Do you enjoy working with your hands? If you do, working with wood can be a very relaxing hobby for you. Many people have the wrong concept that you have to invest thousands of dollars into expensive tools to work with wood. Remember not too long ago all woodworking and wood decoration was done by hand. Woodcarving is a skill that anyone can learn. Believe it or not you don’t have to be superbly artistic to carve wood.
There are many different types of carving that can be done on wood. Chip carving is a carving style that anyone who can create a design using a ruler and compass can learn easily. Furthermore, you only need two types of knives to learn to chip carve. Anyone who is old enough to learn to use the knives safely can learn to chip carve with a bit of practice.
Very intricate designs are created from simple geometric patterns in chip carving. A chip knife and a stab knife are the two knives that are required to create beautiful works of art. There are many different types of knives that can be used for chip carving but these are the most used. As for wood you will need to purchase, you want a wood that is good for carving such as basswood. This wood can easily be order online or many craft stores carry it. Basswood is great because it is easily cut with or across the grain of the wood. Basswood is not only light in color but it is also extremely light weight. You could also consider a wood such as butternut. Butternut is a slightly darker wood then basswood is.
Chip carving can be a starting point for other types of carving such as relief carving and whittling. Woodcarving can also move into other art forms of woodworking such as using a scroll saw to create intricate pictures, wood burning, and woodturning. Woodworking can be a very rewarding art form to enter into.
