When experienced wood carvers talk to beginning wood carvers, they will instruct them to carve with the grain of the carving wood as much as possible. When carving with grain, your wood carving tools and knives will cut easier and move more freely. When carving against the grain, the wood carving tools and knives tend to hang or tear the wood more often. Also, when it comes to detail carving areas that stick out on the wood carving, if the grain is not running correctly, those areas may break off. There is nothing more frustrating than to be making your final detail touch ups and have a piece of your wood carving break off. Therefore, wood carvers need to determine the direction of the grain before beginning a wood carving project. Continue reading »
May 282011