What do I need to do to learn how to whittle?
October 14, 2010 7:46 AM Subscribe
I am thinking about learning how to whittle and am looking for advice.
I’m thinking about whittling because it seems like a relatively simple but enjoyable and productive hobby I can use to keep my hands occupied (I’m not really looking for alternative suggestions; I already crochet and things, but I’m interested in the idea of whittling). Am I right about this? I’m also wondering what I would need to start in terms of tools and materials as well as space (I live in an apartment and don’t have much access to outdoor space). Will these tools and materials be expensive? We are trying to economize. I was thinking about trying to whittle a chess set not because I think I’d do a particularly good job but so as to give me some structure as I try to learn. Do I need to be taught how to do this or do I just take a piece of wood and a knife and start hacking at it?
Please let me know if my dream of whittling is feasible. Will I ruin my apartment by learning to whittle? Does it take a long time to learn? Is it expensive in terms of tools and materials? Is it difficult even if you don’t much care about the results? How should I begin? What are useful guides?
My questions basically boil down to:
1) Am I crazy and is this completely not going to work?
2) What would I need to start and where can I get it?
Thank you for your help!
I’m thinking about whittling because it seems like a relatively simple but enjoyable and productive hobby I can use to keep my hands occupied (I’m not really looking for alternative suggestions; I already crochet and things, but I’m interested in the idea of whittling). Am I right about this? I’m also wondering what I would need to start in terms of tools and materials as well as space (I live in an apartment and don’t have much access to outdoor space). Will these tools and materials be expensive? We are trying to economize. I was thinking about trying to whittle a chess set not because I think I’d do a particularly good job but so as to give me some structure as I try to learn. Do I need to be taught how to do this or do I just take a piece of wood and a knife and start hacking at it?
Please let me know if my dream of whittling is feasible. Will I ruin my apartment by learning to whittle? Does it take a long time to learn? Is it expensive in terms of tools and materials? Is it difficult even if you don’t much care about the results? How should I begin? What are useful guides?
My questions basically boil down to:
1) Am I crazy and is this completely not going to work?
2) What would I need to start and where can I get it?
Thank you for your help!
Response by poster: Thanks -- I am in fact thinking about quitting smoking so it would be great if this were helpful (last time I tried I ended up crocheting a sweater for my stuffed panda but, in fairness, he did need a sweater to match the hat I'd made him the time before).
Something else I should ask is what kind of wood to use. I assume it should be a soft wood -- do I just buy a pine two-by-four or do I get a special block or something?
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:11 AM on October 14, 2010
Something else I should ask is what kind of wood to use. I assume it should be a soft wood -- do I just buy a pine two-by-four or do I get a special block or something?
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:11 AM on October 14, 2010
I reckon (if you take up whittling, I reckon you're going to have to start using the word reckon) that whittling is one of those activities that can be undertaken at any number of levels of complexity. There are tons of specialized knives and gouges and sharpening systems and on and on for woodcarvers, but when I think whittling I think 1) piece of wood 2) sharp (sharp!) folding knife.
Things to consider:
Wood - If you are planning on using a hard wood like maple, you might get frustrated quickly. I think a lot of wood carvers use softwoods like basswood, which is readily available in vaious size blocks, and carves relatively easy.
Also shavings - They make a mess, so you won't be able to just sit there in your living room and whittle, or if you do you'll want to put down a drop cloth of some sort. Even if you are careful about trying to keep your chips/shavings localized, little bits are going to get everywhere.
Also Sharpening - Keeping your knife sharp will be most important for safety/enjoyability. Sharpening knives isn't too hard once you get the hang of it, but there is a learning curve.
But these are minor issues...find a knife and a chunk of wood and start carving away at it!
posted by dan g. at 8:23 AM on October 14, 2010
Things to consider:
Wood - If you are planning on using a hard wood like maple, you might get frustrated quickly. I think a lot of wood carvers use softwoods like basswood, which is readily available in vaious size blocks, and carves relatively easy.
Also shavings - They make a mess, so you won't be able to just sit there in your living room and whittle, or if you do you'll want to put down a drop cloth of some sort. Even if you are careful about trying to keep your chips/shavings localized, little bits are going to get everywhere.
