Wood carving articles
Short articles on wood carving: how to read a pattern, how to choose materials and what the reference tables mean. Each one links to the tables, tools and patterns it mentions.
Building a starter carving kit
Which knives, gouges and sharpening gear to buy first for whittling, chip carving, spoons and relief work, and what to leave until later.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 5 minWood carvingChip carving basics
How the three-corner chip, straight-line chip and curved chip are cut, how to lay out a pattern, and how to get clean, even pyramids.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 5 minWood carvingFinishing a carving
Sanding or leaving tool marks, sealing the wood, choosing oil, wax or paint, and how each treatment changes the look of carved detail.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 5 minWood carvingReading grain direction before you cut
How to see which way the fibres run, why cuts go clean in one direction and tear in the other, and how to work round a grain reversal.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 5 minWood carvingRoughing out a figure from a block
How to go from a square block to a rounded form by drawing two views, removing waste in stages and keeping the proportions.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 4 minWood carvingThe stages of relief carving
How a flat panel becomes a raised design through outlining, setting in, grounding, modelling and undercutting, and why the order matters.
Updated 30 Sep 2026 · 5 minWood carvingBasic whittling cuts
The four cuts that make up almost every whittled figure, and the order to use them in.
Updated 29 Sep 2026 · 2 minWood carvingChoosing a carving wood
Why basswood is the usual first choice, when to pick something harder, and how grain direction decides whether a cut is clean.
Updated 29 Sep 2026 · 2 minWood carvingKeeping carving tools keen
Stropping, honing and when to regrind, for knives, gouges and V-tools.
Updated 29 Sep 2026 · 2 min