Whittling is the style and art of woodcarving executed using a carving knife. The types of materials used ,equipment and the quality of the final piece ,differentiates whittling from carving. Whittling involves the use of only a knife, while carving entails the use of powered tools ,chisels, mallets and gouges. Additionally, the final piece has clearly visible knife strokes.

Whittling tools needed

A carving knife

Whittling is performed using a pocket knife or whittling knife. This knife is more comfortable and much easier to use and purchase. Furthermore, a pocket knife is tailored for whittling and it has a longer handle. For beginners, a beginners knife set and palm is recommended. This kit contains useful knives and tools every whittler needs. A starting knife for a beginner goes for $20.Most importantly, bear in mind that a sharp knife is really appropriate for whittling.

A sharpening stone

Sharpening the carving knife is a essential both for safety and joy. A ceramic stone highly recommended for sharpening the knife to make the carving through the wood easier. This product is available on Amazon.

Thumb guard

Carving thumb guard is a significant safety measure all whittlers should use, especially the beginners. It will prevent most accidents as it is made of cut-resilient leather.

The type of wood to be used

While you might consider using any kind of wood, there are some that are easier to whittle more than others. Woods are classified into two categories, hardwoods and softwoods. Both can be whittled but for beginners soft wood is recommended. Here is a list of the most popular choices:

Basswood: Easy and soft to whittle with a much finer grain. This wood is an excellent choice for starters and it has a creamy tint.

Balsa: This is another softwood with a pretty fine grain. It is often used to create model airplanes and they are found at your local craft.

Pine: Pine has a bit of coarser grain despite being soft. Pine is less distinctive than the balsa. You can find pine that is slightly yellow or a very white.

Butternut: Have a coarse grain which renders it a bit cumbersome whittling on. However, it gives the most distinctive piece of the four. You will find it at a lumber yard.

It is important to avoid the growth knots and rings, because it is difficult to cut around the rings.

Safety techniques

Considering the fact that you are working with a blade, safety is really important. The following should be kept in mind for safe whittling:

Keep the knife sharp

The probability of cutting yourself with a dull knife is higher than with sharp one. It is advisable to keep your knife sharp. Sharpen the blade with a ceramic sharpening stone for best results.

Wear a glove

Wear the glove on the hand which is not holding the knife. As mentioned earlier use gloves made of cut-resistant leather.

Do not rush it

whittling is not a fast paced hobby. Take it slow doing a bit at a time to prevent any frustrations and ruining the piece.

In conclusion, you have got no excuse to get started! I am very sure I have taken you through all the basics and requirements. All you need is a carving knife and a block of your preferred wood. For a beginner start with a soft wood. You are now good to go!

Wood carving is the process of cutting the wood using different types carving tool such as wood carving knife ,chisel to give a desired figure usually for decorative purposes,while whittling is the process of carving shapes out of wood or in other words shaving slivers in a piece of wood which is being carved. Wood carving will be so easy if one use the right equipment for carving.Having the right tools for that work will be easier for one to carve decently without much problem.One requires a nice wood carving knife which is very cheap and available in almost every bigger towns .

There factors one should consider when looking for a good wood carving and whittling.These factor should be checked appropriately since they are the ones that determine the decency in wood carving.One of these factors is a good wood carving knife.This is a tool that is used to carve the wood to a desired product.The knife should be made of a high quality steel and should be hard enough with good edge to prevent it from becoming blunt so easily.The wood carving knife should be as much as possible not have any hilt since they enter in the way when carving so not required at all for carving.These hilt can only be used to protect the hand from sliding when carving.

The wood carving knife should be narrow from upper side to bottom side in concave regions.They should completely not have "scandi" grid. The edge should be a perfect triangle that goes down to a good point.Long blades without too much swelling will be better for most cuts.Always when doing wood carving and whittling avoid short blades since they don't make a reasonably good cuts and actually they are not as good as the long knife blade.Long blade are more efficient to use and they make good cuts hence desired product.The wood carving knife should as much as possible not have secondary bevels .The primary bevels are the best in wood carving and whittling since they are used to control cuts in curving and whittling of wood.Hence the secondary bevels should be avoided as much as possible as they lift the edge too far from the wood.

The best wood carving knife should also have a good handle.In most cases birch handles do well as they don't make blisters on ones hand and they have a soft feel when using them.Wood carving knife of high carbon content with soft steel at the edge would do better in wood carving.The softer steel makes sharpening easier and this makes it more easier to cut through the wood.There also smaller knifes called whittlers that are mostly used for removing the backs of a wood but this knives are not mostly used for wood carving purpose but only for removing the the backs of the wood and also twigs. What else one should know is that softwood are good for wattling simply because they are easier to cut.One should learn first to whittle with soft wood before proceeding to the hard woods.
In conclusion the a good choice of wood carving knife and whittling will determine the quality of the carved products that one will have.

