(Part 2) Top products from r/Woodcarving

A strop is only for honing (the final step to achieving a razor-sharp edge), while a whetstone could be used for anything from shaping the initial bevel to honing, depending on the grit.

If you do buy some Flexcut knives, which I highly recommend, you will probably only need a strop if you properly maintain them. In fact, they recommend you never use a whetstone and only opt for a Powerstrop if you neglect them for too long.

Many sites will recommend you buy tools one by one so you can get what you need, but as another beginner, I was extremely happy I purchased the Flexcut Deluxe Set. It was probably one more knife and one more palm tool than I needed, but it helped me understand what was out there and how to use them. A good, cheaper alternative might be this set.

No matter what you buy, one of the most important things to do from both a safety and usability (and enjoyment!) factor is to keep your tools as sharp as possible. That way it requires less force to move the tool through the wood, which is a common injury mechanism, and it makes it easier to create fun things. For the weird angles with V and gouge tools, I use another Flexcut invention. It works okay, but you can get the same results with folded sandpaper or other methods. I also bought a fullsize knife strop because it really does make a difference and you can get some with a lot more surface area. I haven't needed to buy a whetstone yet.

Also, I've since supplemented my starter set with Dockyard tools, which also come very sharp and keep their edge well. So far I've only used their micro tools, but I understand they have decent sets as well.

Speaking from unfortunate experience, you should definitely pick up a pair of kevlar gloves. I had a pretty serious hand injury (partially severed tendon) because I was just doing some touchups and wasn't using my gloves and got a bit sloppy. It only takes one single wrong stroke, and I had gotten complacent since I'd been so careful in the past. The gloves let me be more reckless and have definitely saved me from cuts, although they wouldn't protect against a stabbing cut. Thumb guards are also popular, but I don't actually like them very much. The gloves are nice because you can get a great grip on the tools.

When you have a knife or a set, you'll need some wood to practice on. I found ebay to be a great resource...just search for "basswood" and pick a few different sizes. 2x2x6 seems to be a good starting point to me. Make sure it is kiln-dried as well. Here is a good assortment that is pretty cheap. Butternut is another good choice, but for a beginner, I'd stick with basswood from personal experience.

Finally, if you are wanting a good book to introduce you to the subject, I'd recommend the Complete Book of Woodcarving. I've bought a number of books on the subject, but it is definitely the best if you are only buying one and need an overview to the entire craft. Old Time Whittling is only 30 pages, but gave some great examples and was very useful to me as well.

It really depends on what kind of carving you want to do. I mostly do low relief carving (which is carving an image less than an inch or so into a board), and to get started with that kind of carving you want a gouge or two, a v-parting tool, and maybe a knife. Ramelson makes cheap but reliable tools, and this is a good set: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008I40CC6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_fC4HzbSYX6WBY - The problem with buying sets, though, is that you'll end up always using the two or three tools you love, and the rest will just sit there.

If it were me though, I would buy one good gouge and a knife, start carving with those to find out what you like, and then build your collection from there (once you get a feel for carving you'll start thinking "boy, I really need a tool to do this one specific cut", then you go and find that tool). Pfiel is my go to brand and I've always been very happy with them. If you're going this route then buy this gouge - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032YV9LU/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_lU4Hzb1AZGTFX - or this gouge - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032YZ7IQ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_L54HzbA1GKG75 - (the only difference between the two is the type of handle) and a knife.

If you think you'll want to carve "in the round" (wood sculptures) then maybe just get started with a good knife and build a collection from there based on what you need.

If you're thinking of carving spoons (which I don't do much so the other guys will be able to offer better advice) then maybe a bent gouge like this - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0008GMUZO/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_204HzbXFABDN4 - or a spoon knife like this - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ALUTDP6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_k24HzbHWKGPE9 - and, again, maybe a regular knife.

And most of all GOOD LUCK WITH RECOVERY! Carving might just be a great hobby to help because it keeps you focused, especially if you're doing detailed work. Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

Edit: Oh, and don't worry too much about sharpening right now. Sharpening can be tough to master, and if you buy a good quality tool then you won't need to sharpen for a while. You'll need a strop of some sort though to hone the edge from time to time, and this is what I've been using for a long time now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FX9MHIG/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_uA5Hzb9WTMR7J

Careful of tool sets advertised online. Good tools for beginners are Drake, Mainly for their knives, although all their tools are good. I use their Standard Detail Knife, mine is the egronomic handle at 1 3/4 though you may want a smaller blade. There are other good knife makers, Morakniv etc. Flexcut, Not fond of their knives, but their chisels are good, also I always recommend flexcut for beginners because they aren't very expensive yet will not let you down. I own the interchangeable, namely the 11 pc. and 21 pc. deluxe set, although they do smaller sets.

