thank you for this video, I'm really new into wood carving. I only have 1 knife and no sharpening tools and I had no idea where to find wood that would be good to carve on.
I ordered some random cheap-ish wood off of German ebay. It didn't mention how the wood was dried nor how much moisture the wood will contain once I want to carve with it. I struggled carving it, got blisters and was afraid to cut myself because it needed so much force. Skip ahead 2 years, I simply stored it in my living room, because I got discouraged at first and it turns out, it's now much easier to carve and I just finished another two little foxes. My first fox took about 5 hours because of how hard the basswood was, the latest ones took only 1.5 after getting a bit moister through being storaged in a lived in place. Lesson learned, I will try to buy some other brands in the future once I finish these other pieces. Thanks for the video! Very helpful :)
I knew nothing about wood moisture 🤯 Do you have any advice for being able to tell what different wood are in the wild? A lot of my neighbors along the path I walk will leave tempting branches and trimmed wood on the curb for yard waste Gets me wanting to pick some up to carve since it’s so healthy and pretty wood on the inside
You can pick up wood moisture testers for about $20 online! I personally try n target between 8% and 12% moisture. I also have some logs sitting in my garage and drying out, they have been there for about a year and should be abour ready
Love your videos. They're all so chill and always have good advice. Will defo be using the wood hardness list next time I pick my wood. Had a piece of walnut from a friend and ho boy 😅 I live in the UK and would suggest people give EnglishWoods a look. Ordered their selection box they're all a decent quality. They don't do bass wood but they do do Lime wood which is harder on the Jenka scale but similar
Thank you so much for the information. If you're looking for a good source on wood information I highly recommend wood database, they have an absolutely insane compilation of different woods, so much so that it can sometimes be hard to be exactly sure which wood you're looking for. For example: by mahogany did you mean genuine mahogany or African mahogany? Or perhaps sepele or Philippine mahogany? Another great resource is the book "With the Grain: A Craftsman's Guide to Understanding Wood" by Christian Becksvoort from Lost Art Press for US domestic woods.
hello, a little off topic but have you ever tried to do relief carving? It looks like something I might want to try to do. Thank you for all you do for the carving community!
Yes I have and it is quite fun! You don't need a ton of tools to do it either, just a gouge, chisel, and maybe a v-gouge will do. If you want a really nice set, Pfeil has a great intermediate set with just these tools in it to start off with! If you want to get into it, I have a few beginner friendly relief carving templates on my website: carvingisfun.com/templates/
Hello Brian, merci de cette vidéo très intéressante. J’ai la chance d’avoir du tilleul frais gratuitement par des amis qui transforment leur jardin. Je débite moi-même les morceaux dont j’ai besoin. Et en effet le bois séché à l’air a un meilleur rendement. Faut-il couvrir d’une bâche le bois ? Ou le laisser à l’air et ou aux intempéries ? Dans un réduit ventilé il sèche bien. C’est celui qui est débité. Mais pour le bois brut que me conseilles-tu ? Merci pour tes réponses, Michèle
I have heard that Lime is really good to carve and when air drying I recommend lifted off the ground with a tarpaulin under the wood to separate from the ground and above to prevent uneven moisture falling on it.
I have several pieces of very dry wood laying around and I really want to carve them. Is it possible to moisturize them to the state of green wood somehow? Like soak them for a couple days, or maybe boil them?
Sure! If you are on a budget and just want to do whittling and chip carving, the Beavercraft S15 kit is the way to go If you want to do whittling and spoon carving on a budget, the Beavercraft S13 is the cheapest option I recommend If you want a really nice whittling, chip carving, and spoon carving set for a good price, Schaaf Tools 5 piece set is the only option I would recommend If you want to do whittling and some wood carving on small figures, the Flexcut palm and knife set will get you started, but you will need a leather strop
@@CarvingisFun Well during the lockdown we did hiking every other day - and even now on weekends - once a week - and we have some great trails in our area. Hence me able to harvest good pieces. Still I envy a lot of your pieces - and your sharpening guides have been truly helpful in keeping my knives in great shape and very sharp.
@@danielmilliken8903 Are you asking me or @carvingisfun? If you're asking me - I don't go for specific wood because I only get found wood - what I do is beat the crap out of the stick, I mean I kick it, try to do everything to break it - because I don't want anyone going on a walk with something that might break. I'm a heavy guy so I put all my force in it. I also take it out for a test walk and put extra force on it. As to carving, I usually put in symbols that I use stencils for - just use very sharp tools and you'll be happy.
Wood Hardness List: carvingisfun.com/wood-hardness/
Where I buy basswood:
Choice Craft Woods: ebay.to/3B8LhZM
Beavercraft Basswood: amzn.to/49XRZmn
CANUSA: amzn.to/3Qjb2QU
Heinecke Wood: heineckewood.com/block-wood
Spray (just add a little more water) amzn.to/49XS35B
Thank you so much for taking the time to compile the hardness list, it's so helpful!!
thank you for this video, I'm really new into wood carving. I only have 1 knife and no sharpening tools and I had no idea where to find wood that would be good to carve on.
Glad I could help!
Wow thanks SO much ... brilliant video and great list article for wood hardness
You're welcome!
Hopefully people find it useful!
I ordered some random cheap-ish wood off of German ebay. It didn't mention how the wood was dried nor how much moisture the wood will contain once I want to carve with it.
