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In This Issue

Features

Magic Touch Cecilia Schiller’s entertaining automata encourage interaction By Dorissa Bolinski

Patterns

	Stylish Leprechaun Caricature Practice adding accessories with this swaggering man-about-town By Mehmet Berat Tas
	Buckle Up! Fun and wearable carving might encourage some fish stories By Bob Kozakiewicz
	Chip Carved Bracelet Easy bangle makes an impressive statement piece By Charlene Lynum
	It’s Elementary! Solve the riddle of capturing a caricature’s essence with this ode to Sherlock Holmes By Kevin Applegate
	Butterfly and Flower Pyrography A clever coloring technique gives life to this organic wood burning By Shannon Lyon
	Desk Clock Set aside some time to chip carve this striking office accessory By Marty Leenhouts
	Realistic Walleye Whopping trophy is a fisherman’s dream By Charles Weiss
	Caricature-Chef Bottle Stopper Add some joie de vivre to your dinners with this quick and fun carve By W. Todd Martin

Projects

	Interlocking Heart Relief Surprise your one-and-only with a piece of Celtic-inspired wall art By Lisa Laughy
	Carving a Leaf Spoon Finish this nature-inspired utensil with milk paint accents By Elizabeth Weber
	Stylized Shorebird Smooth avian project puts the “sand” in “sanderling” By Wouter de Bruijn
	Power-Carved Bullfrog Sculpt a full-size pond dweller so lifelike, you’ll expect him to ribbit By B. David Duncan
	Balancing Stones Find your Zen with this easy branch whittling project By L. P. Parslow
	My Cat Pearl This cute calico caricature is ready to pounce By Floyd Rhadigan
	Flying Dragon Flat-plane carving style lends a scaly look to this beast of lore By Dave Atkin
	Easy Gnome Build your confidence with a simple face you don’t have to paint By Birce Keser
	Soap Rabbit Quickly carve a nest of bunnies to brighten any bathroom By Makiko Sone

Techniques

	Power-Carved Eagle Log Different colors of wood from the same log make this bird of prey soar By Jordy Johnson
	Making a Hook Knife Treat your spoon projects to a handmade tool that’s inexpensive to construct By Doug Stowe
	Alphabetical Arboretum Woodcut From A to Z, these leaves make an attractive handmade print By Beth Lewis

Web Extras

Free Project – Carve a rose relief for that special someone in your life. Pattern by Joseph A. Savarese.

[button link=”https://woodcarving.zeeframes.com/?p=23121&preview=true” bg_color=”#ff0000″]Click Here for Rose Relief Project [/button]

Bonus Patterns – Want more chip carving? Find Jan Jenson’s stylish earring project, plus 12 patterns.

[button link=”https://woodcarving.zeeframes.com/?p=23130&preview=true” bg_color=”#ff0000″]Click Here for Chip Carved Earrings Project[/button]

E-Newsletter – Subscribe to our online newsletter, Strop Talk, to get more carving projects!

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The post Woodcarving Illustrated Spring 2024, Issue #106 appeared first on Woodcarving Illustrated.

By Rick Wiebe

I carved my first wooden cup (called a kuksa in Finland and a kasa in Sweden) 30 years ago on a backpacking trip in the northern Canadian Rockies. The cup, which I made for a friend who had lost a plastic one, was pretty crude, but it was steeped in history. French Canadian canoe men who made their living in the fur trade during the 1600s and 1700s were called “voyageurs.” They carved their own cups from birch burls, and one cup lasted a lifetime for them. There are advantages to wooden cups. Recent scientific studies indicate that wood has antibacterial properties, which makes it more hygienic than plastic. Also, you will have a hard time burning your lips on a wooden mug. If you wish to carve your wooden cup outside, try building a carver’s frame to be able to carve any project in your own backyard!

	Roughing Out The Shape Step 1  Hollow the inside of the cup. You can use a variety of tools to hollow the inside of the cup. While a pocketknife will work, a bent knife is easier. To speed up the hollowing, use a drill with a Forstner bit or use a variety of straight and bent gouges.
	Step 2 Shape the outside of the cup. Sketch the shape onto the outside and remove the excess wood with a knife or gouge. I turn the cup over and carve down against a firm solid surface (not your leg).
	Refining the Project Step 3 Refine the cup. Smooth the inside of the rim with a knife to make it comfortable for your lips. Then, smooth and flatten the bottom to make sure the cup doesn’t tip when you set it down.
	Step 4 Rough out the handle. Sketch the handle shape onto the blank. Then, rough it out with a knife.
	Step 5 Refine the handle. Carve a small groove on the top of the handle for your thumb. Test the grip to make sure it’s comfortable as you hold it, and adjust it as needed.
	Step 6 Finish carving the rim. Smooth the underside of the lip, and angle it slightly to create a comfortable surface for your lower lip. Then, round the top to make it comfortable for your top lip.
	Step 7 Add the details. I carved a small groove around the bottom to dress up the cup a bit. I also drilled a hole in the handle for a hanging cord. But you could also let the wood dry thoroughly (as described above), and then make it an ongoing project to decorate the cup on the trail. Just be sure to sign and date it!

