Does anyone here do any wood carving? In all the time that i have spent here i believe there is only one topic on wood carving? I am interested in it. I am manily interested in carving birds and animals. Anyone have any advise or any good patterns they would email me?

I have carved silly made up instruments when I was younger...and I have only one real carving I did with a dremmel of a wolf. Its two dimensional though.

I would advise you to start off with more simple, stylized things.

Like this?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/RoyStroh/IMG_1901.jpg

(One of dad's carvings)

The deer is standing only on one leg.

That's seriously incredible  :o :)

he has some serious talent and skill. ;)

Gun,
Ask away, and I'll try to answer your questions.  As far as patterns go I'll take a look and see if I have anything.

Ive tried my hand at relief carving. It really isnt that hard and almost any line drawing will do for it as a pattern.

I would really love to learn how to do 3D carvings such as the one Roy's father has done... absolutely fantasic.

I would suggest first start with relief carving and move on from there.

I wood start with a soft wood, pine or balsa, just to get an idea of how things are, then work up to harder woods. Oak is hard, because of the grain, fruitwoods, forget it until you have alot of experience.
  Hobby stores usually hve patterns and tools . If not, there are magazines for all kinds of wood working. or, better, yet, find someone who does it locally, and apprentice yourself to them!!

A good clear white pine is good, I really like bass wood.  Most hobby/craft stores will carry bass wood, but want an arm and a leg for it.  I special order it at my hardware store comes in 2" by 12" by 10'  :o.  

Roy any really quick tips from an experienced wood carver? Any nifty little things that took you some time but were inheriently(sp?) simple?

I'd actually love to get into this hobby during the summer... between working, attending summer courses, slinging, setting up and running my server, makin a small shed, hiking, rebuilding a car engine, create a unique body kit using composites.... wow... i just realized i dont have enough time this summer... >:(

Clear wood and sharp tools, lots of band aids (or a role of tape) ;)

i understand the tape gesture.... tape goes a long way for a quickfix to a cut

I have a question about drying wood. If I go into the forest and find a nice recently fallen pine tree, cut it up with my chain saw and put it in a dry low humidity environment how long do you think it would need to dry out before it is considered dry enough to work with?
I think i read somewhere that dried wood was much better for carving than freshly cut or just plain wood.

6-8 weeks? Longer?

edit: lol sry for the long run-on

Left with bark on and sealed ends so not to crack a year or two.   Kiln dried a lot less time.  All depending on the thickness ofcourse.  You can saw it into manageable pieces and make your own drying box using light bulbs.  At the end of the day its easier to use kiln dried boards from your local sawmill.

Wow i am surprized at all the respones i got. I have some cheap tools (don't want to invest to much money until i know that i like it). I have several blocks of basswood. I just really don't have any patterns. I know that experianced carvers can carve from a photo, but i am not good enough yet. I need some easiy patterns from which to start with. I have some woodcarving magazine and there will be a huge carving show this weekend in town, which i will attend.

That deer is very good.

what type of critter do you want to carve first?

no need for expensive tools as long as you can get the ones you use really sharp.  I do a lot with exacto blades.

anything easily and a normal size. Maybe a bear or some kind of bird (mocking bird would be cool).

I make fishing lures from wood. I would imagine that this is pretty simple conpared to a bird or an animal.

I'm headed off for this weekend early tomorrow, but when I get back I'll dig around some more and see what I can find.  You may consider starting out with a fish.   :)

Cool, as long as it looks easiy. Thanks.

Gun,
Why don't you get out the tools and start carving on a small block of wood that is going to be wasted?
Get you trained, teach you the basic skills and gets you an idea who much work it is and how much you can do in a day.

To make a basic shape like a fish or and otter you can draw lines on the outside of your wood.
To play you do not even need real tools, just a knife to peel potatos with can teach you a lot.

Willeke

Of course, it depends on the style of carving you want, too. So called "primatives" are rough, and sometimes almost abstract, but works of art in themselves. ( and a hot collectible now)
  Start out with a simple bird, if thats what you want. Learn the basics. ( I can't tell you how many dowels I made, when a friend was teaching me basic lathe)
  After you get bored with that, try a little more complicated design.  

I haven't forgotten just haven't found anything. :-/  Thought I had some stuff cut out and sort of ready to start whitling on. ???   ::)

Any progress?

i bought this special carving knive for $8.

any pics?

id love to see it