Many people often ask me which kind of tool is proper for the beginners on WhatsApp. Oh, my god! I have answered this question for many times. So, today I want to summarize the carving tools that beginners can use. In particular, I want to say that these introductions are only for your reference.
Woodcarving Tools 1: Woodcarving Gravers
Now, there are a lot of wood carving gravers on the market. And you can find all sorts of types through the Amazon. So many newbies don’t know how to choose. My suggestions for buying knives for beginners are as follows:
- Arc Graver: It is the best, most used and most important knife. I once bought a whole set. Seriously, I use arc knives of various sizes most often. So, for beginners, I suggest that you can also buy a complete set of knives like me. It contains various sizes of knives of various sizes that can be used.
- Flat Grave: I think it’s enough to buy a knife with a 1CM wide kerf. I occasionally use it to dig a right angle into wood. However, this function can be completely replaced by a rounded knife as well. In my experience, flat knives are actually not as convenient and useful as round-arc knives. The rounded blade has a smooth edge, and by golly, that’s my favourite feature.
- Miniature Graver: If you need to carve smaller details, such as 0.1cm to 0.4cm, you may need to get a miniature cutter. The two carving knives mentioned above can no longer meet your needs. Miniature knives have very tiny cutters. They are basically all under 0.5cm and their blades are no longer sharp and thin.
Woodcarving Tools 2: Electric Engraving Gravers
If you carve hardwoods, such as sourwood, mahogany, rosewood, the most efficient will be on the electric carving knife. These woods are really hard, even if you wear your fingers, but also can not produce. Electric carving knife also divided into several kinds, here I mainly recommend pneumatic engraving machine.
Oh my Gosh! This is simply my favourite gem these days. Hey, you’re probably wondering why I love it so much? Let me tell you!
Pneumatic engraving machine is the most popular product recently. It combines an engraver, micromotor and hot air in one. This unit provides you with a powerful electronic carving knife that allows you to carve hardwoods. It is available in 110 or 220 volts. In addition, it ditches the noisy and expensive compressor which can be more space and time saving. This can greatly increase your work efficiency.
Woodcarving Tools 3: Saw
Did you know that a saw can be very useful, especially if your work is large? There are two types of saws I will generally need: a hand saw and a wire saw.
- Hand Saw: It is mainly used to cut wood, or to cut thick wood to the desired size. I usually use it to cut wood into the geometry I need.
- Wire Saw: It is mainly used to shape the work. I often use it to cut out the outline of an engraving sketch. This effectively reduces the workload of the carving process in order to increase efficiency.
Woodcarving Tools 4: Engraving Block
It is not necessary for the carving process. However, it must be admitted that if you have a carving block then it will be very easy for you. This is because you can just use the carving block to hold the unformed work in place. It will free your hands and increase the efficiency of carving while enjoying convenience at the same time.
The carving block I use is 360 degrees rotatable. So I don’t have to move around, I just need to adjust the direction to complete the 360 degree engraving.
Woodcarving Tool 6: Choice Of Wood
Basswood is preferred. You can buy it on Amazon, and the thickness needs to be 3~4cm is enough. Be sure to talk to the seller when you buy it. Next is pine wood. It’s very cheap and you can buy more of it to take home and use it for repeated and extensive practice. Other woods can also work, such as ginkgo wood, mahogany, and nanmu. But unfortunately, I rarely use them.
Except for basswood, all other woods are very light grained. You may have some difficulty in the carving process. So, for newbies, my suggestion is to practice a lot with softwoods first.