How to Carve Wood

Wood carving is a hobby for some people while it is a passion for many. If you know how to start with, you can conveniently carve the desired shape in wood.

Requirements

• Wooden piece
• Design that has to be carved
• Carving tool set containing carving knife, gouge, chisel, V-tool, Veiner and sharpening tool
• Smoothening tools like rasps
• Sand paper
• Coloring (optional)

Instructions

1. Choose the appropriate type of wood – The first step in carving a wood is to choose the right type of wood to carve. Wooden pieces are available in different shapes and sizes. Depending on the design that you have decided to carve, you have to choose the wood. Beginners can choose soft wood but for certain sculptures, hardwood is essential. Softwood will be easy to carve and can be a great start. The wooden piece that you choose should match the shape of the design that you are going to carve. The size of the wooden piece that you select should be greater than the design you are intended to carve.
2. Mark the design on the wood – After choosing the wooden piece to start working with, you have to sketch the outline of the design which you are going to carve. You can use pencils or markers for creating this outline. You need to leave some space on the edges of the wood for fine carving. It is better to center the design on the wooden piece but this greatly depends on the design that you are going to carve.
3. Mark the outline using a carving knife – Next, you have to proceed with carving the outline of the design. The carving knives are available in varied sizes and you have to choose the size depending on the wooden piece. Soft woods can be carved with basic knife but if you are using hardwood, you may need a chisel.
4. Be careful while marking the outline – The outline that you have marked should be carefully followed. If you are using chisel for marking the outline of hardwood, then you need to take more care as you may spoil the entire wooden piece when you apply extreme pressure.
5. Mark finer details – The design that you wish to carve will contain finer details. Depending on the demands, you have to choose appropriate carving tools. This step requires some knowledge about the various carving tools and their uses. Gouger is used for making gouges on the surface and you have to use a veiner for making deep gouges. V-tool is specifically designed for making v shaped cuts and it can also be used for making several decorative cuts. Appropriate tools have to be used for marking finer details to complete carving process.
6. Smoothening the carved wooden piece – Irrespective of the efforts you take, the carved wooden piece will be having rough edges that are to be modified. Edges near the fine details cannot be removed using chisel and hence, smoothing tools are used. Rasps come with flat blades, and round shaped riffles are also used for this purpose. Sand paper is then used for providing fine finish to the entire wooden carving. This paper is rubbed against the carving to smoothen all uneven edges. Fine polishing can be achieved using this sand paper.
7. Color with natural stains – Wood will look magnificent in its natural color while some may prefer to use natural stains for coloring the wood. This will add more beauty to the image that has been carved. This act of coloring using linseed, walnut oil etc is done by professional wood carvers who make various wooden sculptures.