Welcome to Carving Is Fun! I am a long time carver and sculptor that enjoys creating small stone and wood figures.
This RU-vid channel is for those who want to jump into the creative world of carving and whittling or are enthusiasts themselves and want to follow along my creative journey.
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Ya, I heard that pure, raw, linseed oil can be food safe if and only if it is fully cured. Which can vary due to amount, temperature, humidity, wood type, and even brand to brand. I've heard anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months or more, but even then its good to let it sit for a little longer to ensure a full cure.
Ya, any wax based finish isn't durable and will melt away. I just mainly use mineral oil and reapply as needed. It doesn't last, but it prevents food and food liquids from absorbing into the wood. I have heard good things about pure, filtered, tung oil and walnut oil too, but the drying times can be even longer than linseed oil.
I'm loving your channel so far, I've picked up so much in such a short time so I'm very grateful to you. I have a question though, more of an issue really, there are a couple of patches on my strop where the compound doesn't seem to want to adhere to the surface of the strop. Its doesn't rub off the block directly and if i try to warm the leather and smooth it that way, it still won't stick to these patches. Do you have any advice?
Sometimes I heat up the compound before applying to the strop and it helps. But when all else fails, it could be a contaminant on the strop (finger oils or something) so some people take 1000 grit sandpaper to it and resurface it.
No tool will stay sharp forever. Sharpening tools yourself is a must but they must be made from quality steel or they will dull instantly. TIP: Never pry with any kind of chisel or blade. I see it so often. Applying lateral forces to a sharp edge will curl the very thin edge. Always make a second cut to free a chip and you will spend less time sharpening and the tools will last a lifetime.
I've only ever used Flexcut knives and I love them, I'm sure the BeaverCraft ones are also great, especially for beginners at such a low price! What brand of strop do you use? Like I said, I've never used a BeaverCraft knife but I love their strop, it's a perfect length and the quality is great too! :)
My god, 30min with a knife and a piece of wood and any drooling halfwit can figure all of these out (including myself). Does everything need to be analysed and separated into techniques with a special name? Half the fun with whittling is the artistry and just ‘feeling’ it as you go along. Way to take the fun out of it by making an instruction manual!
I like to whittle a stick I pick up on the beach with my 0pinel NO. 6 I keep in my pocket. I know it's not made for this but it relaxes me. It's a good little knife . It is sharp . I have not cut myself yet . Fingers crossed. 😂 im going to look for a pair of those gloves.
The wood in this and other videos appears to be cut so much easier than the basswood I've started on. Is that normal for a beginner? I've followed videos for sharpening and honing, I try to follow the grain and use the suggested cutting techniques. I'm wondering how much of it is me, my technique, strength, the sharpness of the blade, and how much could be the wood itself.
Not all wood is made the same and some knife characteristics also help with slicing through the wood. This video should answer your questions ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uH5jNGgS7Tg.html
Im using air dried basswood from a guy on ebay. Its nice and soft to work with. Made a video on this as not all basswood is made equally. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uH5jNGgS7Tg.html
I have a laser and have really enjoyed using it for what projects I make. Watched tons of videos before and after purchasing the one I have. Let me say for your first video on laser systems it was way above most of the others. Very informative answered most all the questions one would ask if they was looking for a laser system. The projects you created are very cool.Thanks for all the information you have shared especially about the smoke eater. I have some what looked at them but for now push my smoke out a window with the enclosure fan and hose. Will definitely check your recommendations. Keep up the awesome work. 👽
Sorry to say, but that type of pitting comes from cheap knives made in Pakistan or China. They get the slag out of it, but it's not pure carbon steel. Every carving and whittling video that I've seen, all of them, bar none, has this kind of pitting. The difference is whether or not rust gets in there through humidity or skin contact or even if it's lubricated with something that won't keep water out long term. You've seen videos of someone making a blade? They forge the steel, hammer it out to the desired shape, and quench it. Then they sand it on a belt to make it smooth. If the steel is cast into that shape, it will have pits and uneven hills and valleys because of the poor casting medium. The blades are machine ground to the blade shape. QC is very poor. There is a lot of pitting. Even the better pieces will result in very small pits that will continue to rust for the life of the blade. It is very important to keep all tools clean and oiled. Blades must be sharpened and oiled with much more care. Do not use WD-40. WD-40 is either a penetrating oil or a petroleum distillate depending on the formula. Ballistol is a similar formulation, but is used for firearms. It will penetrate a rusty screw or hinge, but it won't preserve against rust like an oil will. Use a machine oil. 3-in-1 is a good choice.