Get the Summer 2023 Issue [button link=”hhttps://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/magazines/woodcarving-illustrated-issue-103-summer-2023-wci103.html” bg_color=”#ff0000″]Purchase the Issue[/button] For more articles like this, subscribe to Woodcarving Illustrated magazine. [button link=”https://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/wood-carving-illustrated-subscription.html” bg_color=”#ff0000″]Magazine Subscription[/button] Plus! Get digital mini magazines in your e-mail between printed issues. [button link=”https://woodcarving.zeeframes.com/enews/” bg_color=”#ff0000″]Subscribe to Strop Talk[/button]

The post Hand-Hewn Wooden Cup appeared first on Woodcarving Illustrated.

By Mindy Kinsey

This review was originally published in Woodcarving Illustrated Summer 2018 (Issue 83).

Flexcut has added three spoon carving tools to its extensive range of carving equipment: two Sloyd Hook Knives and the Spoon Carvin’ Jack. Together, they ensure that spoon carvers both at home and on the go are fully equipped for their art.

Sloyd Hook Knives

“Sloyd” refers to an old Scandinavian concept of handwork and an educational system intended to teach crafts holistically, as part of a well-rounded education. These days, the word calls to mind a simple, sturdy, multipurpose knife designed for carving or whittling.

Flexcut’s new single- and double-bevel Sloyd hook knives are made with a high-carbon steel blade and a tang that extends through an attractive cherry handle. The Single Bevel Sloyd Hook Knife is 8″ (20.3cm) long and deeply curved, and its blade comes to a point. The double-bevel version is slightly longer at 8 1/2″ (21.6cm) and has a more open curve ending at a square edge. Both arrive sharp and ready to use, which is great because hooked knives are challenging
to strop, let alone sharpen.

In fact, these tools are so sharp that I was hesitant to use the Double Bevel Sloyd Hook Knife. I rest my thumb on the tool to push it through the wood while I carve, and that isn’t possible with this knife. It would be very useful for larger projects, like bowls or even large serving spoons, where the carving motion comes from rotating the wrist rather than pushing with the thumb. For a small spoon, however, I found myself constantly shifting my grip on both the tool and project, trying to get the right leverage while avoiding the sharp bevels.

However, I really liked the Single Bevel Sloyd Hook Knife. I could push it easily through the wood in my preferred grip. I appreciated the deep curve, which fit well into the smaller spoons I was carving. I found that I used different areas of the curve depending on the part of the spoon I was carving. The Single Bevel Sloyd was easy to use, fit my hand well, and cut through my hardwood blanks cleanly.

The carver and author Lora S. Irish had a different experience with the hook knives. She noted that the single-bevel knife “is definitely a right-handed tool. I am not comfortable as a lefty using it in a backwards pushing motion, which takes away my ability to control the cut.” Lora also had a large problem, literally, with the size of the handles. “The width—girth—of the handles on both tools does not give me, a small-handed woman, any possibility for a secure grip. That lack of gripping power means that I lose all control over the cutting stroke. … Most spoons are carved from a hardwood species [so] the pressure the carver needs to add to the cutting stroke increases the chance of losing control of the cut with a knife that does not properly fit inside the palm of your hand.”

I did not experience problems with the sizes of the handles, suggesting that carvers will need to test the handles to see if they suit your hands (and consider sanding them to size as needed). Left-handed carvers should also be aware that the single-bevel hook knife may be uncomfortable to use and consider the double-bevel version instead.

Spoon Carvin’ Jack

While carving spoons seems like an ideal “whittling” activity, most people don’t carry a curved blade along with their pocketknife. Shaping a spoon bowl with a straight blade is challenging and time consuming.

Enter the Spoon Carvin’ Jack, Flexcut’s newest folding knife. The 6″ (15.2cm)-long body contains three locking blades (one straight and two curved) that arrive sharp and ready to carve. Together, they enable carvers on the go to shape both the handles and bowls of spoons. The body of the knife is made of ergonomically shaped aerospace aluminum that’s comfortable to hold and has a solid, if slightly heavy, feel. It is cross-hatched for improved grip.

This is a brilliant idea. In practice, while the radiuses of the two blades match those of the Sloyd hook knives, I did not find them as easy to use as the full-size versions. The curves are fairly slight in such short blades, making it harder to dig deeply into the spoon bowl. That said, if you simply carve shallower spoon bowls when you’re working in the wild, the Spoon Carvin’ Jack will enable you to whittle by the campfire to your heart’s content. It’s a small price to pay for the portability, safety, and convenience of an all-in-one spoon tool that will fit in your pocket or pack.    

The suggested retail for the Single Bevel Sloyd Hook Knife is $74.95, the Double Bevel Sloyd Hook Knife is $79.95, and the Spoon Carvin’ Jack is $124.95. Visit www.flexcut.com to order or to find a local retailer.

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The post Product Review: Flexcut Spoon Tools appeared first on Woodcarving Illustrated.