Good chisel makers are Ashley Iles, Pfeil, Two Cherries, Henry Taylor, Auriou, Stubai, Addis (antique, can find them on ebay etc.), Dastra. There's more but these names are fairly common among woodcarvers, especially Pfeil, though I prefer Ashley Iles. These are considered professional tools and can be quite pricey, last tool I bought was a Pfeil short bent V Tool that ran nearly 50$. You can see why I recommend Flexcut (For chisels, if you go beyond just knives) to start, you get more bang for your buck and can round out a set of chisel profiles (Or sweeps) fairly cheap. Then acquire more professional tools a little at a time. Avoid cheap no name chisels, most likely crappy steel Chinese junk that will just make your woodcarving experience piss poor.

You'll need a sharpening stone and strop, with some strop compound. I use a Norton Wide Soft Arkansas stone with their oil. And a Horse Butt Strop. You can use either Flexcut gold compund or Green Coumpond , either are good. I also have a Slick Stick Strop that helps with stropping the various contours on woodcarving chisels ( I've had this thing for like 11 years). Slip Stones are helpful as well to hone the inside of curved or v tool chisels, again I use the Soft Arkansas.

Wood you can get online, Look for Basswood on amazon or even Ebay, you can also find Butternut (White Walnut) on ebay which is a great carving wood.

Mind I'm not trying to overwhelm with info, most folks are happy with just a knife and wood to carve (with the sharpening supplies of course) I would actually recommend you start that way, if you find you enjoy it you can dive in further.

Here is a decent set of palm gouges to start. They're good for carvings up to about 12" or so.

You also need a decent knife. These are available on Amazon. I'm not familiar with these knives, but Ramelson ha a pretty good reputation.


However, if you are really interested in carving, This knife is an excellent knife and comes with a lifetime satisfaction guarantee.

btw: It would have been better to start a new post rather than replying to an older post :)

I started in November last year after getting some wood carving gifts for my birthday. I had never even attempted it before, but I've now found a life long passion hobby. Below are the links to all of the things I was given for my birthday. It's not fancy at all, but it's also enough of a good investment that you can tell if carving is for you without breaking the bank. In all it's around $30. Also, https://bit.ly/2JPID0Z. This article has information on understanding wood grain, something that is insanely important to making the right cuts. The important thing I've found is when you are making your cut, make them small and shallow. Even if you're looking to remove a lot of wood. You will end up digging in too deep and ripping an irrecoverable chunk out of your block if you're too heavy handed with it. Just go with the flow and take your time. But, most important of all...post everything you make here. This community is so friendly, honest and helpful you only stand to improve by sharing your progress!

https://amzn.to/2JS2DjC - Wood Carving tools
https://amzn.to/2qAG364 - Basswood mixed size bag
https://amzn.to/2H7TPYY - 20 minute Whittling Projects book.

P.S Good luck if you do take it up! Go create!

I've done lots of pieces with nothing more than a pocketknife... but I was a kid, and if I'd had access to internet and a credit card then, I might have gone a little nuts with SHARP TOYS. A bigger blade for roughing out and a smaller straight blade for details is really all you need. I'd suggest maybe this and an exacto knife, assuming you can find one with a comfortable handle. If you decide you want to keep with the hobby, you'll figure out what other kinds of blades or chisels you want to add to your collection.

Basswood is a good wood to start with, it's fairly soft (but not balsa soft) and has a nice straight grain. I got mine from a downed tree on my grandpa's property, but hobby stores, Joannes, and the internet have it too. As you get more into it and want to make bigger pieces, I'm sure you'll find a lumber yard near you that has big blocks.

Good luck!

That's not the set I have but they look like they're pretty much the same tools with different handles (I got a this set). I think they will be fine. I actually do prefer the longer handles.

In my experience they really did come 'sharp and ready to go' in that you don't necessarily have to take a stone to them to make them functional, but I would also get him some generic green chromium oxide stropping compound and an old belt. That takes them from 'sharp' to sharp. He will certainly want to have stones eventually but he will probably be able to just open them, strop them, and have them be ready to go.

One knock is that the tools are really quite small. Like if I would be unhappy if I had to carve a normal-sized spoon without something bigger for the roughing out.

