58 articles match · page 4 of 5
In depthAugust 28, 2024
What does Resistant to Rot of Wood means?
What Does Resistant to Rot of Wood Mean? Rot-resistant wood can withstand decay caused by fungi and bacteria, making it last longer, especially in damp or outdoor environments. This quality is crucial for wood products like outdoor furniture and structures. Think of it as wood's version of being tough – it just doesn’t quit! Now, if only my carving knife had the same resilience, right? So, rot-resistant means the wood can handle being wet without getting all mushy and falling apart. It's like having a superpower to fight off nasty fungi that would otherwise turn it into compost. Certain woods, like White Oak or Mahogany, have this ability (just nature being awesome again). “Choosing the right type of wood is like picking a good friend – durability counts.”
August 20, 2024
How long does it take to learn wood carving, stage by stage
Two weeks buys control of one knife. Three months buys a panel worth hanging. Two years buys work that belongs on furniture. Here is the honest timeline, and the three month wall where most people quit.
August 15, 2024
Wood carving tips for beginners, and the order the problems arrive
A hundred people a year start carving in front of me, and the mistakes arrive in the same order every time. Bench height, light, a pattern that slipped, an edge that went dull two hours ago. Here is the list I would hand you across the bench.
August 11, 2024
Pointing Machine for Wood Carving
The old tool that lets a carver copy any model exactly. How a pointing machine works, the five step setup, and what Michelangelo really did with his models.
August 7, 2024
Wood carving pictures, and how to read one before you carve it
A photograph gives you the outline and the proportion honestly, then lies about depth every time. Here is how I read a picture on paid work, the paper and glue transfer that has not changed in twenty years, and why your leaf keeps coming out flat.
August 7, 2024
Wood carving for beginners, and which of the four to start with
Four kinds of carving exist, and the tools only make sense once you have picked one. What each needs in steel, which wood goes under it, and the one I would hand you if you walked into my shop today.
Everything above is free and stays free. The courses are where I put your hands on the gouge and watch what they do.
See what is inside →
August 4, 2024
Wood Carving for Beginners, and How to Cut Your First Clean Groove
Your first cut tore instead of slicing, and the fix takes ten minutes. Which wood to buy, which tools earn their place, how to read the number stamped on a gouge, and why your first project should not be a spoon.
August 1, 2024
Small wood carving ideas you can finish with one knife
One knife, a corner of the kitchen table, and five projects worth carving. I cut a whole coffered ceiling with a single blade against a one month deadline, so the tool count is not what stops anybody.
July 31, 2024
What a carving knife is, and the one I put in a beginner's hand
One short blade, about an inch of edge, and it follows whatever you drew. Here is the knife I hand every beginner, the three grips nobody teaches, and the two jobs it will never do for you.
July 21, 2024
Beginner wood carving, the first year in the order it really happens
One knife, one basswood board, and a year of short evenings. Here is the whole first year in the order it really happens, from the three angles you practise in week one to the panel that finally reads from across a room.
December 7, 2023
From Russia to America, and What I Carve Now
Alexander Grabovetskiy is a master wood carver, born in 1973 in Dimitrovgrad in the Russian part of the Soviet Union. His great-grandfather built mahogany furniture in the Chippendale style. He ruined his own grandfather's chisel on a brick at six, became the only student of the carver Vladimir Tokarev at sixteen, and reached the United States as a refugee on 15 March 1996 with almost no English. He built the woodworking firm Aalmark in Indiana, hired other refugee woodworkers, then sold every machine to carve full time. In 2012 a panel called Wall Decoration took first place and made him International Woodcarver of the Year.
January 9, 2023
Mathematics for woodcarving, and who this book is really for
A 576 page cultural history at $74, weighed honestly against what a carver actually needs. Good for your eye, no help at your bench, and here is the geometry it leaves out.