Also Sharpening - Keeping your knife sharp will be most important for safety/enjoyability. Sharpening knives isn't too hard once you get the hang of it, but there is a learning curve.
But these are minor issues...find a knife and a chunk of wood and start carving away at it!
posted by dan g. at 8:23 AM on October 14, 2010
I started out whittling with a block of wood I found in a craft store. I'm pretty sure it was pine. I used a small swiss knife and just went at it. I mostly whittled on my couch over a shoe box to catch the wood flecks. I had a really good time with it. Withing a few months, I started making some really cool stuff that got lots of compliments and decided to take it to the next level by buying some carving tool and later a Dremel. I moved to the deck because of all the saw dust, I bought more and more bits and spent a lot of time switching them out for specific tasks. I got annoyed when the wood wouldn't shape to my will. I bought a mask for the sawdust and plastic protective goggles that made my eyes sweat. I gave up in frustration, tired of breathing sawdust and enduring the whine of the Dremel carvings that meant nothing anymore.
Looking back, I stopped whittling at the point I started using more tools than a simple knife that I could comfortably hold. Part of the joy was doing my best with the simplest tools and letting my mind and hands work out what I wanted to do. Keep it simple, grab some wood and a short knife. Don't think too hard about what you want to make, let it come to you in the process. Enjoy.
Think I'm going to stop on the way home and grab a block of pine.
posted by studentbaker at 8:28 AM on October 14, 2010
Looking back, I stopped whittling at the point I started using more tools than a simple knife that I could comfortably hold. Part of the joy was doing my best with the simplest tools and letting my mind and hands work out what I wanted to do. Keep it simple, grab some wood and a short knife. Don't think too hard about what you want to make, let it come to you in the process. Enjoy.
Think I'm going to stop on the way home and grab a block of pine.
posted by studentbaker at 8:28 AM on October 14, 2010
Whittling is fun, and I don't think it's particularly hard to learn, although of course that depends on what you want to be able to carve. (I once made a respectable-looking fork as the culmination of about two weeks of boredom at Boy Scout camp when I was a kid. Not sure if that is much of a useful benchmark.)
The knife I had (not entirely sure where it is at the moment...) looked very similar to this, with one large and one small blade. Most of the time I ended up using the small blade. If I was going to pick it back up today, I think I'd look for one with a carbon-steel blade instead of stainless, because non-stainless blades are easier to sharpen and get a good edge on.
Compared to most other woodworking you could do, whittling/carving is pretty clean, since you just produce chips rather than dust. I suspect the easiest way to do it indoors would just be to carve into the corner of a smooth-floored room and then sweep up the chips afterwards. They make great kindling, at least if you are working with pine.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:50 AM on October 14, 2010
The knife I had (not entirely sure where it is at the moment...) looked very similar to this, with one large and one small blade. Most of the time I ended up using the small blade. If I was going to pick it back up today, I think I'd look for one with a carbon-steel blade instead of stainless, because non-stainless blades are easier to sharpen and get a good edge on.
Compared to most other woodworking you could do, whittling/carving is pretty clean, since you just produce chips rather than dust. I suspect the easiest way to do it indoors would just be to carve into the corner of a smooth-floored room and then sweep up the chips afterwards. They make great kindling, at least if you are working with pine.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:50 AM on October 14, 2010
I have no personal experience with whittling, but I remember having a W. Ben Hunt book called "Let's Whittle" lying around our house when I was growing up. Ben Hunt did a lot of sort of Native American/Boy Scouty crafts books in the 1960s or so for people like Golden Books; the ones we had were pretty detailed and had great color illustrations. (No guarantee on the strict cultural appropriateness, but he seems to have done a reasonably decent job discerning between different native tribes and nations, so it's not just sticking a feather and beads on stuff.)
