Whittling Workbook E-Book

James Ray Miller

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 97

Beschreibung

The ultimate beginner-friendly project guide to whittling flat-plane carvings with a modern twist! Whittling Workbook is perfect for anyone seeking a range of easy wood carvings they can accomplish with just one knife – including roughing out. All you need is a block of wood and one knife to achieve any of the 14 wood carving projects featured within these pages! From a simple strawberry and a whimsical wand to a sailor, Martian, pig, and so much more, each project includes detailed step-by-step instructions to walk you through the entire process from start to finish. Also included are insightful overviews on basic carving cuts, painting and finishing techniques, safety notes, and how to join a carving community. Author James Miller is a recent college graduate and a protégé of decorated Scandinavian-style carver, Harley Refsal. James has been a regular contributor to Woodcarving Illustrated since 2010 and published his first book, Whittling Flat-Plane Animals, in 2020.

Leseprobe

Dedication

Dedicated to my little sister, Julia, whose colorful constructive criticism has pushed me to improve from the very beginning!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all the people who have supported me along my carving journey. The members of my hometown’s carving club were instrumental in providing the instruction and support that I needed as a young child eager to immerse myself in the woodcarving world, and their support continues to this day. Those who invite my trail of woodchips at local gatherings and festivities push me to create more and allow me to share my passion for handcraft with others. Thank you as well to all the teachers and handcraft instructors I have had the privilege of taking classes from over the years. Your passion and love of teaching others has been infectious.

All step-by-step photos in this book are taken by my beloved girlfriend, Allison Cully. Without her, I would have had to bribe one or more friends into wrapping their arms around me and shooting hundreds of photographs with me night after night.

© 2022 by James Ray Miller and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Whittling Workbook is an original work, first published in 2022 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. The patterns contained herein are copyrighted by the author. Readers may make copies of these patterns for personal use. The patterns themselves, however, are not to be duplicated for resale or distribution under any circumstances. Any such copying is a violation of copyright law.

Print ISBN 978-1-4971-0270-5

eISBN 978-1-6374-1067-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021949675

Project Team

Acquisition editor: Kaylee Schofield

Editor: Colleen Dorsey

Designer: Chris Morrison

Page layout: Freire Disseny

Project photography and reference photos: Mike Mihalo

Step-by-step and other photography: Allison Cully

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

For a printable PDF of the patterns used in this book, please contact Fox Chapel Publishing at [email protected], with 9781497102705 Whittling Workbook in the subject line.

Introduction

This book is aimed specifically at beginner carvers but will also suit those looking to relive their early days of carving or even experienced carvers looking for simple and relaxing projects that can be completed in a short amount of time. Several of the projects are drawn from my own early days, and, as such, they have given me a wonderful opportunity to revisit the exciting period in my life where I had endless drive but little experience.

I hope to inspire others to use woodcarving as a means for relaxation and satisfaction. When I started carving, larger, more complex projects seemed somewhat intimidating, and did not interest me very much. I found in short order that small, simple projects were not only fun to carve but also great learning tools—each with a valuable lesson. Perhaps most important was the sense of satisfaction upon creating a figure. This sense of satisfaction, which never causes stagnation but which rather promotes further growth, drives carvers to share their work with others and encourages them to carve more.

This book not only presents a wide variety of fun figures to carve, but also mixes in a good amount of tricks and techniques that I have picked up during my carving journey. Through it all, my biggest piece of advice is this: carve whatever makes you happy. If you start a project but find that it no longer interests you, try to think of ways to tweak the pattern to turn it into something you are more passionate about. This is the key to a prolific carving career. Happy carvers make happy carvings!

—James

Table of Contents

Beginner’s Toolkit

What Is Whittling?

Safety

Types of Wood

Tools

General Overview of the Carving Process

Design

Roughing Out

Basic Cuts

Painting Techniques

Finishing Techniques

Carving Community

Projects

Camping Fork & Spreader

Fresh-Picked Strawberry

Egg-in-Cage

Gentle Hedgehog

Friendly Dinosaur

Wizard’s Apprentice Wand

Sleepy Owl

Stylized Sunflower

Sausage Pig

Curious Martian

Cozy Grandpa & Grandma

Sven the Sailor

Peppy Princess

Enchanted Prince

Patterns

About the Author

Beginner’s Toolkit

Every carver, whether experienced or just starting out, has their own tools, techniques, and preferences. In this section, I give you a sweeping overview of every facet of the carving process, from tools to order of operations. I detail some of my preferences while leaving the possibilities open to what is available to you. There is no perfect set of tools to suit everyone, and the best tool is often the one you are most comfortable with. Nevertheless, carvers often pick up helpful tips and new ideas from other carvers regardless of experience level. So, even if you have been carving for years, you may pick up something new here!

What Is Whittling?

While dictionary definitions of whittling tend to be quite general, usually just describing carving as a whole, or an aspect of carving, the practical definition I am familiar with describes whittling as a type of woodcarving utilizing one or very few knives, and usually specifically knives instead of other tools like chisels and gouges.

