Big chunk of holly

Got bored last summer and out popped this guy

Made from ebony, walnut , mahogany,salted maple

has anyone ever carved rubberwood?

i have a huge table of it but dont want to start something to later realise it was a bad idea 😅

I’m hesitant on starting on the new hobby. I’ve been wondering if there are any YouTubers that are good to watch to really get into it.

Any recommendations on tools and type of woods are always welcome, thank you 🙏

I’ve been carving heddles (a weaving tool similarly shaped to a comb (small strips of wood with holes drilled in them connected at the top and bottom), I’ve made several successfully in 1/8” basswood, but they’ve started to snap in use. I’m wondering what other wood others would recommend that would be stronger, without having to increase the size too much?

Usually the comb teeth are ~3-4mm with 2-3mm gaps in between, out of 1/8” basswoood, each comb tooth has a 1.5mm hole drilled out the middle to string the warp through. The thread doesn’t put tension directly on the heddle, but in use I’m frequently handling the heddle, and all the weaving thread runs through the heddle and can start to make the heddle flex as it pushes laterally on the heddle

My youngest sibling graduated highschool this year and since they're a fan of Harry Potter, I made them as good of a wand I could

Unlike my last post however, I made use of exacto knives for detailing and my trusty Winchester knife for general shaping. And used Ebony stain to get the shadows/highlight the darker parts of the grain and used Cherry Stain to finish the staining. Although I have no clue what I should use to coat it. Contemplating the clear coat I see in Walmart for simplicity

I've a question for those who have carved working decoys, 2 piece hollowed. What's your chosen method for sealing, both before and after painting, when you're painting with oil pigments?

I just got my first woodcarving kit Sunday. It's the Beavercraft Love Spoon carving kit.

Tools seem high quality and sharp. I have stropped the knife consistently to keep its keen edge. My thumb can tell you the blade is sharp.

And I don't get it. I spent about 5 hours carving Sunday and made very little progress. I watched the tutorial. I'm a fairly large guy and have pretty strong hands, but I was just unable to make much progress. My chips/shavings were really small. I'm not getting progress anything NEAR the tutorial video.

The wood looks like basswood to me. The tools seem good/fine. I'm pushing/pressing really hard and just not able to cut quickly.

Am I missing something? Is my wood just way too dried out or something? I'm really excited to make some spoons (basic, I know), but I am pretty discouraged after my first attempt. My thumbs were REALLY sore on Monday and still a little sore on Tuesday. For making like 10-15% progress toward that spoon, the effort seems way out of proportion to the outcome.

Help?

Hi all,

First of all, thank you to all, as I've been lurking this subreddit, which has helped me quite a lot to improve my carvings quality for the last 4 years or so. So I thought I could start contributing too, and thought it could be nice to start uploading my story first and then my carvings chronologically, hopefully to encourage some early beginners. I'm not great but hey, some people really like what I make. My story, let's get emotional:

I started wood working when I moved to a new house abroad and didn't have a bed. Bought some lumber and made the cheapest bed ever with some screws. Awesome cheap times, really enjoyed it. Grandpa, who had died way before I was born at all, used to carve. So probably unconsciously thought I could feel myself closer to home by carving. Then bought the most solid thrift chisel I could get and a chopping board. Made my first carving. Really proud of it.

I enjoyed very much car boot sales, so used buy serving plates and such there to carve. They were rock-solid wood and those carvings were awful. Not disgusting but baaad.

Then started reading, bought adequate chisels and wood and started making proper stuff I could even gift people around. Kept improving. Then I met a guy over discord who did whittling (not so common here) and he was so great I got convinced I could do 10% of his stuff and it'd still be great. First one was a standard wizard/gnome/guy thing. Standard.

Now, back home, [redacted] gave me a chip carving knife for Chirstmas this year and I love it.

I keep doing relief, whittling and chip carving, many time combined, and it's great. I'll post the first carving later on today.

Sorry for the longest post ever, tldr, thank you and see you around.

Can anybody give me some ides to what to carve

Absolute novice new to woodcarving, having started in February this year. Really learnt a lot from this subreddit, Linker, Ddalo and Beavercraft youtube videos. Just wanted to share some projects I've done here. Everyone's post here has helped me get into this amazing hobby, and for that i'm so grateful.

https://preview.redd.it/ds5vzfo3jkwc1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de43a01b718bd8f11f4b101cb04e17997dbd9c62

https://preview.redd.it/c8u3fq54jkwc1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=641f2b49aa3ec5b8713079ede6ddf842d01f9389

https://preview.redd.it/0q2vixh4jkwc1.jpg?width=598&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cb0ea43399666ec9264d2973a7c35aefe61e421

https://preview.redd.it/wn5gf7z4jkwc1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=caa2a8c09dc006dc4e32841b2c5fe2683763a34e

https://preview.redd.it/rbf6u2d5jkwc1.jpg?width=591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b09d21b7b1c562dbc886338b5809e2e3550194ae

I had a Dremel on hand for some DIY purposes, and stumbled on a youtube wood carving video.

Then I got a bit carried away...

Figured groomsmen like to fish, carved fish would be cool. A couple $100 on misc. tools and bits, and a few practice pieces later. These are the result. Hope they're alright

Debated on whether to paint him. But I kept constantly coming back and whistling on him so I decided that I didn't paint him soon there wouldn't be any of him left, lol. Haven't decided if I want to put any more color on him. This is just a wash of things gray.