When I looked them up just now [I think the W. actually stands for Walter], it looks like he may have several whittling books, most of which look pretty easily available for cheapsies through used sellers on Amazon.
posted by Madamina at 8:55 AM on October 14, 2010
When I looked them up just now [I think the W. actually stands for Walter], it looks like he may have several whittling books, most of which look pretty easily available for cheapsies through used sellers on Amazon.
posted by Madamina at 8:55 AM on October 14, 2010
Best answer: You aren't crazy. Whittling is fun.
You won't ruin your apartment, though you will produce a lot of shavings.
It doesn't take long to learn the basics. Like any other hobby, it takes a long time to get really good at it. You can figure it out on your own, but you'll be a lot less frustrated if you start with a book or a class.
It's really easiest if you don't care about the results. Caring about the results leads to stress and perfectionism. Anytime anyone asks me what I'm making (I don't whittle much, but I do make larger things with wood) I tell them I'm making sawdust, and if something else results from it so much the better.
Whittling is a very time-consuming way of shaping wood, but it's also very meditative and peaceful.
Basswood is the traditional wood for starting out carving or whittling; it's soft enough to cut easily but not so soft your fingers would leave impressions. It's also relatively inexpensive. Pine is okay too, but it has a more obvious grain and tends to split more.
Always cut away from your hand. Always cut away from your hand. Always. Seriously. Consider wearing a leather glove on the non-knife hand for a while, until you learn how the knife goes through the wood. Always keep in mind where the knife will go if it slips, and make sure you aren't there. A good wood shop will sell you little leather thimbles, these are good when doing delicate work. There's a useful grip where you put the thumb on the knife hand against the wood and pull the blade towards it with your fingers-- if you do this, you'll soon need stitches unless you protect that thumb.
Usually, a smaller knife is better. Here's a useful starter set. Whatever knife you use, make sure the handle is big enough to sit in your palm comfortably. You don't need an official "whittling" knife, any knife will do as long as it can take a good edge and isn't longer than two or three inches. After a while working with a pocket knife, though, you'll probably get an idea why official "whittling" knives are shaped that way.
If you decide that it's fun and you want to keep doing it, you'll soon need to learn how to sharpen that knife, and get the right equipment to do it. A sharp tool requires less force, and less force means less chance of slipping and cutting something you don't want to cut. I'd recommend getting a combination waterstone (such as this one ) although you can also get good results with the new-fangled diamond hones, and I know people who swear by Arkansas oil stones. The big gray India stones you find at hardware stores are way too coarse for knives, better suited for lawnmower blades and axes. An added bonus is that you can use your fancy stone for sharpening your kitchen knives. The staff at the aforementioned local wood shop will probably be quite happy to show you how to sharpen your knife if you ask. If cost is a real issue, you can sharpen knives on the unglazed ring on the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug in a pinch, but you won't get nearly the same edge that way, and you mark up the bottom of the coffee mug.
You can get a good quality carving knife for under $20. Most woodshops have a scrap wood bin where you can get whittling-sized hunks of basswood for a pittance. A nice waterstone will run about $30, or you can get a wallet-sized diamond hone for about $15. That's really all you need, though obviously a book or a class (ask at that wood shop) would help you get started. Once you have a feel for whittling shapes, you'll probably want to start turning those shapes into useful/decorative things, and that means sanding, staining, painting, finishing, polishing etc-- but no need to get into all that right at the beginning. Remember that the activity is really about the activity itself, not about the end product.
Did I mention, find a good local wood shop? Seriously, the staff in there love making sawdust, and they love to talk to people who want to make sawdust. They'll point you to the right tools, books, classes, etc to get you started. Most reasonable sized cities have some sort of wood carver's club who would be thrilled to show you the basics.
posted by leapfrog at 9:04 AM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
You won't ruin your apartment, though you will produce a lot of shavings.
It doesn't take long to learn the basics. Like any other hobby, it takes a long time to get really good at it. You can figure it out on your own, but you'll be a lot less frustrated if you start with a book or a class.
It's really easiest if you don't care about the results. Caring about the results leads to stress and perfectionism. Anytime anyone asks me what I'm making (I don't whittle much, but I do make larger things with wood) I tell them I'm making sawdust, and if something else results from it so much the better.
