb guards are sold commercially.  You can also use a gauze type tape that only sticks to itself to wrap around your thumb.  Another option is use masking tape or duct tape wrapped in layers.  Yet the most economical, is to use a pair of work gloves and cut the out the fingers so that only the thumb is covered and held on by the palm of the glove.  You can then wrap tape around the thumb to add value to the protective nature of the thumb guard.

Basic Wood Carving Cuts

 Beginner Wood Carving Information  No Responses »
Jun 232011
 

When wood carving, the wood carver essentially used about four basic carving cuts to accomplish their mission of completing a wood carving project.

Paring Cut

The paring cut is performed by slicing the carving blade towards your thumb on your dominant carving hand.  Use of a good quality thumb guard is highly recommended to ensure safety while wood carving.  Paring cuts are very useful for shaving or slicing detail areas in a controlled manner.

Push Cut

Push cuts are performed by slicing or pushing the carving blade away from your wood carving hand.  To add control to this cutting motion, use the thumb of your supporting hand (the hand not holding the wood carving knife) to push against that back of the wood carving knife blade and aid in making a stable, controlled cut. Continue reading »

Essential Beginner Wood Carving Tools

 Beginner Wood Carving Information, Wood Carving Tips  5 Responses »
Jun 202011
 

Many people that are interested in wood carving, will ask, “What do I need to get started carving wood?”.  The answer to that simple question can be debated and will probably be different from wood carver to wood carver.  I will tell you what I found to be the answer to that question, when I began wood carving.  I started out with a beginner wood carving set that included a kevlar glove, leather thumb guard, small leather strop, small piece of stropping compound, a Murphy bench knife and 6 palm tools.

I found that obviously, a wood carving knife is the absolute necessity tool and to start out wood carving properly, you have to have a good glove and thumb guard.  The strop is also needed to keep a good edge on your wood carving knife and tools.  The set of 6 palm tools, was comprised of a v-tool, a skew, a flat chisel, and 3 gouges that varied in the degree of sweep or curve of the blade.  Of the palm tools, I found the v-tool and gouges to be the most important. Continue reading »

How Can a Walking Stick Help You?

 Walking Sticks  No Responses »
Jun 132011
 

Walking sticks are not just for show and decoration.  A good walking stick can have a number of advantages to the user.  Walking sticks can be used to help promote better balance when walking up steep hills, managing heavy loads, crossing waterways and during brief periods of rest while walking.  They can also assist you to move more freely over rough terrain, uneven landscapes, and help to prevent or slow a fall.

Walking sticks also provide relief to your body, by lessening stress and strain on your feet, legs and back.  The walking stick will help to absorb some of the shock from walking on uneven ground and also reduce pressure and stress on your back and hips by helping to support your upper body while walking or hiking.

Walking sticks can also be used for self defense, as a camera mount to steady your picture taking, rake the ground of obstructions and debris, and to steady yourself when crossing small gaps and gullies.  A final idea for how a walking stick can benefit you, is as a way of marking the ground to indicate where you have been previously while walking through the woods without a compass or gps unit.  This will let you quickly identify if you have been at your current location before.  The marks can also act as directions on how to return from where you came originally.

Wood Carving Requires a Clear Mental Picture

 Beginner Wood Carving Information  No Responses »
Jun 072011
 

Having a clear mental picture of what you want your hands to carve, is essential to a successful wood carving attempt.  How you get that mental picture depends on your past expertise in the subject matter.  Even if you have a good mental picture of your subject matter, it is a good idea to have a picture or drawing handy during the wood carving process as a reference.  Your hands can only carve what your mind can see.

A very valuable source for pictures and drawings of your subject matter is Google or Bing images.  There are a ton of images available about all types of subjects.  Next time that you have an idea for a wood carving project, try searching for images of it.  You may even find changes that you want to make to what you had in your head, before you start carving the wood.

There probably is a very good chance that your mental picture of your carving subject is not as complete as a hardcopy image of the exact same subject.  Small details that your mind may omit can make the difference in a good wood carving and a great wood carving.

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