Why bother to carve anything?

[JerseyGirl]

Little late to the party but I’ll add:
1. Fun
2. Calming (except when frustrating)
3. Learn something with each carve
4. Sparks my creativity
5. So many different carving methods to explore
6. Sense of accomplishment (when things go right)
7. Get to make cool gifts for loved ones
8. Stops the squirrels from running in my head during times of stress
9. Has triggered my strong desire to learn more to carve better
10. Window shopping for the “perfect” knife is way more rewarding than searching for the perfect pocketbook

[Hooked on Carving]

Since I was 4 years old, my father would take me across the street to his friend Inky. Inky was a master self taught carpenter who was always doing fantastic stuff! He had another house in upstate NY and when he sold it off he would refurbish a sled into a garden planter and also a wagon. My father always watched him and brought me when he had to watch me. So by osmosis from watching Inky I was able to make things when I got married and bought a house. I built a big shed, my sons big boy bed shaped as a treasure chest and other things when needed. My father only taught me basic things like how to use a screw driver to put in a screw and to hammer a nail, he wasn't very handy. In 1997 I worked in Manhattan during this time and on my lunch hour, I wood look at Wood Carving Illustrated, but wouldn't buy an issue until 2000 because I thought they were trying to get you to buy the books. Wood was expensive and we bought the rest of the furniture unstained for my son's room because I had very little time and a wife that was in a hurry. I bought a #3 3/4" stubby gouge and a knife, glove and strop and carved a six inch Santa for the first project which I put in my sisters stocking. For my 40th birthday my brother gave me money for a gouge set which got me started in relief carving. I have been commissioned for things from friends and have been hooked since.

[vtx rudy]

In these days full time negativity, it's what makes me happy.

[DiLeon]

Seems to be SPAM?

I agree, other post are about woodcraft plans....do not even know it is about carving.

[woodburner807]

Seems to be SPAM?

[DiLeon]

I love how engaged woodworkers and carvers are on this forum. I would like to get some feedback on whether I should look at buying some plans to get me started. I found this guy on the internet and the cost isn't too bad, so I was hoping you all could help me...

Yes? No? Thank you in advance!

This is not wood carving....it is wood craftsmen's work.... a major difference between the two kinds. This forum is for wood carving. If you want to make chairs go to various forums for that kind of work.

[Just Carving]

I had actually bought the first issue of WCI when it came out in 1997. The article on letter carving caught my eye. I was making toys at the time. But I was getting tired of all the noise, and tools and mess. I wanted something quiet and simple. I had even bought a Dastra bench knife from the Rag Shop. But it wasn't sharp enough to carve with. So, I was intimidated by the carving process and I forgot about it.

On December 1, 2004, my Dad was admitted to the hospital with a collapsed lung. He had begun the long road to the end of his life because he had COPD. I had gone home after a long day at the hospital, and just started looking at woodcarving stuff--books, magazines, wood, tools--just to get my mind off everything. I picked up a sharp tool and started carving and didn't stop. So, I carve because I always found my place--that place--where I could get away from the world as we know it and just give my mind a rest. It still serves me well 16 years later--and beside my wife, Michelle, it is probably the only thing that got me through this last year. Thanks for asking Di--you reminded me why I love wood carving so much.

BobL

[Sharon of the Dell]

I carve because I am rebellious. Back in the day girls didn't do stuff like caring or so I was told. I carve because the smell of cut wood reminds me of making wood (firewood) with my dad and my family. I carve because I don't have a lot of money(cheap} and if I want cool decorations for our home I can carve, sew or paint them. I have many hobbies. I carve spoons and make bread boards because I get satisfaction using something I have made. I can take a dirty tree root or a piece of driftwood and make something amazing at least in my own mind. Sometimes I sell something I carve.
I carve because if I didn't along with my other hobbies, I would be bored to tears. I hate being bored.

[Randy]

Because I love to carve!

[pallin]

I have been carving for about 75 years, but it has not been one form of carving. It went from toys to whittling to chip carving and relief. Many of us have a creative urge that has to be scratched, but I have studiously avoided having any hobby dominate my life. My main career for 40 years was in the U.S. space program. I have maintained other interests while pursuing my carving. I have never allowed woodcarving to become a business or source of income for me. I enjoy pushing my limits with the carving projects I choose. The first time I entered a carving in a judged competition was two years ago.

