I have thought about trying wood carving. Thinking about just grabbing a branch while out camping and making neat stuff but have no clue where to start. Do u use green or dry wood. Do u use a pocket knife or special carving knife. Do you use razor sharp or just sharp so as to not be gouging too easily. Hard or soft wood. Ect.
There are so many directions to go but I can give you a few ideas. If you want to whittle while out, a pocket carving knife with a stout sharp blade would be fine. I am not sure of your wood species out there, but pine and basswood are decent carving woods. White cedar is not bad, red cedar is pretty tough. Fir seems to splinter easy. Maple is good, and pretty dense. If you want to get into more carving such as small figures, a small set of carving knives in a tool roll bag is convenient. I have always carved dry wood, and use very sharp tools. Sharp as in honing the blades a few times as you go. I always felt a dull edge was more dangerous than a sharp one. A sharp edge will bite down into the wood, a dull one will slip and skate off. The is more control working a sharp edge through wood versus forcing a dull edge in. Search for "wood spirit" images and there should be plenty of ideas to help get you going. Wood spirits are a good way to start, and the beards can follow the contours of the branch. Have fun and post up some pictures as you go.
I do mine with a chainsaw....lol I was gonna plug fishingpol but he found you already, gotta give a shout-out to thistle too.......
Thanks for the tips. Wondering if I could find some soft maple or boxelder if they wood work since they are in my area?
I used soft maple on one piece, but I found it tore out too easily at the end of a cut. I had to do so much sanding to remove the tears. It also dented very easily. A fingernail could scratch it to the point it would need more sanding. This is a stylized squid I carved from either swamp or silver maple that gave me fits trying to finish it.
I carve branches while green and carve blocks of Bass while cured. I tend to use knives that are made specifically for carving and I also use hand gouges and chisels. The best advise I can give is to find a carving club near by and join. Its a blast.