Whittling Projects

Whittling is the art and style of woodcarving performed using a carving knife. Whittling typically produces a sculpture as opposed to relief carving and other techniques that add details to a piece such as furniture. A trademark for whittling is that the knife strokes are clearly visible on the final piece that gives it a rugged natural feel. Whittling uses both hardwood and softwood depending on the outcome; however softwood produces a finer grain as opposed to hardwood. The most common wood used is the pine, balsa and balsawood. Whittling is a time-based hobby that is both relaxing and fun. Here is a discussion on major whittling projects.

Whittling a Wooden Egg

This project illustrates the law of grain direction (grain dynamic) and allows you to make slicing cuts both with the grain, against the grain and across the grain. Starting off can be intimidating; however it teaches you how to round and shape a project while building hand-strength and confidence. The task of this project is to whittle an egg from a square block using basic knife cuts. To complete this project one needs a bench knife, pencil, basswood block and appropriate finishing supplies such as paint, sandpaper, oils and wax among others.

Whittling a Three-Link Chain  

This is one of the most interesting old time whittling projects the making of a chain. This project has been around for a long time although it is not considered a piece of fine wood sculpture, although it shows the skill of the whittling art. This project shows how to curve only three links of a chain. Repeating the pattern on a longer piece of wood can make a longer chain. A longer chain and more elaborate chain can be whittled after learning the basics. The carver should have basic requirements including: the layout, materials and requirements, cleanup, rough-out and finish.

Whittling a Wood Spirit

There are many shapes, sizes and designs of wood spirits, and different techniques of carving them. The project will require one to have: Small piece of pear wood, a small wood saw, whittling knife, sand paper, walnut dye and leather landyard 30cm long. You start the project by gaining an off cut piece of the wood and ensure it has no radial splits running through its length and chose a piece that has no knots. Pear wood is a lovely creamy wood which is great for carving and its grain is easy and does not run away too much when slicing with the knife. The wood spirits are used as gifts and others are applied scented oils and it could be used as a car air freshener.

Whittling Dogs  

Soft woods are the best such as white pine and basswood and the wood should not have lots of knots. Dog whittling projects are old time projects that have been there for many years. The common whittling cuts of this project include; the pare cut or pull stroke, one of the simplest and most common cuts. The push stroke is made by pushing the blade away from you and this technique can be used in roughing out your project’s general shape and later with smaller shaving cuts to achieve finer detail. The V-cut or channel is used to show detail in your carving in the form of hair or scales and uses the point of the knife.

What is wood carving?

What is wood carving?

Wood carving is an art form, comprises any type of sculpture in wood from the ornamental bas-relief on a small substance to oversize figures in the wood. In other words, wood carving is a form of woodworking out of raw wood with a cutting tool.

What is whittling?

Whittling is the style of woodcarving completed using a carving knife. In other words, Whittling is a form of carving that is done generally by using nothing more than a knife. It has been practiced worldwide for centuries.

What is the difference between wood carving and whittling?

Some say that wood carving is more of a European woodworking technique and whittling is an American term which means to carve using a knife. In fact, whittling is kind of sub-category of woodcarving. Some perfectionists argue that whittling is done by using nothing more than a pocket knife. If you carve wood using a knife, it would be called wood carving, not only in Europe elsewhere in the world too. Professional wood carvers called as whittlers, since they simply use a knife to give shape a raw wood.

One difference between wood carving and whittling is the wood working tools that used by practitioners. Some experts say that whittling only involves knife work, which means the wood workers use just a knife to remove objects from the completed item.

On the other hand, wood carving is involved using a range of wood working tools to remove glut stuff, such as files, gouges and specified knives. Wood carvers learn diverse woodworking techniques to receive the most benefit from a variety of tools. Sometimes the terms "carving" and "whittling" are used interchangeably, but this is not right. Because carving involves the use of gouges, chisels, and a mallet, on the other side, whittling involves only the use of a knife.

In modern times whittling aspects have changed in a positive way because the quality of the knives available is much improved, the blade shapes include specialty shapes existing in these days was not available in past in a pocket knife, most whittling knives now comes with fixed blade, and whittlers often use a few miniature gouges in these days.

What should you look for when buying one wood carving and whittling knife?

This knife should be made of a high-quality steel, practically hard and take a good frame. You will get most knives in the market as read now. This knife should be moderately narrow from top to bottom to let cuts in concave parts. This is where most common purpose knives fail to make good carvers. This knife should not have any sort of blade guard because these are not needed for carving. This knife comes with a relatively long thin blade without an extreme belly that better for most cuts. The belly is great for skinning but bad for woodcarving. Beginners tend to favor short blades because they feel safe with it but this does limit the cuts you can do. Significantly a longer blade is effective to create large flat planes.

Wood carving is a very ancient type of architecture. It is generally done by a small knife on a piece of wood. Whittling is also a sub-category of wood carving. Whittling is all about freeing the mind, working by own hands. But the only difference between wood carving and whittling is the tool they use during their woodwork. It is mostly a man's work than a woman's. From the ancient time we can see the works of wood carving and whittling, from the 12th century to 15th century it was in high demand. From Christian to Islam, from Europe to American continent and even in the Indian culture it is very famous. And we can see many historical sculptures engraved on them. It is one of the finest art that is dominating our society from ancient times to modern times also. To do wood carving and whittling we need a huge dedication and passion, as it is a work of patience and determination. It is a great past time work that brings out the inner genius. Currently the tools which are used have been modified, but the processes remains same. Any type of wood can be used for whittling but soft woods like basswood, balsa, pine etc are generally good to make the work easier. Because to work in hard wood is difficult. It is a kind of art which can't be destroyed easily and remains as it is. Few great examples of wood carving and whittling are stylized horse of Sweden, horns spoons of Alaska etc.