Whittling, being intrinsically minimalist, may not be as widely revered as more intricate and complex forms of woodcarving, but it is nonetheless a global pastime that can produce amazing results. As an art form, using minimal tools offers interesting challenges that force whittlers to draw upon the versatility of the knife when used with various techniques (as well as exercising their own craftiness).

In this book, I will use the words “whittling” and “carving” interchangeably, since all carving in this book is whittling.

A group of figures whittled with one knife.

Safety

Every carver will tell you that a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife. Dull knives require more force, but they do not slice through wood nearly as well as sharp knives. That extra force means that if you slip while slicing with such a knife, there could suddenly be a fast-moving knife—dull but sharp enough to do some damage—whizzing through the air. So, keep your knives sharp!

It is generally recommended to wear at least a glove on your non-dominant hand while carving. Thumb guards, which are mini gloves just for thumbs, can also be used for added protection, and are often worn on the dominant thumb. Gloves and thumb guards can prevent a handful of blisters and injuries, especially for beginners.

Make sure to note which side of the blade is sharp every time you pick up a carving tool.

Before trying to carve harder woods like walnut or maple, try carving basswood. Many carvers use basswood exclusively due to its softness and ability to hold detail.

A Kevlar glove with dot grips suitable for carving.

A leather thumb guard worn on the dominant thumb.

Types of Wood

All varieties of wood will vary from tree to tree, but generally speaking, certain types of wood are better for whittling than others. Here are some woods commonly used for whittling:

•Basswood/linden: This is preferred for whittling and many types of carving. Basswood is a cream-colored, soft hardwood that holds detail well. In other words, it tends to be soft yet crisp, but not brittle. Amazingly, basswood has very little use outside of woodcarving.

•Butternut: Butternut is a beautiful medium-dark wood that looks like a light walnut. Its grain is so beautiful that carvers often opt to leave their works in butternut unpainted.

•Birch: There are several varieties of birch, but generally, it is a light-colored hardwood that is usually a bit harder than basswood. It can have a crispness that makes it a joy to carve.

For beginners, I recommend sticking to basswood until you are more comfortable with carving.

Assorted basswood blocks, ripe for carving.

Tools

Countless tools exist to aid woodcarvers in their process of creation. Large, two-handed chisels and gouges (U-shaped chisels), tools designed to be pounded through hard woods with a mallet, modern power carving tools, and palm tools of various shapes and sizes are all compelling options for a variety of projects. However, there is something particularly relaxing about mastering and using just one tool some of the time. For those who whittle, we know this tool to be the knife.

Even carving knives come in a wide array of shapes and sizes. Some are sharp on the curved edge, which keeps the tip out of the way for wide slices, and some are sharp on the straight edge, which allows you to utilize the tip for all sorts of fine details. Some carving knives are thick and bulky, some are thin and agile, some have wide bevels for hogging through harder woods, and some have narrow bevels to allow for taking long slices through softer woods. Each type of knife has its purpose, and to a large degree you can master whatever knife you become familiar with. However, I recommend a knife specifically made for carving to ensure a long-lasting edge and a decent shape.

One Knife to Rule Them All

For this book, my knife of choice is a 2″ (5.1cm) straight-edged knife. I am using a Harley knife by Pinewood Forge, but I have found other similar knives to work quite well. A blade somewhere between 1 ½″ (3.8cm) and 2 ¼″ (5.7cm) is perfect for general use. Such a knife allows for bold roughing, fine detailing, and even reaching some deep crannies.

The Harley knife, my knife of choice and the knife used for all projects in this book.

Sharpening

Regardless of your tools of choice, you will need to use some sharpening system to keep your tools in good condition. For everyday sharpening, a leather strop with some stropping compound (in powder or solid form) is one of the most widely used tools around for the job. You should strop every half hour to hour of carving time. Stropping a knife with a full flat grind, like the knife used in this book, simply requires a few strokes back and forth, pulling away from the sharp edge with the surface of the blade pressed flat against the strop. This type of knife has a bevel that appears to go all the way from the sharp edge to the back edge. To strop a knife with a noticeable bevel like pocketknives tend to have, lay the bevel flat on the strop. If you accidentally drop a knife or it gets dinged up somehow, you will want to use a more intense mode of sharpening, such as sandpaper, diamond hones, or sharpening wheels.

A simple strop: leather glued onto some plywood.

General Overview of the Carving Process

Some carvings evolve simply from a block of wood, a knife, and a little free time. Others take form after a meticulous planning session on paper or even utilizing clay sculpting. I tend to sketch ideas on paper, sometimes a few times over, before slicing into a block of wood to create them in 3D. Many carvers use only patterns created by other carvers, but oftentimes make their own adjustments to personalize things. Regardless, after deciding on a design in some way, there is a certain roughing out phase that takes place before taking a knife to wood. This could be as simple as locating a suitable piece of wood, or it could incorporate sawing away large pieces of waste wood. This process is described in detail later on in this section of the book (here).