Carving tool catalogues list dozens of blades. A beginner needs very few, and a small kit chosen for the kind of carving you want to do beats a large set chosen at random. This guide goes by category: what each tool does, what to look for in a good one, and what to buy first.
Start with one knife
A general-purpose carving knife does most of what a beginner wants: whittling, rough shaping, detail and small cuts. The tools glossary names several types.
- Sloyd knife. A straight-edged blade about 2 to 3 inches long on a comfortable handle. It is the all-round choice for whittling and general carving.
- Detail knife. A short, pointed blade for eyes, small cuts and fine work.
- Chip carving knife. A short blade with an angled bevel for cutting triangular chips.
- Stab knife. A thick-bladed knife used with the point for chip carving.
If you buy a single knife, choose a sloyd or detail knife with a blade of carbon steel or a good stainless alloy. Carbon steel takes an edge quickly and is easy to bring back, but darkens and rusts if left damp. Stainless is easier to keep clean and holds up in humid shops, but takes longer to sharpen. Handles should fit the hand without hot spots; a handle that is too thin tires the grip.
Gouges and chisels
For relief carving and larger shaping, add gouges. A gouge is a curved chisel. Its sweep, given as a number or a description, tells you how curved it is: a low sweep is nearly flat and a high sweep is deep like a U. Width is in millimetres.
A small first set of gouges:
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| Flat or shallow gouge, 10 to 20 mm | Grounding, smoothing |
| Medium gouge, about 10 mm, sweep medium | Setting in curves, general shaping |
| Deep gouge, 6 to 10 mm | Scooping, deep hollows |
| V-tool, 6 mm | Outlines, hair, fine lines |
| Skew chisel | Clean corners, undercuts |
Buying two or three good gouges is better than a boxed set of twelve of mixed quality. Good steel takes a polish on the bevel, holds an edge and has a consistent grind. Cheap sets often ship with rough, poorly ground edges that take hours to fix before they cut.
Spoon carving tools
If spoons or bowls are the goal, the set is different. A sloyd knife handles the outside shape. A hook knife, also called a spoon knife, has a curved blade for hollowing the bowl. A bent knife or crook knife is a variant with a long, curved blade. A small hatchet or axe is used for roughing out the blank, called hatchet roughing in the cuts database. A chopping block and a carving stump or a shaving horse hold the work.
Palm tools and power options
Palm tools are short gouges with a handle shaped to sit in the palm. They are driven by hand pressure and suit detail and small relief pieces. Mallets, which drive larger gouges, come in wood, rawhide and plastic, and range from 10 to 20 ounces. Power carving tools, such as rotary tools with burrs and flexible-shaft machines, remove waste fast and are popular for large pieces, but they leave a different surface, more ground than cut.
Sharpening gear
A dull tool cuts badly, so sharpening gear is part of the kit and is not optional. You need:
- A strop. A leather strip, charged with honing compound. Used constantly, to keep an edge keen.
- Honing compound. A green or white bar rubbed onto the strop.
- A slip stone or a set of sharpening stones. Used to restore an edge when stropping is no longer enough. A medium and fine combination stone works for most jobs, and a slip stone shaped to fit the curve of a gouge is needed for the inside of the bevel.
The keeping tools keen guide on this site covers how to use them. Budget about a third of your tool money for sharpening equipment.
Holding the work
A bench hook or carver's screw holds a panel on a bench. A woodworking vise works if you pad the jaws. Clamps do for small pieces. Non-slip matting under a panel makes a surprising difference: the work stays put when you strike it.
Wood to buy first
A few blocks of basswood, about 2 x 2 x 6 inches, for whittling practice; a board of basswood or butternut, 3/4 inch thick, for chip carving and relief; a pair of air-dried green branches or a spoon blank for spoons. The carving woods database lists species by ease.
What to leave until later
- Large sets of gouges.
- Adzes and drawknives, until you carve larger pieces.
- Power carvers.
- Specialised knives for one type of cut.
- Exotic woods.
Buying tips
- Buy from a specialist carving supplier or a maker, where the edges are ground for carving and the steel is named.
- Hold the tool. Weight and balance matter more than price.
- Check the flat back of a gouge and the grind of a blade for evenness.
- Start with a single handle shape and buy more only as you find you need them.
- Keep a list of the cuts you want to make, and buy only the tools that make them.
A first-purchase list
For whittling: one sloyd knife, one strop and compound. For chip carving: a chip knife, a strop. For relief: three gouges, a V-tool, a mallet, a strop and a stone. For spoons: a sloyd knife, a hook knife, a hatchet and a strop.