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Tell me a little bit about yourself - where are you from? How long have you been doing wood carving? I grew up in beautiful Luray, Virginia, which is nestled just below Shenandoah National Park. As a kid, I spent hours outside and loved using my uncle's scrap wood to build raggedy but sturdy forts. That said I've always enjoyed creating something from nothing and working with my hands. Although most of my family still calls Luray home, I now live and work in Richmond, VA, where I teach special education. I started carving about 4 years ago as a way to decompress and I haven't looked back. What type of carving do you do? I tend to not...
There's a lot to learn from carving letters. This is the first Beginner Video in a series of tutorials that will show you how to carve different letters in three dimension, both concave and convex. Apply the skills you learn in this lesson to carve numbers, other letters, and curved figures (like a snake!). Project Skill Level - Beginner These Beginner Tutorials are taught by professional carver, Randall 'Madcarver' Stoner and Schaaf Tool. Happy Carving! Gouges Used in this video are from the Schaaf Tools 12-pc Foundation Set - Starter Wood Carving Tools for Beginners Profiles used: 1s Skew Chisel 8 - 4mm Gouge 5 - 8mm Gouge Timestamp: [0:54] - Use the Skew chisel to cut along the outline...
Mention the words "skew chisel," and most woodcarvers and woodturners react strongly; ambivalence is not the usual response. Instead, craftsmen seem to love or hate using the skew chisel. Those who love the tool quickly mention how many cuts a skew chisel can make, how efficiently its razor-sharp cutting edge can dispatch with excess wood, and how a well-executed planing cut leaves the wood in need of very little sanding. Those who despise the skew chisel complain that it takes an inordinate amount of time to learn to use well, is extremely difficult to sharpen, and can ruin a project piece in a split second. To these folks, the benefits of the skew chisel just aren't worth the frustrations...
In this beginner tutorial video, Randall Stoner, aka Madcarver, teaches the basics of using a carver's mallet with your wood carving chisels. Every woodcarver needs a mallet! It can be used for power, to remove large swaths of wood. And it can be used for detail, to make more precise cuts. If you're a beginner looking for a good carver's mallet, we recommend looking for something with a urethane head that transfers the power into the chisel or gouge, not your hand. We like a urethane head because it reduces noise, and reduces any mushrooming on the end of your wooden tool handles. Keep in mind the weight of your mallet. 12oz allows beginners to carve without tiring. Even when carving...
As we mentioned in a previous blog post about the oval skew chisel, woodcarvers generally have strong opinions about the skew chisel. Some praise it as a tool that’s versatile, efficient, and capable of producing an excellent finish that requires minimal sanding. Carvers who learn to use a skew chisel well use it often for all types of turned projects. Others insist that a skew chisel is so hard to use that it just isn’t worth the effort to learn. They complain that the tool runs back or digs in easily; a split-second dig-in can ruin a piece. These folks argue that a skew chisel isn’t worth much--except perhaps as a can opener. Alan Lacer is a seasoned woodturner and...
