My First Carving

I started carving in September 2008 by taking up wood carving classes in the evenings in the local Crescent College Comprehensive school. Our teacher, Barry, started most of us on a crucifix. Still haven't finished it, but here is some of the detail. It's carved from lime wood using gouges. When it came to the face, I needed something pretty small, so I took a tiny screwdriver and ground down the tip into a gouge-like bevel. That let me chip away by tiny cuts and scrapes.

Ball in a Cage

I carved this with a knife from pine wood. I got a little help from a small flat chisel when I was tackling the end grain on the ball. I varnished with diluted satin varnish to hold the end grain and fibres in place, then I sanded, progressing from 80 to 360, to make it feel nice and smooth.

Dolls Plate

I liked the quirky knot pattern in this little bit of leftover lime wood, so I used a coping saw, a chisel and a gouge (with the help of compass) to make this tiny round plate.

Heart Flower

I gave this to my wife last Valentine's day. It's made from lime wood. I started the outline with a coping saw, then used gouges on the rest.

Wooden Knot

Here is a little knot I whittled from a some waste lime wood. (The drill hole was already in the leftover piece of lime.)

Blackbird Letter Opener

I whittled this from a neighbouring slice of the same wood as the pine snack dish below. I got the idea from YouTube videos made by Arleen Zomer (carverswoodshop) where she made letter openers shaped like birds. This one is thick and took a lot of whittling. I sanded it too. I used a wood dye on the main bird (not the blade tip, or the beak) and I painted the beak and eyes. I finished it off with a few coats of clear satin varnish.

Pine Snack Dish

This is a dish I made from a slice of a pine tree that my brother felled behind his house. I mostly shaped it with a large gouge, then smothed it with sandpaper. I finished it off with clear matt varnish.

Home-made Knife

Here is a whittling knife I made from a flat 25mm woood-drill-bit and the handle of a shovel. The handle was whittled and sanded, then drilled to take the blade. The blade took a lot of grinding. I finished the handle with boiled linseed oil.