# Advaice for beginner to whittling South West Florida.



## Alabaster (Apr 4, 2019)

I like in southwest Florida and wanted to try my hands at hand carving small objects like spoons, chopsticks, chess peices and necklace charms. I'd prefer to not spend much money, and want to keep things pretty simple. Also would like to harvest my own wood or know where to get it for free. However I have no idea what wood to start with or what it looks like.

I know we have some type of oak trees nearby in golfing communities, cypress trees out at some peoples camps, and some type of pine trees all over the place. Assuming you cannot carve with palms but they are everywhere too.

I looked on Facebook and haven't found a wood Carver in my area yet.

What trees do I need and what should I look for in the wood?

What knife or multitool should I get? Will the multi tools get loose?

How do i preserve what I make?

Thanks.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Only because "whittling" or carving both seem to attract really sharp tools, add to that the extremely high cost of hand surgery, even if it is a measly tendon repair I will suggest these as a first step.

Feel free to jump in at a price point you are comfortable with.

Plus get a pair that will be big enough to fit whatever size hand you have, or you won't wear them.

I am on the fence about picking one of these up, for when I am gone from home. It looks to have the basics in a go package.

Flexcut, and Pfeil are probably the names most common in the big box stores.
 
A lot of smaller names are being known on Etsy.

I've been sending some dollars to the Ukraine to this Stryi place. lot of well made tools.+


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

I would suggest a few starting tools and purchase some Bass Wood
off the internet to practice on. Oak and other hardwoods are difficult
to learn with and can lead you to frustration pretty quickly.
there are many good books for beginner carvers in your local library or online
as well as videos on the ole YouTube.
"Cutting and Carving" is second nature to actually knowing your tools, how to care for them
and how to SHARPEN them and keep them sharp. so in addition to purchasing carving tools,
you must also purchase the appropriate sharpening stones.
I would strongly suggest you keep trying to find a local group of woodworkers or carvers in your area.
as for the preservation finish: once you carve an item that you are satisfied with,
come back for assistance on that part.
another carving site that may be more to your liking is WoodCarving Illustrated
which has a "FREE Downloadable Mini-Issue" for the Spring 2019 issue.



























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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

Consider also Tupelo or Poplar as starting woods. Learning to sharpen your knife will be more important than carving technique. Check out the carving projects of anyone giving advice.


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## tywalt (Dec 13, 2017)

+1 to buying a batch of basswood to get started on general carving technique. You don't have to buy a lot and it isn't terribly expensive. I bought a 4/4 board (rough cut one inch thick if you aren't up on your lumber lingo) when I started and chopped pieces off of it as I needed them. That board lasted a good while and it is a dream to carve. Soft and straight grained. Not exactly ideal for a spoon or chopsticks as you mention but it will help you get your technique down.

I would also start with a flexcut "detail" knife. There is very little you cannot do with that blade shape and they are not expensive relative to others. As Phil and John already pointed out, sharpening is a large part of carving so you may want to spend more time/money there. You will not need a "coarse" stone starting out. To be honest, flexcut's come with a pretty good edge on them so a "fine" stone and a strop should keep you scary sharp for a good long while. While there are some other tools better suited to spoon carving, I've carved a spoon or two with a straight blade. It's not ideal but it can be done to some effect.

You can certainly buy a whole bunch of knives, scorps, gouges, stones and other gear but some basswood, a good detail knife, fine stone, strop and a glove will get you up and running in short order. As for training, Mary Mays has some fantastic stuff on her YT channel for free and some even better video instruction if you are willing to pay for it.

Hope that helps and remember to stop cutting BEFORE you get to the fleshy part!


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

I did a bunch of research on something portable so i can whittle while camping in the woods etc. I ended up with a Boker Carvers Congress knife that Amazon had but is out of stock. I paid around $50
https://www.amazon.com/115465-Carvers-Congress-Whittler-Rosewood/dp/B000O52W1Q

My other option for cheaper was the old timer:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002EPS5HE/ref=dp_cerb_1

They sell the bags of basswood blocks too for cheap


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

I got my start whittling on camping trips with a pocket knife. However, I recommend that you NOT buy a knife that you might be unwilling to reshape the blades. You will find that most pocket knives are designed for general use, not whittling, so you will want to reshape at least the smallest blade to be quite pointed, with a straight cutting edge. 
Likewise, many whittlers would advise using a knife with a locking blade. Some carving techniques have a tendency to fold the blade on your finger(s).


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

I have a flexcut whittlin jack and it's great for a pocket knife.


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