Whittling is a very time-consuming way of shaping wood, but it's also very meditative and peaceful.
Basswood is the traditional wood for starting out carving or whittling; it's soft enough to cut easily but not so soft your fingers would leave impressions. It's also relatively inexpensive. Pine is okay too, but it has a more obvious grain and tends to split more.
Always cut away from your hand. Always cut away from your hand. Always. Seriously. Consider wearing a leather glove on the non-knife hand for a while, until you learn how the knife goes through the wood. Always keep in mind where the knife will go if it slips, and make sure you aren't there. A good wood shop will sell you little leather thimbles, these are good when doing delicate work. There's a useful grip where you put the thumb on the knife hand against the wood and pull the blade towards it with your fingers-- if you do this, you'll soon need stitches unless you protect that thumb.
Usually, a smaller knife is better. Here's a useful starter set. Whatever knife you use, make sure the handle is big enough to sit in your palm comfortably. You don't need an official "whittling" knife, any knife will do as long as it can take a good edge and isn't longer than two or three inches. After a while working with a pocket knife, though, you'll probably get an idea why official "whittling" knives are shaped that way.
If you decide that it's fun and you want to keep doing it, you'll soon need to learn how to sharpen that knife, and get the right equipment to do it. A sharp tool requires less force, and less force means less chance of slipping and cutting something you don't want to cut. I'd recommend getting a combination waterstone (such as this one ) although you can also get good results with the new-fangled diamond hones, and I know people who swear by Arkansas oil stones. The big gray India stones you find at hardware stores are way too coarse for knives, better suited for lawnmower blades and axes. An added bonus is that you can use your fancy stone for sharpening your kitchen knives. The staff at the aforementioned local wood shop will probably be quite happy to show you how to sharpen your knife if you ask. If cost is a real issue, you can sharpen knives on the unglazed ring on the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug in a pinch, but you won't get nearly the same edge that way, and you mark up the bottom of the coffee mug.
You can get a good quality carving knife for under $20. Most woodshops have a scrap wood bin where you can get whittling-sized hunks of basswood for a pittance. A nice waterstone will run about $30, or you can get a wallet-sized diamond hone for about $15. That's really all you need, though obviously a book or a class (ask at that wood shop) would help you get started. Once you have a feel for whittling shapes, you'll probably want to start turning those shapes into useful/decorative things, and that means sanding, staining, painting, finishing, polishing etc-- but no need to get into all that right at the beginning. Remember that the activity is really about the activity itself, not about the end product.
Did I mention, find a good local wood shop? Seriously, the staff in there love making sawdust, and they love to talk to people who want to make sawdust. They'll point you to the right tools, books, classes, etc to get you started. Most reasonable sized cities have some sort of wood carver's club who would be thrilled to show you the basics.
posted by leapfrog at 9:04 AM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Regarding the wood itself: When I was in the Boy Scouts about a million years ago, our Scoutmaster was an extremely gifted whittler and wood carver. He favored basswood for it's close grain and lack of knots -- it's a nice pale wood that carves evenly and consistently, and the close grain makes it easier to carve fine details without worries about splitting.
When he retired we gave big beam of basswood to keep him busy, and he was very grateful.
posted by mosk at 9:06 AM on October 14, 2010
When he retired we gave big beam of basswood to keep him busy, and he was very grateful.
posted by mosk at 9:06 AM on October 14, 2010
Get yourself one of those kevlar gloves. Mine has spared me numerous slashes and gashes. And be willing to make some mistakes, they are after all the best teachers. I like to carve Holly.
posted by sgobbare at 10:06 AM on October 14, 2010
posted by sgobbare at 10:06 AM on October 14, 2010
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So, logic dictates that I tell you to take up quitting smoking!
Seriously, though, whittling is a really fun thing to do. I have never even done it to make things, per se, but I have done a lot of the old-man-sitting-on-the-porch variety, and it is one of the most relaxing things I can imagine. I started off doing it with a decent little folding lock-blade knife, and have stuck with that. I would start there, and you should be able to quickly identify what other tools would suit your fancy.
posted by broadway bill at 7:58 AM on October 14, 2010