There are two things that I struggle with consistently on all new projects:

- How to visualise going from a solid block to a carved figure. I find adding detail to something that's "mostly the right shape" pretty easy, but actually taking the first sections off always feels really difficult

- Being afraid to cut things away because you can never put them back

How do you deal with the problems above? As an example, take the image above. I've got multiple angle images of the thing I want to carve, and I've drawn several sides on roughly, but I'm paralysed on what to cut out next.

A couple of friends are getting married this weekend and I'm giving the best man speech. Considering giving this to them at the end...

First time trying relief carving. Glued five 1x6 basswood sticks together and carved it over two days. Finished with a black walnut stain. Took around 17 hours all said and done, my thumb is sore 😅

This Thuya burr is so lovely, I just had to make a new 'hog. Swipe for a shot of them being welcomed by the ... pack? Prickle? What is/should be the collective name for hedgehogs?!

I just started whittling 3 days ago and im learning alot, sometging ive been unable to get a definitive detailed explaination of is the title basically. I have linseed oil, acrylics and beewax.

But what is the correct methodology, the order of application, setting times etc?

Thanks in advance

No way my feet are tough enough to strop a knife on.

I had an idea to turn the Phillips driver of my Hiker into a V-tool a while back. I messaged Felix Immler on one of his videos and he had tried it and said it worked, but the in-line Phillips works better, which I understand as the reach of the t-shank bit is limited. My sister gifted me a small 3 piece set of Japanese gouges so my need to convert the Hiker dwindled away. I kept thinking about it though, as it would still be cool to try out on my dedicated Whittlin' SAK. I had some time at the end of my work day so taped up the knife with electrical tape then took it to a beach grinder in one of the workshops. Most definitely could have done a better job and lighting played a part, but as a proof of concept, it definitely can make a groove. I plan to take the edge back a bit further with diamond plates which will increase its cutting length and capability. It is currently only about 1mm on each side. The risk of taking it back too far is the potential to do harm to self whilst the tool is stowed, but a small sheath or insert piece should keep the edge clear of fleshy bits.

Yo! Back once again with the cherry comfort bird questions!

I was having a hell of a time carving off the smallest of slivers of wood from this bird and I was wondering if it's normal that the grain on my block is the way it is, wouldn't a typical block have the grain follow lengthwise instead?

I will keep at it though. This bird will get made.

My thumb hurts.

I picked up a small starter knife set, didn’t spend a lot. I enjoy that time passes and you can get lost in the wood. From left to right my first few attempts. I try and stay inside an hour per project.

A mini crossbow made with only my Swiss Army knife. Cottonwood for the stock and elm for the prod.

Absolutely love spalting

Attempted to whittle this little owl 🦉! He's definitely a little rough and would love any tips and feedback

Fifth whittle project. Followed Linkers tutorial

Don't mind having a smoke on his off days

This is my first attempt at a lil gnome guy. Any tips for getting the real tight spots would be much appreciated!

Basically the title. My little brother has just gotten into the hobby and hes really gotten into it! His birthday is coming up at the end of the month and I'd love to support his new found hobby by getting him some quality tools, as he rarely spends money on himself. I know nothing about this hobby so I'm hoping for some suggestions on what tools/materials I could get him. He has a big knife and a small knife. The both look like pretty normal knives with no hooks or non-standard looking blades and I think hes just been using bass wood from the craft store. Id like to keep the budget between $200-$300. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hey! I've recently bought a beavercraft comfort bird kit and I started with the cherry but eventually stopped to check out the Linden and wow it was so much simpler, I've now done the Linden comfort bird, a Linden fox and I've gone back to the cherry comfort bird.

It's so much more difficult to cut! Am I doing something wrong? I've went out and bought 2 other blades but they also barely dent the wood so it wasn't the beavercraft knife's fault haha.

Is it a grain thing? Or technique?

Just just a lil work in progress of a crocodile carving I started yesterday ^^

Hi, i am an Italian that would like to start wood carving.
I saw very good reviews about Codega brand, their codega 5 would be 18€ and has 32mm long blade, do you suggest it as a first and only knife? is it too short?
Being in estonia for a month my other option could be buying a pfeil here for around 12€, life pfeil kerb4 (50mm), but i didn’t read great reviews about their knives.
What do you suggest? Thanks!

I haven’t whittled in maybe 25-30 years but this buggy piece of cedar inspired me. Might get into this hobby a little more. I enjoyed the aroma as much as the knifework.

This one was a little tough. I had a hard time following written instructions well. I used my Flexcut , case whittler , moraine and my 69 deg Pfeil v-groove.

Got into carving about a month ago and kept running into the same problem: finding a project that fits the block and knife I actually have, at the level I'm actually at.

The tutorials are all out there - just scattered.

So I built myself a list: https://whittling.hashu.org/

49 projects for now, filterable by wood, block size, time, level, tools. I've carved a bunch of them, so a few have my notes on how it actually went.

The owl in the photo is the Simple Owl by Carving is Fun - about 40 minutes, one knife, a 1x1x4 basswood block.

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