Still around, but quiet for a bit

Well I'm still here, although you wouldn't think it looking at when I last posted. I haven't been doing any carving over the summer, although I have now got my workshop mostly done. I've started collecting a few gouges with a view to learning a bit more in the Autumn. I'm going to be out of commission for about a month, starting any time now, so posts will stay pretty infrequent. TTFN.

New Book - more

I've finally read all of my carving tools book. It is very comprehensive and covers pretty much all you could want to know about the edge tools carvers use. There are sections on why the tools are shaped as  they are, the problems they can have if they aren't made correctly, and how to maintain them. I particularly liked the information on how to correct various faults which may be found in both new and second hand tools.

Be aware, this book covers edge tools only, there is no information on carver's vices, mallets, workbenches or similar.

The section on sharpening is biased towards the use of oilstones, in particular the Arkansas types. While there is coverage of alternatives such as waterstones, diamond stones and ceramic stones, the reader is left in no doubt that the author prefers oilstones. He does explain his preference, although with a decent translucent Arkansas stone costing in the region of £100 I think he could have given a little more space to a more affordable sharpening method.

New Book

My new copy of Chris Pye's Woodcarving Tools, Materials and Equipment has just arrived. I've only had a chance to skim it so far, but it looks very comprehensive. There is detailed information about the features of different tools, how to care for them, and plenty of ways to sharpen them. I am particularly intrigued by his description of making your own low speed grinder. More when I have read the book properly.

Little Figure started

Over the weekend I had a go at one of Jack Price's small characters. These are two inches high, and carved from a block about an inch square. First (slight) problem was that the pattern in Jack's book is taller than two inches! I suppose I should have measured it before cutting the wood. Hey ho. Anyway, it went pretty well, although I managed to chip off a part of his hat brim. I think he may end up bald, or at least with no hat. As you can see, he is still a work-in-progress.

Face Practice

I got a copy of Jack Price's Carving Small Characters the other day. I really like the naivety (and I mean this in a good way) of these and similar Scandinavian style carvings. The book is excellent, and takes the beginner through carving a small 2 inch high figure. Part of the process is to practice carving faces, and I decided to have a go at that first.

I carved a study stick as described in the book, and I was pretty happy with the result. I may have to get a smaller knife though, if I'm going to be carving many of these! The two pictures show the beginning and end stages - each stage has a little more detail added to it.

What to do.....

It looks like I might have some time on my hands, and not be able to do my main hobby of Archery. I was  looking for something else to fill the gap, and inspired by a visit to a local shop selling Wood Spirits carved in logs and the encouragement of my wife, I decided to take up wood carving.

After much trawling the web I chose a starter set of tools from Flexcut. These have served me very well so far. A trip to John Boddy's timber merchant resulted in some basswood, and I started by carving a couple of projects found on YouTube.

The first was an owl, chosen for it's simplicity and the excellent step-by-step tutorial. (Excuse the blurry pic, it was done on a phone)

The second was a wood spirit. Again this had a good step by step video, but there was a little less guidance than the owl project as there were no measurements and layout lines to mark. This proved to be a real confidence booster, and has made me want to do a load more of these.