Almost in 1965 the whittling period or the handmade period is said to be ended, as the electronic period has started with less work from hand. But the values of wood carving and whittling is said to be high after 1970's. Now a days in our daily life we can see very few work of whittling, its generally used in flower vases or in showpieces and also on modern furniture. In Japan and China wood carving have been used to decorate temples and private places. In Africa also the wood carving were popular among African tribes like carving of wooden mask and statues. In France also wood carving was also a part of religious art. Europe and Africa is the leading continent of wood carving and whittling works but for last few years Asia is also a high demand. In modern times wood carving and whittling is done with very sharp knife and some modern equipment and with gloves. Whittling can be called the “folk art” because it was done by folk without proper education in the arts, who wanted to fulfill their wish to create something with their own hands and their creative ability. The making of decoys and fish carving are the two examples of artistic traditions. Whittling, is one of the first folk arts, along with the noble and with a pocket knife that carry love for the sentimental journey of traveling back to ancient time. If someone have not tried whittling, I would suggest them to do.

Whittling Tools You Need

Wood crafts and wood working have become increasingly popular over the last 25 years. There has been a return from the mass produced throw away era to more traditional approaches in furniture and other woodcraft products like stair cases and windows.

Whittling conjures images of boyhood activities especially the pen knife and continual strokes to thin down twigs, sticks or branches into something more meaningful. At the basic level it is the start of skills like spindle making for stair rails. More specifically it gives a foundation in woodworking skills like carving.

Whether it is the complete novice, seasoned DIY exponent or professional wood crafts person, who come under a number of names from carpenter to joiner or just handy man the key to success is having the right tools. Everyone has to start somewhere and sometimes it’s just with whatever is lying around. Eventually the boyhood knife has to give way to something more substantial.

So what do you need?

The basic item is a good whittling knife. It needs to be of good quality steel and as Robin Wood puts it quite narrow from bottom to top. This facilitates use in concave areas so anything more than 6 inches will be too big.

There is no need for any fancy guard or hilt as they are only for stabbing motions which aren’t used in carving. The nearest to that would be for mallet and chisel.

Beginners will probably favour shorter blades. They will feel safer at first but will limit longer smoother actions and cuts.

The blade needs to be like a heavy duty paring knife, you know the sort for cutting fruit and vegetables. The point is similar but the bevelled edge to the blade is deeper.

The look of professional knives is quite simple they have a wooden handle contoured to be comfortable in the hand. It has a small barrel at the blade end that secures the blade to the handle then the blade in a variety of sizes dependent on the work in hand.

The blades come in a variety of shapes depending on the shape you wish to create and the finish required. Some manufacturers provide sets of knives whilst others can provide a variation on the traditional craft knife with universal handle and serious of blades that can be fitted into a slot and secured by a threaded covering barrel. More traditionally there are pen knives with a number of blades attached in Swiss army knife style.

More sophisticated tools are chisel like in appearance. They can have the traditional straight blade with bevel edge at the end sharpened to provide better cutting results. They can also have the traditional straight blade concaved so that the chiselling provides the carved finished in a smooth grooved effect.

Whatever your interest there are lots of websites out there providing information on the art of whittling and associated woodcrafts plus a plethora of sites that can provide information on the tools required to do the job and some tips to help you through the process.

The whittling knife is a staple of past times when the world was much simpler. It seems that those days are long gone. Today, our world has instant access to an unending amount of information that eats at our time a little bit at a time. We begin to lose track. We lose focus. We lose relationships. We get older. Before we know it, 20 years has gone by and we haven't accomplished what we want by the time we wanted to.

So what does that have to do with whittling and whittling knives? Think about it this way - when you have a block of bare wood in one hand and a whittling knife in the other, you begin to chip and cut away at something that, at that moment in time, isn't beautiful. But as you continue, you begin to mold the piece of wood into something that only you created. Something that only you have spent time on. While you whittle, while you carve the wood away, you get lost in your own thoughts. Whittling allows you the opportunity to align yourself by tuning out all other distractions. Eventually, you put away all the negativity of the world. The news. The gossip. The 'oh man, it's the end of the world' mentality. You see, what you create out of that simple block of wood is your escape. It's a way to get back to our roots.

Not prejudice against gender, race, religion, and anything between, whittling gives you the opportunity to create something beautiful. It's for those of us who are at a point in our life where we look back and wonder what we've really accomplished. You may have a wonderful family. You may have a great job. You may have a nice house. But what have you accomplished? Where has you mind taken you? Did time get away from you? Is it still slipping away? Let whittling help you gain focus. Let whittling be the substitute for medication. For news. For gossip. Let whittling be your escape.