Which would be easier to start with? I see the benefit of both. Do you have a rotary tool that you would recommend? I've browsed around and was thinking about the Dremel 4000 here but part of me wants to go the hand route....I can do that inside my house without pissing anyone off as much with a rotary. Any recommendations on knives and micros? What about there and here. I'd like to stay under or around $100.00 on my first go of tools. Thanks again

Here it is.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Z2U5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3mtZCbQ9FSR24

Throw that blade away and put the straight blades in there.

It looks a little small but honestly it’s very comfortable for this type of small carving.

Honestly the biggest problem with it is that it’s almost too sharp because it’s such a thin blade. Very easy to take too deep a cut. Once you get used to it though it works really well and you can sharpen the blades instead of just throwing them away when they get dull.

I have to admit it wouldn't occur to me to use an electric router to carve this panel, but given that the host did it that way, I guess it's possible. So you could do it the same way, pretty much, and your issue would just be cleaning up the edges. If you were really careful, this could be done with a knife - probably a chip carving knife with a short blade, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Flexcut-Tool-Chip-Carving-Knife/dp/B001NI6LJM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1396314451&sr=8-5&keywords=chip+carving+knife

You could do the convex curves with an ordinary woodworking chisel. Come to think of it, I think I've even seen the convex ones done that way. But it'll take some practice.

What sort of wood are you doing these panels in? I wouldn't try using the knife on something really hard...

I'm fond of the Flexcut palm tools such as the link below. Make sure you also get a carving glove and thumb guards too! and good luck

http://amzn.com/B001UXXTTK

I feel it important to mention that, while the set you suggested is definitely high quality, it is meant for different materials and uses than the kind of knives OP originally bought.

If OP is learning a particular style or wants that particular kind of tool, There are lots of other good potential sets they can buy:

Example Beginner's Set

Example Intermediate Set

I got started with something very similar to the beginner's set, and my teacher thought those were fine to carve in yew and see if I liked it as a hobby.

Flexcut makes good stuff. Something like this or this would probably make you happy.

Grab a nice starter knife. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GATX62/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That knife and a few blocks of basswood was enough to make me fall in love in carving. If you decide you like it and want to start carving more details into your works you can grab some chisels.

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Carving-Tools-Seven-Piece/dp/B0037MI3K2/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i4?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B0037MI3K2&pd_rd_r=BGGJB52PAYA1T0HS96E0&pd_rd_w=rod12&pd_rd_wg=6RHP4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=1P6DCGHZDPEYM542SBQ7&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=781f4767-b4d4-466b-8c26-2639359664eb&pf_rd_i=desktop

This book is pretty good and doesn't cost that much, will teach you lots of good tricks if faces are what you're into.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YLET3E/ref=wms_ohs_product_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

thats what i use, work great. I have this [stone] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/order-history/ref=ohs_order_orderid?ie=UTF8&hasWorkingJavascript=1&opt=ab&qid=&search=107-7833825-7393023&sr=) and it works fine. For any serious reshaping and sharpening you'll need a lower grit stone but i feel like most craving sets and chisels will come preshaped.

Just remember to wet the stone with oil, I use water and its fine.

Thanks! The two things I tried to improve for #2 were handle and bowl width. The first spoon was very unbalanced (the bowl was too heavy) and I was afraid the handle would snap with just a little torque.

I started the first handle by cutting the very end down to what I thought would be the proper width, and then I started working my way up the handle, trying to match that width. But as I tried evening out each section, the whole thing kept getting thinner and thinner, until it became way thinner than I had originally planned. So with the second handle, I basically worked my way up and down the length of the handle as I went (taking off an 1/8 inch or so at a time). I left it thicker intentionally until the "end" of the project, so that any evening out I did wouldn't cause it to become too thin again.

For the bowl, I just cut closer to the edge on the second try. As u/Ddosvulcan suggested, I tried pushing the limits to see how thin I could get it.

For tools, I got this knife set on Amazon and these wood blocks. I did not have gloves for the first spoon. I picked up a pair of those and really like them (link here). I also sanded and oiled the second one, and that made a big difference aesthetically.

Edit: I almost forgot, this video helped a lot with learning the basic cuts!

I currently own these two sets: Flexcut and Dockyard.

Mostly I used the KN12, although the KN13 got a fair amount of use. The V-tool from the Flexcut set was pretty useful, and I used the smallest gouge from the Dockyard set a lot, with the remaining assortment from both used for bits here and there. I was wishing I had a smaller V-tool, and not for the first time...that will probably be my next purchase. In my experience, if I had to buy only one micro tool, it would definitely be the smallest from the Dockyard set.