[joepaulbutler]

As I said before, my folks had a small meat processing plant and we were required to be outside the city limits. There were not many families living in our neck of the woods. helping out in the plant from the age of six, I had a knife in my hands early on. In the summer I would work a couple of hours in the morning a couple in the afternoon. So, I had time on my hands and no one close by to play with, so I started carving with a knife my Grandfather had sold me. That right sold to me, It was his belief that if you gave something sharp to someone, it would cut your friendship.

I would say I whittle more than carve. No figurines, just stuff, wood guns, throwing spears, in stuff while in cub scouts, etc. Then school, sports, girls, and raising a family took over.

While living in Montana, I had a small excavating business & sometime in the winter and I've seen -72°, you didn't much but stay inside & I began to carve again. Then we moved to Nevada and I started working for engineering firms as an sr. cad tech/designer, A job that I enjoyed more than anything else I had done, My plan to work until I was 75. Then in '09 we know what happens, work began drying up---I made through four lay-offs, but when the fifth one came along it was a decision be a well-rounded 27-year-old man and me, and they made the right decision and let me go this time.

There I was 70 and nothing to do but watch TV. for six months I set in my chair a sculled like an old wet setting hen. Then I dug out an old set of x-acto knives I had had since cub scouts. And as they say, the rest is history.

Sure I have my health problem, but you know what while I'm carving, they don't bother me

[Brian T]

Dileon, it has been a bunch of things which all came together, intersected, maybe 20 years ago.

Decades ago, I inherited a small 4 figure cedar totem pole. Very important that I have it.
The carving is exquisite, not a single visible knife mark.
I am supposed to know who the carver was (pre-1954), but anyone who might tell me is dead now.

I was taught wood carving with gouges and mallets and also free-hand sharpening.
I live surrounded by Pacific Northwest First Nations art and culture. I spent considerable time over several winters in an attempt to learn who carved the little pole. No such luck except to learn that it was Mid-coast/Kwakwaka'Wakw.

I was splitting cedar chunks up in the mountains one early day and came to realize that I was holding a salmon by the tail in the wood in my hand.
Very spooky at the time as I recalled my grandmother's words, now I enjoy that when it happens.

After many years, I began to wonder the effectiveness of the wood carving crooked knives and adzes which are so common here. I got some encouragement from watching several old YouTubes.

In the beginning, what held me back was the idea that apprentice carvers had to make their own tools. I seemed to lack opportunity for that. Then I learned that there is a number of very good bladesmiths in the Pac NW that make tools and blades.

I had the good fortune to make acquaintance with a few Haida and Kwakwaka'Wakw carvers, artists really, who made very welcome guiding suggestions to me.

I'm comfortable with a crooked knife in each hand, especially knives that I've put together for myself.
That's about it. I put my head down and the next time I look up, it's spring again!

[DiLeon]

There are, or were, three parts to my wood carving. First, I like to watch the appearance of the curly shavings so nearly transparent in thickness. I take pride in being able to sustain steel edges to do that. Second, I carve what I see and know is in the wood. This reflects a prediction that my grandmother made to me a very long time ago. Third, I had a very abstract job. As the decades rolled by, I really had nothing of substance to show for long days and longer weeks. With wood carving, I'm satisfied at the end of every day to see some concrete progress.

I note also your carving are very traditional based usage of tools and methods. Would you mind elaborating as to why?

[DiLeon]

Pondering this more...I literally love this one: wood carving reconnects our spirits with nature. Are You asking how? Well, wood was once alive and I am deeply connected with it. For many of the arts, I did not feel this connection. Painting smells of chemicals, some of which are processed to death. Ceramic statues and the earth,...cold, wet and slimy although that was probably my most successful sellers? Bronze no matter how you cut it is cold and earthy. I feel more relaxed and naturally more positive when I am working with wood. It has a warm good smell, a great look that I love, it feels better in touch and it just feels right to have wood around. It is our mother Nature. It is important to me that I give something back. I plant lots of trees so the next generations will have some wood to carve from and oxygen to breathe.

[DiLeon]

An awesome video about wood carving and your mental health. Especially there is so much worry, stress, and anxiety while we are in the beginning stages of a pandemic which has caused lots of secondary effects and major issues for some people. This came out a month ago....and I give the author of this video a major thumbs up. 8 minutes and worth a watch. Woodcarving and mental health benefits..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJQulUOaYug