Are 2x4's good to carve with or is Bass wood much better for a beginner?

[Claude]

Any suggestions on glove to buy for the hand holding the wood being carved? and thumb tip ideas for the hand with the knife?

I use one of these: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/s...ove-medium-7-9 They do wear through in a year or so, and then you can wrap the holes with duct tape or vet tape and continue to use the glove for a while. Feels awkward at first, but carve for a week or so, and it will feel weird to NOT have it on. While you are at it, you might consider one of these: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/l...ard-adult-male This will also wear quickly - a new one lasts me about 3 weeks before I cut through it. When I do, I wrap it with several layers of duct tape and it's good for another 3-4 weeks. When it cuts through again, I can pull off the cut-up duct tape and put new layers on. Not always needed if your cutting style when using a paring cut keeps the blade away from your thumb, but mine ends up with the blade right against the thumb in a paring cut, so I NEED the thumb guard...

Claude

[pallin]

There have been many discussions of carving gloves on this site. Do a search. Likewise on thumb guards.
My personal opinion is beginning carvers should avoid hand-held projects until they are very familiar with the response of wood to sharp tools. Yes, those neckerchief slides were hand-held projects. I had been carving for 23 years when I did those. Nearly everything I carve now is clamped to my workbench and carved with gouges. This is not a good time for a trip to the hospital emergency room.

[rockie12us]

Any suggestions on glove to buy for the hand holding the wood being carved? and thumb tip ideas for the hand with the knife?

[rockie12us]

wow thats a great diagram/drawing, thanks Pallin. Very helpful. I ordered some basswood and am awaiting the fun to begin.

[Rontana]

I have carved things out of 2x4s and 2x6s, but did it more as an experiment or because I liked the look of the grain. Tough to work with and tricky. As suggested by everyone else, go for good basswood (northern vs southern). A couple of suppliers I like are Arrowhead (https://arrowheadwoodproducts.com/) and Ocooch Hardwoods (https://ocoochhardwoods.com/).

Been getting wood from the latter for various projects for years, and like them because they will do custom sizes on a wide variety of wood (just ordered some basswood and butternut from them)

[woodburner807]

Basswood is what you want to use and very sharp tools. Learn to sharpen and it is one of the most important things to do. Next, use quality basswood, as Claude mentioned. While starting use quality basswood...I didn't. I bought some cheap basswood off Ebay and it was frustrating. Once I got good basswood (Heinecke) it made carving easy and a pleasure.

[Claude]

Heinecke was mentioned. Many of us on here, including me, buy all our basswood from Heinecke. Here's a link to their site: https://heineckewood.com

Claude

[Brian T]

Carving a curved track, Pallin's diagram shows how a V-tool always has one wing jammed into the grain
as the other wing cuts in the "downhill" direction. It takes 8 cuts with a pair of skews to carve a circle.

[pallin]

If you think of the woodgrain as layers of fibers, every cut at an angle to those layers should be "down slope." When the angle to the grain changes direction, the cut changes direction. So, in the example I gave, the cutting direction on one side of the "V" groove is opposite the other side, and it goes from the crest of one curve to the next trough (the red arrows in the sketch below):

grain.jpg

[rockie12us]

Pallin, I would say I would want to start on the left and go to the right.

[pallin]

Sometimes you may "happen upon" some wood the carves nicely. In my case, I found the core wood in a cabinet door (veneered with mahogany on both sides) was basswood. I used it to carve Boy Scout neckerchief slides. Great learning experiences - for me: Note: some of the slides are carved from woods picked up along the trails - like manzanita or aspen.

climber.jpgslides.jpg

[Soggy]

Take the time to get GOOD basswood. There's been a couple of suppliers suggested who have a proven track record. I've been told that a lot of the craft stores sell inferior (hard) wood, although I've never bought from them. I have bought from Heineke a few years ago and it was the best carving wood that i have ever experienced , but due to cost of shipping to Canada I had to look for a closer source.
I'm afraid if you start with a poor quality of wood ( 2x4's) you will soon become discouraged and loose interest in carving.
And as others have said , "sharp" tools are just as, if not more important than the wood you use.
Good luck , and dont be afraid to ask questions.
Wayne

[joepaulbutler]

Good advice from all

[Brian T]

Sooner, rather than later, you are going to have to "learn the wood."
What you can and can't do with your cuts, the sharpness of your edges.
These things all change from one wood species to the next.

I like to carve both western red cedar and yellow cedar.
BUT, I'm quite careful about selecting wood quality.
SPF (spruce/pine/fir) construction lumber is junk for carving.
Maybe a nice piece comes along but even those are not the place to start.

Basswood varies in quality as well. Big differences between branches and main stem wood.
Differences between northern basswood and southern basswood.
Some mills are mindful and know the differences, some don't care as long as it's a sale.

So you watch top-notch carvers. You can bet they are using top-notch wood and carving sharp tools.
Very much a monkey-see, monkey-do thing to get a result that begins to approach some Youtube things.

Besides Loess Hills sawmill, many carvers are entirely pleased with basswood from Heineke.
I don't carve basswood so sorry, no link.

If you got this far, good luck with it, help is on the way.

[pallin]

You may be thinking, "I'm not planning to carve anything like that." Okay, but the same principle applies if you're carving the curvy strands of a cowboy's beard (or Santa's).