Whenever I show someone one of my carvings or if I go to a show the first question asked is what kind of wood do you use? That isn't as simple a question as one would think. I personally use basswood and pine, most people don't like pine because they say the wood splits on them, they catch the grain and take off way more wood then they intended. I don't have this problem, as long as your knife is sharp and you strop often, carving pine can be just as enjoyable as basswood.
Not all basswood is created equal, there are many people who don't carve anything but Minnesota or Wisconsin basswood. The basswood in New England isn't as good for carving, it is darker then midwest basswood. The lighter in color the basswood is the easier it will carve, usually.
Basswood is good if you are planning on painting your carving, basswood has very little grain showing, so this takes away from a natural finish. If you want to carve something and leave it natural - butternut, mahogany, oak, cedar are all good woods. Butternut and Mahogany cut pretty easily with a knife or gouge, Oak is a hard wood you can carve it with a knife I did one carving out of oak, with a knife, it was a lot of work. If you are going to try power carving a nice piece of oak wouldn't be bad I guess. I don't carve with power so this is strictly a guess. I guess tupelo is good for power carving though I never tried it myself.
Tools - I like many people when I first started carving I went out and bought a knife first, but then I started to go wild, not knowing exactly what I would need I bought everything that looked cool. Buying sets of gouges in my opinion is a waste of money, most places that sell tools have a set of 6 gouges for a decent price, but you buy that set and a year or 2 later you realize that you use only 1 maybe 2 of the gouges in that whole set. it would have been cheaper just buying the 2 gouges that you use then to buy all 6. So my suggestion is join a club, watch the experienced carvers ask questions, ask them if you could try some of their tools, and see if it's something that you would find useful.
I am mostly a knife person, I have so many knifes when I die I'm sure I'll have some knifes I never used, I use a v-tool, mostly for doing hair, occassionally I'll use a shallow gouge to get into areas not easily reached with a knife. That is it for me, I know there are some carvers that pretty much use all gouges, it's personal preference. I do have a woodburner, because the very first carving I carved was a little loon, my only bird carving, you need the woodburner for doing the feathers. Now the only thing I use my woodburner for is signing my name on my carvings. Carving can be a very economical hobby if you talk to woodcarvers and if you have the oppurtunity to try someones tools before you buy.
Over the year I have made more money on this hobby then I ever spent on it. If you can get a hobby that puts a little money in your pocket instead of taking it out, that in my opinion is a good hobby.
Chances are you aren't going to become world famous because of carving - but that is a possibilty, some people are naturals, but most of us have to work at it. An experienced carver can make carving look easy but remember they are experienced they have put time into learning how to carve, give yourself some time. You don't have to be the best to have a good time with carving, keep your mind open to learning, watch and listen for ideas, it could be a song on the radio that could inspire your next carving.
Enjoy!!
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