Whittling Workbook

Whittling

WORKBOOK

14 Simple Projects to Carve

James Ray Miller

Table of Contents

Beginner’s Toolkit
What Is Whittling?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Types of Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
General Overview of the Carving Process. . . . 10
Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Roughing Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Basic Cuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Painting Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Finishing Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Carving Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Projects
Camping Fork & Spreader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Fresh-Picked Strawberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Egg-in-Cage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Gentle Hedgehog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Friendly Dinosaur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Wizard’s Apprentice Wand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sleepy Owl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Stylized Sunflower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Sausage Pig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Curious Martian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Cozy Grandpa & Grandma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Sven the Sailor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Peppy Princess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Enchanted Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
About the Author. . . . . . . 111
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

26 32

20
50
56 38

44
62

68 80 86

98 92

74

Beginner’s
Toolkit

Every carver, whether experienced or just starting out, has their
own tools, techniques, and preferences. In this section, I give you a
sweeping overview of every facet of the carving process, from tools
to order of operations. I detail some of my preferences while leaving
the possibilities open to what is available to you. There is no perfect
set of tools to suit everyone, and the best tool is often the one
you are most comfortable with. Nevertheless, carvers often pick
up helpful tips and new ideas from other carvers regardless of
experience level. So, even if you have been carving for years, you
may pick up something new here!

Basic Cuts

Here are some common carving terms that I will use throughout this book.

Stop Cut

A cut made directly into the wood
rather than along the surface,
used to create a stopping point for
subsequent cuts so the grain does
not split. This can be the first step
in a V-shaped cut (see below).

V-Shaped Cut

A two-part cut requiring the
carver to cut in from one direction,
back the knife out, and then cut
in an opposing angle to remove a
V-shaped section of wood.

Slicing Cut

A standard knife cut in which the
blade is pushed or pulled along the
surface of the wood, as with peeling
a carrot. It can be made away from
or toward the carver, depending on
the situation.

Sweeping Cut

This is like a slicing cut, but with a
twist of the wrist to create a curved,
concave surface.

14 Whittling Workbook

Camping Fork
& Spreader

Carving utensils is an age-old tradition that has taken place all around the world.
While we can of course just eat everything with our hands, modern medicine tells us
that there are benefits to putting something in between our food and our hands, and
a utensil, such as this fork, is a great example of one such convenient middleman. Plus,
eating with a utensil you made yourself is a great feeling.

The fork offers some key learning opportunities for the absolute beginner while still
providing a satisfying and useful project. The spreader that accompanies it is easier yet,
as it does not even include stop cuts like those between the fork prongs, but it can still
be artfully executed through intentional slicing and attention to its lines and curves.

Materials & Tools Getting Started

• Pattern (page 108) Saw or acquire a 11/2" x 1/2" x 61/4" (3.8 x 1.3 x
• Basswood: measurements at right 15.9cm) block of basswood with the grain
• Whittling knife running along the length of the block. Trace
• Glove the pattern onto one face of the block and,
• Strop and stropping compound bracing your finger on a side adjacent to the
• Food-safe finish (optional) front or back, draw a centerline all the way
around. If a simpler design is desired, you can
reduce the number of prongs from three to
two. Two-pronged forks work well too!

N ote: If you want to use one of these projects for eating, either leave the wood
unfinished or use a food-safe finish. The finish used for all other projects in this book, Howard
Feed-N-Wax, is not food-safe, but other finishes by the same brand are, including Cutting Board Oil or
Butcher Block Conditioner.

20 Whittling Workbook



Step-by-Step (Fork)

1 Curve the prongs. Slice away wood from one side of the 2 Separate the prongs. Cut in between the prongs
fork’s prongs by pushing your knife through the thickest starting with a series of stop cuts with the tip of your knife
point of the head of the fork all the way through the endgrain. facing toward the handle. Deepen the resulting V-shaped cuts
As you slice, begin to round the curve inward. Repeat on the at the ends of the prongs.
other side.

3 Round the inner prongs. Now use the tip of your knife 4 Thin the head. Now that the prongs are in place, thin
to further shape and separate the inward-facing sides the head to about 1/8" (0.3cm) at the ends of the prongs,
of the prongs. Remove thin slices to avoid cutting through leaving the beginning of the head of the fork almost at
a prong. full thickness.

22 Whittling Workbook

1 1 Blunt the prongs. To avoid having sharp and narrow tips break off, blunt the tips of the prongs with very fine slices. The
prongs should still come to points, but the points should result from fine bevels at a wide angle.
Camping Fork & Spreader 25

Fresh-Picked
Strawberry

Once you get bitten by what is known as the “carving bug,” you may find yourself
carving in strange places. As a child, I spent some summers working at a local
strawberry patch with my siblings. By the time I became a woodcarver, I wanted
to spend my summers carving, so I would pick strawberries quickly and then
make my way over to my mother’s van to carve while the others continued to
pick. This strawberry is reminiscent of a strawberry necklace I carved for the
owner of that strawberry patch.

