Wood Carving, Where Do You Start

     Kari Hultman is very fine woodworker and blogger who's site I have followed for sometime.  She graciously gave me permission to share her most recent blog entry on wood carving.

http://villagecarpenter.blogspot.com/2011/04/wood-carving-where-do-you-start.html

         A few years ago I dabbled with chip carving, it was a quiet, low tech way to play with wood in a house instead of in  an unheated garage workshop.  I also let me get back to wood without spending a fortune on tools.  With chip carving I was reminded how much I like wood, it textures and smell.

two of a set of four coasters, the others are lost to the mists of time.

   Over time I made some coasters and a couple of trivets, they mostly got spread among family.  Now occasionally I use the chip carving and whittling skills I learned on larger projects to add an ornamental touch.  Not as often as I would like, lack of confidence and lack of nerve usually keep me from trying something on a nearly completed project.

   This winter I took some time to practice some carving techniques with the intention of making a couple of plain looking band saw boxes and then adding bling with some relief carving.        ( just don't hold your breath to see the results.  If you read this blog regularly you will know how long it took me to get around to making the box joint jig). Those projects will come, in time, I believe.

  Kari's blog about where to start is very helpful for a beginner wood worker, and also for an experienced woodworker that is letting go of his shop and moving into a smaller space.  Giving up your table saw and your planer doesn't  have to mean giving up wood.  There are lots of clubs for carvers around and they are dead keen to encourage and help me people.  Carving reminds us that there is lots of beautiful things you can do with wood, in a limited space with a tight budget.

Working with wood is good for the mind, the hands and the soul.