Also, it seems like no one does this, but doing stop cuts with a cheapo Xacto saw is amazing. You get a consistent line that doesn't need much cleanup, and you can easily lop off chunks that would normally take awhile to cut through properly with a knife multiple times. The kerf is quite minimal so it yields a very fine cut.

As others have said, for knives you really do get what you pay for.

That said, as a starter whittling knife I got this one, and have found it to be pretty great as an all-around knife - from roughing all the way to small details in tight spaces. Comes with a good edge, solid edge retention with regular stropping, comfortable handle. There's no play between blade and handle, but I wouldn't be surprised if some developed over time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YLET3E/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A16SR3KAP60UP0 checked this on the website, it's good

Thank you

Loving it. I bought this set. To be honest, I don't know exactly what the difference between the three knives are, but they all cut through the wood like butter.

For some reason I am always squeamish when it come to carving with Xacto knives.. I think it may be because of how thin the blades are which would make them easier to break. I would say save up the extra $20-$30 and by one of these sets.

http://www.amazon.com/Flexcut-Tool-Knife-Carving-Set/dp/B003Z7XNUO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410631466&sr=8-2&keywords=flex+cut

http://www.amazon.com/Beginner-Palm-and-Knife-Set/dp/B005EG033Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1410631466&sr=8-3&keywords=flex+cut

These sets will last you forever and can be resharpened with out any problem.

I just ordered these so I can't attest to their quality but their ratings are fine on Amazon.

thumb guard

gloves

There are lots of different tool makers, here's a couple of detail knives that are decent price.

R. Murphy Detail Knife

Flexcut Detail Knife

I'd recommend staying away from the Mora knives. They tend to be longer and a little unwieldy. I think the blade is close to 2 1/4 inches whereas the Flexcut and Murphy knives I listed above are 1 1/2 inches.

For gouges, v-tools, and chisels, Flexcut Craft Carver Set (5pc) is a decent price as well. It's an interchangeable blade set, I started carving with it and still use it to this day.

Another thing you'll want to invest in is a strop and compound. Stropping your blade blade regularly will keep it sharp. Amazon has them if you search for "strop block" or "strop paddle". The sharpening compound I use is a chromium oxide bar or Flexcut Gold.

Mind you I have only used this stuff to carve this one tiny thing but I figure I can always upgrade to different tools if I stick with it for a while and decide these things need an upgrade. Next time I buy supplies, I’m definitely finding another retailer for larger pieces of Basswood though. The selection on Amazon sucks a bit.

Glove:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IVM1TKO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_BN5WCbEJ88Z77

Blades:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P578XFV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_zN5WCbWR8JJJA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037MI3K2/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_mN5WCb9TNQ5A5

Sharpening Tools:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FX9MHIG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_iN5WCbFRFMWSY
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023W6RS2/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_lN5WCbSTS92ZX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2WY7WG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_qN5WCbZ70WC0J

Basswood:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L91JK9J/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_UQ5WCbSS09KD7

I have a similar set. I really enjoy how compact this set is since there is only one handle. I didn't get the 11 piece, mine was a beginners kit with some wood and booklet and honing kit, but you can buy more gouges as you need them.

Would these tools at amazon be comparable to the ones you listed?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B008349HCC

They look really similar - just not sure if quality be same. I was looking at some netsuke carving - these looks amazing and they do require harder wood. Recently i tried carving crow from monument valley out of hard ebony wood and i damaged my felxcut knife.

I used a starter set of carving chisels [like these] (http://www.amazon.com/Starter-Set-of-5-Tools/dp/B001UYQPNG/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1411898341&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=starter+carving+chisel+blades) but not those exact ones, and then this [Xacto carving set] (http://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X5175-Deluxe-Woodcarving-Set/dp/B00004Z2UD) when I got to the finer details.

Here's the knife he most likely needs...

Buy him the protective glove for another ten bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Flexcut-KN15-Chip-Carving-Knife/dp/B001NI6LJM/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1482247044&sr=1-9&keywords=Flexcut+knife

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000ZRZQ1G/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0018N9Z72/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In order of purchase, here's where I started:

BeaverCraft Carving knife

Strop

Detail knives

Flexcut Cutting knife
Flexcut Detail knife

Mora 106 carving knife (upgrade from the beavercraft)