These work about as well as any. No glove that allows flexibility is going to be 100 percent protective. You need to learn to keep body parts out of the way of a blade if it slips or the piece breaks.
If you're in the US, I'd suggest the OCCT Scout or the Lee Ferguson A-3 knife for a beginner. They're about the least expensive decent general carving knives you can buy. Other than that, here's a long winded reply with some general information and good links:
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. I carve mostly 3D figures and relief scenes, so the information is based primarily on this. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Basic Sharpening. One decent technique.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. I've recently found myself using a Lee Ferguson, and while I wasn't completely satisfied with the initial sharpening, after a little touch up, I'm finding that it's a great knife for a very reasonable price - with free shipping to the US, thery're an even better value.
There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Here's a decent video on power carving.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber stores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
Here's a decent beginner's setup. You should also pick up a carving glove, a strop and stropping compound.
This is about the cheapest you're going to get away with for a setup with good tools that are versatile and of a quality to last a good while.
As for wood to start, Basswood is the best wood for beginners and is also used by professional carvers. Here's a good starter pack that will get them going for a while.
Yes, an old leather belt will work just fine for a strop. Glue a 6 to 8" length to a board the same width as the belt, and leave the board long enough for a handle past the leather.
As to knives, the Flexcut KN12 is a good starter knife - better than a BeaverCraft. And for gloves, these are what I use. And remember all gloves are cut RESISTANT, not cut proof.
I'm personally not a big fan of Flexcut knives, but the kit suggested by u/InhaleBot900 is probably about the cheapest decent beginners set that you'll find.
Others mention sets of sharpening stones. You DO NOT need a lot of stones, and you can do more damage than good with a coarse stone.
Here's the latest version of my reply to new carvers. You should find some helpful information there.
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber srores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives.Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber srores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
I started many years ago with one knife and carved a number of figures before adding palm gouges.
If you're in the US, I suggest you buy an OCCT Scout or a Lee Ferguson A-3 knife to start. These are about the best inexpensive knives you can buy. They are quality knives and will last you a long time.
You should also pick up a carving glove. Finally you need a strop and stropping compound to maintain the edge of your knife. You can buy one or make your own strop by gluing a piece of leather to a piece of flat material.
Edit: OCCT Scout knife: $25, Carving gloves: $9, strop: $9 = $43. A very nice starter kit for very little money. Note that the Lee Ferguson is $30, but that comes with free shipping.
Get yourself a pair of these gloves. I only use one for the holding hand, so the other one is a spare.
For a starter set, I'd go with the Flexcut palm gouges and a Lee Ferguson A-3 knife. These are tools that with the proper care will last you a lifetime, and should cover the needs of any carvings that will be hand held.
You should also pick up a carving glove, a strop (can be made from a piece of leather glued to a flat board) and stropping compound.
If you intend to carve figures instead of spoons, the Beavercraft kit is somewhat waste of money.
As I mention in the long winded reply below, you only really need one decent knife to start. Both Lee Ferguson and OCC have very decent starter knives at very reasonable prices. There's also a link to a free PDF of several figure patterns that are suitable for beginners.
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Basic Sharpening. One decent technique.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber stores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
Here's my standard response to new carvers. And, while I like the lifetime satisfaction of Drake knives, about the best inexpensive all around knife I've run into is the Lee Ferguson A-3 knife - and with free shipping to the US, it's a real deal.
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Basic Sharpening. One decent technique.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber stores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
I like these gloves. They're reversible, so you have a second glove when the first one wears out.
I agree with u/NaOHman.
The only thing I'd add is that you can get a more even stain by using a wood conditioner prior to staining.
Now, for my long winded reply. A lot of this information probably won't apply, but there are some good links and a lot of general information: First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
To begin with, The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Next, there are three basic types of carving: In-the-round or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called Flat Plane Carving. Then there's Relief Carving. This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is Chip Carving. This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile.
Knives- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
For carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife and/or gouges. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, Third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
Good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Basic Sharpening. One decent technique.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate.
The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. Deepwood Ventures knives are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Wood for beginners The best wood for beginners is Basswood. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber stores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries.
tl/dr: Check out the links.
Basswood is the best bet for carving wood.
As far as the tools go, the Flexcut Beginner Palm set would be a good place to start.
You'll also need a woodcarving glove similar to these.
In addition, you'll need a strop and stropping compound to maintain the edges
Here are some great links to get you started:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Doug Linker on stropping A must learn skill.
Basic Sharpening. One decent technique.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Carving is Fun for more videos yet.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
Then your best bet to start is with a good knife or two, and a few palm gouges:
Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime. The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
If you're in the US, here's some very good information for beginners:
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984, and have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee, but they are top notch knives. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate. The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives.
There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Then you have chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
Finally, for carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
For some very good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime. The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.
Two Mora knives: A straight blade and a hook blade, a woodcarving glove, a strop and stropping compound. That is a little over your price range, but that's about as cheap as you can go.
edit: for spoon carving, you'll also need a hook knife or spoon gouge to carve the bowl.
First: I've been carving off an on since 1984, and have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip.
I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee, but they are top notch knives. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate. The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives.
There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving:
Roughout knife: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater.
General carving knife: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2".
Detail knives: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1".
Then you have chip carving knives: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use.
Finally, for carving simple spoons and such, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc.
What I consider some very basic information. First: You need a very sharp knife. Second: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, third: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice.
For some very good information for beginners, check out the sidebar to the right of the screen "Introduction to Woodcarving" and the links below:
What Da Bump How to get started in woodcarving
Little Shavers Some great general knife info.
Doug Linker Fantastic how to videos.
Gene Messer Some more great how to videos.
SharonMyArt for even more videos.
Lora Irish for a lot of free tutorials and info.
Working with Wood Grain An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well.
A free PDF with some patterns to try Shows intermediate steps in the carving process
Drake Knives, OCC Knives, Helvie Knives and Lee Ferguson Knives for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do.
You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. Here's a set to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out this set.
Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime. The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a carving glove. If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife.
Also, you can power carve with Rotary tools. The Foredom or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit.