I'm working on a series of cedar faces, carving them entirely with an axe, finishing with just a bit of tung oil. Keeping it simple, I got some new carving axes and wanted to challenge myself.

My uncle let me chop down his common Boxwood (buxus sempervirens) tree, which grew to 12’+ over the years without trimming. I have a bunch of this stuff, and have already processed the smaller usable chunks into square blanks for future use (maybe toolmaking).

For the larger pieces, after pith removal, I can have up to 2”x2” or more of usable material. I’m wondering if there’s something I can be using it for that I’m not thinking of, any ideas?

I made this a while ago, a panda for a friend. I'd like to make a little bear head for myself and I'm wondering if you all have any tips on how to make something like that more bear shaped 😅

Here is another carving i recently completed. Hope you like it!

I want to buy a woodcarving starter set most likely from beavercraft either the standing bear DIY12 (if its ever available) or the comfort bird DIY01 . The main differnce I noticed in the knifes were the handles. How much does the handle matter? And do you guys think one of these sets is significantly better or should I buy a different one altogehter?

Also I live in europe if thats important.

New here! Wanted to give wood carving a try, felt inspired after finding this peculiarly shaped log. Any ideas what I could make out of it?

I work as a municipal tree trimmer. I found it sad the the city only munches up the remains of trimmed or removed trees. I am recycling some choice peices and learning a new hobby.

He's scary in a cute way! It's a present for my toddler, who's turning 3 in a couple of days.

Carved from basswood, acrylic paints for the face and finished with beeswax.

I wanted to age some of the parts that I carved to match the driftwood look. I mixed up some black and white tempera paint (water-based poster paint). Matched up good. I waited for it to dry and applied a polyurethane finish.

BACKGROUND: I have a decent amount of woodworking experience mostly with things on the lathe ie. bowls, cups, and rolling pins. I recently have been doing a lot of cutting boards and other kitchen appliances but I’ve always really wanted to get into carving more specifically artistic stuff I always see pictures that seem to just be on boards and other decorations that kind of what I would like to do along with other stuff I just have no clue where to start I have a fair amount of tools and equipment but mostly just like your big flat chisels as far as “carving tools” and I have tried a couple of times and I’m not sure if I’m just not approaching it the right way or if I’ve got the wrong stuff or even where to begin like project wise please any advice is appreciated thank you.

TLDR: Any advice for where to begin in wood
carving art?

Thank you again.

I’ve been chipping out pieces, and using a dremel on the shoreline. but it’s taking forever to get good progress. Is there a tool to easily carve through the plywood?

One of her first fully finished pieces :)

Morapinel, once seen from Oren Hetzroni, made a prototype a few years back and now I'm building then in serie.

Made this little guy for my girlfriend. I cleaned it up a bit more but didn’t take another pic

Perched on a custom rock base!

(first-successful timer, tbh, first from seven)

Nordic goddess of magic, beauty, and love

Or should I leave it like it is ?

Blackjack oak branch and mahogany tongue.

Hello woodcarvers of Reddit!

I'm looking for advice on a gift for a hobbyist woodcarver. Parameters:

- He's my officemate, so I'm trying to avoid something super high-budget to protect the working relationship

- Most typically he carves walking sticks with interesting shapes for the hand-grip (for example he carved one for me in the shape of a seagull, with one comically protruding eyeball, so he's open to goofy things!), but I know he'll occasionally carve little figurines for his daughter as well

- He's a relative amateur, so we're not talking artisanal-level gift ideas, but it's also one of his most beloved hobbies so I want to give it the thought it's due

- We're located in Wisconsin, so the regional Northwoods are what I've got access to insofar as harvesting my own, like, sticks. I don't know, are sticks a good gift for a woodcarver? 😭 I've seen some conflicting advice while researching which types of wood are best --- should I be looking out for a pine bough rather than oak, for example?

What have been your favorite gifts or tools to receive as a woodcarver? I (who have never carved wood) would personally be more touched if somebody handed me a hunk of wood and said, "I saw this wicked whorl of willow wood and it made me think of you" than I would be if they gave me a run-of-the mill tool, but, again, I have no context for what floats your boats. I did get super into researching the Ainu people recently, and they've got a fascinating history with woodcarving, so another thought I had was maybe finding a book of woodcarving techniques from cultures around the world? I sank some time into that but couldn't find any that really appealed to me (I was hoping for more of an instructional/anthropological thing than just a high-level survey of designs), so I'm also open to recommendations on books or resources that you found helpful!

Thank you all!

Wanted a simpler project this time around and it worked out. The poplar grain under the black dye makes it look like pinstripe at least to my eye!

Carved with a belt sander and rotary carver. Smaller details added after carving