Nope! You can most definitely carve it dry. But this would be a good video for you to watch: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RoqgsgkV7eU.html
Ya, I can see that showing for sure. But I also think part of the frustration was that this tool just couldn't hold an edge as the steel was too soft. It could have been the one I had though, but there are still better options at this price range and I go over them in this video here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n8gXNO5pb70.html
The first step is 2 make sure you wear some protective gloves so that there's no injuries from being possibly cut. Secondly an (entire) Chess Set consist of 32 pieces & not 16. But the carving is excellent.
I have the beginner set from Flex cut (Detail knife, roughing knife, beginner knife). Would you recommend a sloyd flexcut, a morakniv nr. 120 or a FLEXKN34 (skewed knife) next? Or is the beginner's set sufficient? I don't yet realise which knife you use for exactly which cuts.
If you are just whittling handheald or slightly bigger carvings. What you have is all you will need. Matter of fact, the roughing knife will handle about 90% of the work and rhe other two are great for small sections for more control and adding detail.
Hello, I don't know if you still check comments for this, but is there any chance for a step by step that includes the markings and measurements like the fox or bear? My access to tools is extremely limited and the other videos are extremely helpful for me😅 thank you for everything you do, it's helped me fall deeply in love with this hobby.
Wow, I'd never heard of purple heartwood ( or purple hardwood??) before ( extremely new to woodcraft here!). It's so beautiful 😍. And I love mushrooms, so this was an awesome little video. Have just subscribed, because the handful of vids I just watched here on your channel are extremely helpful and practical. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Great introduction to these tools! I cant decide between the flexcut palm and knife or the schaaf 5 piece, leaning towards the schaaf though. Ill mostly be making fishing lures and maybe small animals
I am recently getting into this and bought a cheap whittling kit from Amazon. It might be due to knife or wood, but your knife cuts wood like butter. I can barely make 1-2 mm stop cuts. Are you just really strong, or there is some trick to it?
I get this a lot :) the cheap sets have 2 things that the knife I'm using in this video falls short on. My knife is wicked sharp, it makes the cheap sets on Amazon look dull. Also, my knife is about 1/5 the thickness of those blades which allows it to make deep stop cuts as it doesn't have to push soo much wood out of the way. Also, yes I work out a bit. But, if you sharpen that knife really well it will get you about 80% of the way there. I have turned those cheap knives into a whittling machine by going through my basic sharpening process, of which I have videos on. This video goes over sharpening a similar knife to the cheaper ones on Amazon: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vaK0m7-WBEo.html This is an overview of my 5 step sharpening process: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oF432CMib3c.html This is my full explanation of my sharpening process: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FF6SiW-QjMY.html For extra fun, here is a video comparing different knives and how they cut through wood: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bL4PbFFVXIw.html
Harbor Freight has a pair of cut resistant gloves with rubberized grip for only $5, or even less if you use one of their 30% off coupons. It's what I use when I do my carving.
The whole point for me to learn whittling or so I thought, was that you could do it anywhere anytime. I was under the impression that you could lop off a tree branch or pick up a piece of wood and just get to Wendell and lol! I am trying to find something that is creative to do with my hands because I plan on quitting smoking and I’m going to be in desperate need of something to do when I get anxious for Fag. I have not finished your entire video yet but so far you’re talking about buying wood on the Internet and this sounds a little disappointing to me.
Well, you absolutely can cut off a tree branch and just sit down to whittle. I carry a multitool wirh a saw and my dedicated whittling pocket knife just for this reason. The skills shown in this video, as well as the others on this channel, translate directly over. As to buying the wood, it is a consistent wood type that has consistent hardness and size, which is a factor for reducing the perceived barrier to entey for some people.
My grand dad was an old school pocket knife whittler, and when i turned 10, he gave me my 1st pocket knife. That was 39 yrs ago! Of course, he taught me to whittle, and been a pocket knife whittler ever since. Over the yrs, I've collected alotta pocket knives, and personally, as of 15 yrs or so, my favorite are 2 bladed pocket knives. Barlows, canoe's, middleman...My grand dad gave me a 3 bladed stockman style, but only ever used 2 of the blades. I only ever use the main blade blade as a general utility cutter, while the small pen blade was my dedicated whittler. I like Rough Rider pocket knives, and got 3 of their whittler knives, including that one. I personally favor the 2 bladed knives better.