Materials & Tools Getting Started

• Pattern (page 106) Saw or acquire a 11/4" x 11/4" x 2" (3.2 x
• Basswood: measurements at right 3.2 x 5cm) block of basswood with the grain
• Whittling knife running vertically along the height of the
• Glove block. Trace the pattern onto the front and
• Strop and stropping compound back and, bracing your finger on a side
• 1/2" (1.3cm) skew brush adjacent to the front or back, draw a centerline
• Toothpick all the way around. Strawberries do not have to
• Acrylic paints be symmetrical, but drawing the centerline can
help you be more aware of deviations whether
Apple Barrel: black, burnt umber, barn red, you chose to make them or not.
bright red
Delta Ceramcoat: crocus yellow, jubilee green
• Desired finishing product(s)

26 Whittling Workbook



7 Separate the leaves. To separate the leaves, make three- 8 Finish shaping. Thin the leaves as desired, but feel
part stop cuts. First, stick the tip of your knife into the leaf free to leave them thick. Either way, make sure that
cluster so that the very tip is at the vertex of a sketched V-line. they have enough strength if they are sticking straight out
Then, slice it down onto one of the lines that makes up the to the sides without support underneath. This will depend
V. Back out the knife and repeat with the other line. Finally, on the hardness of your block of wood, but I’d generally
relieve the wood in between by slicing underneath the V-line recommend having the leaves be at least 1/8" (0.3cm) if they are
between the strawberry and leaves. unsupported underneath.

9 Apply the base coat. Mix a thin wash of black and burnt umber paint in a small container. Apply it to the entire strawberry.

30 Whittling Workbook

1 0 Paint the main colors. First, paint the leaves green. 1 1 Paint in the seeds. Use a toothpick to paint small and
As you approach the body of the berry, lightly fan the short yellow dots all over the strawberry. To make them
paint on, right up to the separation between leaf and berry. If look even more like strawberry seeds, elongate them and apply
you get green where red is supposed to go, simply blend it in them facing vertically with the height of the strawberry. As you
more with the remaining paint on the brush, add some water, near the bottom, group the seeds closer and closer together.
or rub it off with a fingernail or toothpick. Next, apply the
red paint.

Fresh-Picked Strawberry 31

Egg-in-Cage

Since the days of the lumberjacks, and perhaps long before, whittlers have been
known to have a few tricks up their sleeves. Call them wooden wizardry, whimsies,
or even time wasters; classic whittling projects like the wooden chain and ball-in-
cage have boggled minds for ages. Yet, there comes a point when we need something
more. People have whittled chains and ball-in-cages of all shapes and sizes, twisted
them up, and even combined them, but has anyone ever wondered what would
happen if a helpless bird egg was trapped in a cage too small for a conventional entry?
I sure hope not. But just in case, let us create an egg-in-cage together.

Once you are comfortable with whittling and familiar with the ball-in-cage
concept, creating such a whimsy becomes a cathartic process. The design of this
egg-in-cage is such that it is small, yet the cage is just thick enough everywhere
to be sturdy and hold up through the carving process, as long as there is no
strong squeezing going on. After a while, you may begin to forget just what it is
you are whittling, but when the egg finally drops, you will not regret it!

Materials & Tools Getting Started

• Pattern (page 108) Saw or acquire a 11/4" x 11/4" x 33/4" (3.2 x 3.2 x
• Basswood: measurements at right 9.5cm) block of basswood with the grain
• Whittling knife running vertically along the height of the
• Glove block. Cut out the pattern and cut out the
• Strop and stropping compound negative space inside of the pattern as well.
• 1/2" (1.3cm) skew brush Trace the pattern onto each face and, bracing
• Toothpick your finger on the side of the block, draw a
• Acrylic paints centerline all the way around each face as well.

Apple Barrel: black, burnt umber, bright blue,
antique white
Delta Ceramcoat: blue Danube
• Desired finishing product(s)

32 Whittling Workbook













Patterns

All patterns except for the Wand are presented at actual size.

Gentle Hedgehog
page 38

Fresh-Picked Strawberry
page 26

Cozy Grandpa & Grandma Stylized Sunflower
page 80 page 62

106 Whittling Workbook

The Ultimate Beginner-Friendly
Guide to Whittling

A complete guide aimed specifically at beginners or anyone looking to
create simple and relaxing carving projects, Whittling Workbook is the
perfect source of inspiration! All you need are blocks of wood and one
knife to achieve any of the 14 woodcarving projects featured within these
pages—no band saw needed! From a Martian and a princess to a dinosaur,
sailor, sunflower, and so much more, each approachable project includes
step-by-step instructions and photography, a pattern, reference photos,
and helpful tips to walk you through the process from start to finish.
Also included are valuable opening sections that cover a wide range of
fundamental topics and techniques, including safety, tools, types of wood,
basic cuts, painting, finishing, and more. A must-have guide for anyone
who is picking up a knife for the first time, or for those who want to try
something soothing and simple, Whittling Workbook is an accessible resource
that offers traditional projects with a modern flair!

Learn everything you need to know about the
rewarding woodcraft of whittling
Details essential carving basics to equip you with the
skills you need before you begin a project
Includes 14 exciting projects with step-by-step
instructions and patterns

“ This is a must-have for any carving library, whether you’re an absolute beginner or

have been carving for decades. The information and how-to sections inside are well-
thought-out and show that James remembers what it was like to be a new carver. Add

to that plenty of projects and a lighthearted approach, and you’re in for a ton of fun.”

—Kaylee Schofield, Editor, Woodcarving Illustrated magazine

$17.99 US | $22.99 CAN

EAN ISBN: 978-1-4971-0270-5 51799

9 781497 102705