I struggled carving it, got blisters and was afraid to cut myself because it needed so much force.
Skip ahead 2 years, I simply stored it in my living room, because I got discouraged at first and it turns out, it's now much easier to carve and I just finished another two little foxes.
My first fox took about 5 hours because of how hard the basswood was, the latest ones took only 1.5 after getting a bit moister through being storaged in a lived in place.
Lesson learned, I will try to buy some other brands in the future once I finish these other pieces.
Thanks for the video! Very helpful :)
I knew nothing about wood moisture 🤯
Do you have any advice for being able to tell what different wood are in the wild? A lot of my neighbors along the path I walk will leave tempting branches and trimmed wood on the curb for yard waste
Gets me wanting to pick some up to carve since it’s so healthy and pretty wood on the inside
You can pick up wood moisture testers for about $20 online! I personally try n target between 8% and 12% moisture.
I also have some logs sitting in my garage and drying out, they have been there for about a year and should be abour ready
Love your videos. They're all so chill and always have good advice. Will defo be using the wood hardness list next time I pick my wood. Had a piece of walnut from a friend and ho boy 😅
I live in the UK and would suggest people give EnglishWoods a look. Ordered their selection box they're all a decent quality. They don't do bass wood but they do do Lime wood which is harder on the Jenka scale but similar
Thank you so much for the information. If you're looking for a good source on wood information I highly recommend wood database, they have an absolutely insane compilation of different woods, so much so that it can sometimes be hard to be exactly sure which wood you're looking for. For example: by mahogany did you mean genuine mahogany or African mahogany? Or perhaps sepele or Philippine mahogany?
Another great resource is the book "With the Grain: A Craftsman's Guide to Understanding Wood" by Christian Becksvoort from Lost Art Press for US domestic woods.
hello, a little off topic but have you ever tried to do relief carving? It looks like something I might want to try to do. Thank you for all you do for the carving community!
Yes I have and it is quite fun! You don't need a ton of tools to do it either, just a gouge, chisel, and maybe a v-gouge will do. If you want a really nice set, Pfeil has a great intermediate set with just these tools in it to start off with!
If you want to get into it, I have a few beginner friendly relief carving templates on my website: carvingisfun.com/templates/
@@CarvingisFun thank you for your quick reply and the templates!
Hi! Can i use wood of my tree in my backyard? Is poplar wood and i have a beavercraft knife's
Im sure you could if ya wanted to!
Hey friend that wood is perfect and best for bird carving ! U may haft to wait till it’s dried if using rotary tool. Someone correct me if I’m wrong
Hello Brian, merci de cette vidéo très intéressante. J’ai la chance d’avoir du tilleul frais gratuitement par des amis qui transforment leur jardin. Je débite moi-même les morceaux dont j’ai besoin. Et en effet le bois séché à l’air a un meilleur rendement. Faut-il couvrir d’une bâche le bois ? Ou le laisser à l’air et ou aux intempéries ? Dans un réduit ventilé il sèche bien. C’est celui qui est débité. Mais pour le bois brut que me conseilles-tu ? Merci pour tes réponses, Michèle
I have heard that Lime is really good to carve and when air drying I recommend lifted off the ground with a tarpaulin under the wood to separate from the ground and above to prevent uneven moisture falling on it.
Put hard wood in bathroom, showers will create steam to soften the wood, but don’t overdo it.
Thats a good idea!
I have several pieces of very dry wood laying around and I really want to carve them. Is it possible to moisturize them to the state of green wood somehow? Like soak them for a couple days, or maybe boil them?
Ive heard of people boiling them, but I would also be concerned about over saturation as well. It's honestly something Ive never attempted
Is there in wood carving / whittling kits you recommend for a beginner?
Sure!
If you are on a budget and just want to do whittling and chip carving, the Beavercraft S15 kit is the way to go
If you want to do whittling and spoon carving on a budget, the Beavercraft S13 is the cheapest option I recommend
If you want a really nice whittling, chip carving, and spoon carving set for a good price, Schaaf Tools 5 piece set is the only option I would recommend
If you want to do whittling and some wood carving on small figures, the Flexcut palm and knife set will get you started, but you will need a leather strop
@@CarvingisFun Thank you for replying :D
Interesting, but right now I just use found wood, I leave it on our terrace to dry. Of course most of my work is walking sticks.
I honestly wish I could find good wood on the ground around me, unfortunately it's almost always in some form of decay.
@@CarvingisFun Well during the lockdown we did hiking every other day - and even now on weekends - once a week - and we have some great trails in our area. Hence me able to harvest good pieces.
Still I envy a lot of your pieces - and your sharpening guides have been truly helpful in keeping my knives in great shape and very sharp.
What’s the best wood to use in AL ? For walking stick carving. I wanna do woodspirits smaller ones and dog heads for handles ? Thank u
@@danielmilliken8903 Are you asking me or @carvingisfun? If you're asking me - I don't go for specific wood because I only get found wood - what I do is beat the crap out of the stick, I mean I kick it, try to do everything to break it - because I don't want anyone going on a walk with something that might break. I'm a heavy guy so I put all my force in it. I also take it out for a test walk and put extra force on it.
As to carving, I usually put in symbols that I use stencils for - just use very sharp tools and you'll be happy.
So you're saying that carving a tiger from kingwood will be difficult? 😃