Blog Tag

basswood

Every blog article tagged basswood.

August 6, 2026

Applied carving or carving in the solid: how I choose

An applied onlay is carved on its own board and glued on, while carving in the solid cuts the ornament into the piece itself. Here is how I choose between them at the bench.

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 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 3, 2024

Wood carving classes for beginners, and how to tell a good one

The question underneath most emails about classes is whether the money will be wasted. Here is what I look for when somebody sends me a course to check, what I built into my own beginner course after students asked for one, and the two questions worth asking before you pay 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.

June 27, 2024

Why wood carving is so popular, and what keeps people at the bench

People watch carving videos for months before they touch a board. Here is what actually pulls them in, what stops about half of them by week three, and the one thing that keeps the rest at the bench for thirty years.

February 22, 2023

Carving wood wall art that reads from across the room

A carved panel is a size and light problem before it is a carving problem. Here is how big to make it, which wall it belongs on, how deep it has to go, and the two places I would never hang one.

November 29, 2022

What should I carve as a beginner?

The honest answer is three knife cuts on a scrap of basswood, not an object. Here is the order I put in front of every beginner, with the tools, the wood and the first two projects.

November 15, 2022

The basics of wood carving, and the order they actually bite

Beginners do not fail because the design was hard. They fail in four places: the grain tore, the board slid, the tool was blunt, or the spare hand sat in front of the edge. Here is the short list, in the order it bites.

November 14, 2022

What is the best wood for carving, and the four I keep in the shop

Basswood at 410 lbf, and it is not close for a beginner. Here are the real Janka numbers for butternut, walnut and white oak, how to read a board at the yard, and the one board type I ask nobody to bring to class.

November 9, 2022

What wood carving tools should a beginner use?

Wood carving tools for beginners are one knife, one gouge, and something to sharpen them on. What I buy, what I skip, and why one sharp tool beats a case of twelve.

November 8, 2022

How do I learn to carve wood, and the order that actually works

There is no shortcut, but there is an order, and the order matters more than talent. One knife for a month, sharpening in week two, drawing in month three, and one shape repeated until your hands stop thinking about it.

December 18, 2020

How to carve a lion head onlay like a master carver

My first paid lion head went onto a bar panel in Indiana when I was in my twenties, and I did it in the wrong order. Here is the order I use now on real commissions, from the museum research through the clay model to the seven carving stages.

December 8, 2020

Carving walnut, is it good wood for the job?

I once worked a house built entirely from purple walnut, and carved a furniture panel out of what was left over. Here is how the wood really behaves under a gouge, what bevel it wants, where it snaps, and what a board should cost you.

December 7, 2020

What is the best woodcarving tool set, and the four that do the work

Half my students arrive with a 30 piece box and carve with four of them. Here are the four gouge numbers that do the work, the three makers whose steel holds an edge, and how to buy them one at a time.