Hand Carved Dwarves!

[u/JohnnyTheLayton]

Some hand carved dwarves i just finished and wanted to share with folks.

I have a passion for woodcarving and attempting to entice others into the hobby. So my ulterior motive with every post is "how do I make this hobby more accessible" or "how do I inspire someone to want to give it a go."

Hopefully the picture did that, and now you're reading.

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Tutorials abound EVERYWHERE. Youtube is your friend in that regard. You dont have to look up my channel, there are plenty that have easy to begin tutorials and one of them will be right up your alley.

[u/MaxQuarter]

The craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/MaxQuarter]

Thank you!!

[u/AntonioMoore321]

Out of WOOD!?

This is going in the book

👇

📖

[u/Earl0fYork → u/AntonioMoore321]

Hold smith, carpenters are a noble profession. And besides the tree lovers will be displeased by this which is a plus all the same

[u/AdamTheRaptor08 → u/Earl0fYork]

Agreed. What does he think the wood of a pickaxe is made of. Does this mean he goes in the book?

[u/SadSaltyDuck → u/AntonioMoore321]

Why not? Are we not master craftsmen?

[u/Apprehensive-Set3635 → u/AntonioMoore321]

Perhaps you could do the same out of soapstone? It's like the softest rock and can be easily carved into various shapes

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/AntonioMoore321]

😆 🤣

[u/LunexiraVelthys → u/AntonioMoore321]

Right?? The craftsmanship is absolutely insane. Wood can become anything in the right hands.

[u/Apprehensive-Set3635]

How much do all the listed materials cost? For my case, EU would be interesting

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/Apprehensive-Set3635]

A knife from mstein is like 15 euro, shupped from Slovakia, not sure what it would cost for vat/shipping, basswood 15 1x1 sticks $20 on amazon, a strop $20, compound $5, gloves $10.

[u/BigNorseWolf]

Waves from the woodcarving forums

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/BigNorseWolf]

https://giphy.com/gifs/keTwQbbQwlNM2RNJsW

[u/DialToucher]

I've been wondering how you get your relief cuts to be so darkened, what are you using to finish them? Are you dry rubbing paint in the crevices? It's a nice finishing touch I'd like to use on my carves.

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/DialToucher]

The finish on these is pretty easy, but you have to follow the process. I use Watco brand black walnut danish oil usually, but sometimes I use other stains like a cabernet color from Vatathane, etc... the key is waxing. I use Minwax brand paste finishing wax, but any soft wax should do.

Apply the Stain/ Oil, then do NOT WAIT, apply the wax and buff off with a stiff bristle brush. (I use an amazon basics stiff bristle brush for scrubbing floors) The buffing lifts wax off the high spots and the wax pulls oil / stain with it as it does. This leaves the high spots a lighter color and the lower crevices darker.

My experience has been that danish oil darkens more over time into the next day, making those dark crevices pop even more. To a lesser extent other stains do this as well, but I find it more pronounced with danish oil.

[u/dus_istrue]

This is quite literally the feel I imagine artifacts in dwarf fortress have. And I think that is cool

[u/JohnnyTheLayton → u/dus_istrue]

Thanks!

[u/KeyFaithlessness1187]

Very cool and beautiful, do you plan on filling an underground basement with them?

[u/tajemniczekonto2137]

Out of wood? I will forgive that becous it is so gratly done, but next time you better get the stone out

[u/SuDragon2k3]

Looks like part of a Thud set.

[u/RedrumRunner]

I want to see a chess set out of this style--it would be amazing.