Complete Guide to Bird Carving

Complete

CarvBiinrdgGuide to

15

Beautiful
Beginner-to-

Advanced
Projects

Editors of Woodcarving Illustrated

Table of Contents 112
28
Getting Started
Materials & Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Basic Bird Anatomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Hand Carving Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Power Carving Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Adding Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Woodburners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Painting & Finishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Projects

Beginner Projects
Regal Eagle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Comfort Bird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Oval Owl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Simple Songbird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Twig Rooster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Intermediate Designs
Smooth Nuthatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Tiny Woodpecker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Blue Heron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Loon Pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Wren-in-the-Round . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Advanced Carves
Stylized Goldfinch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Baby Chickadee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird . . . . . . . 96
Yellow-Rumped Warbler. . . . . . . . . . . 102
Shoveler Hen Walking Stick . . . . . . . 112

Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
About the Authors . . . . . . . . 126
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

96
102

90
36 84

Getting Started

Materials & Tools Paper towels: For wiping off excess glue or finish. Be
sure to properly dispose of oil-soaked towels and rags,
Each project in this book includes a full list of as they can spontaneously combust (See Minimize
materials and tools you will need. Among the specific Fire Hazards on page 9).
materials and tools needed for each project, common Paintbrushes: For applying acrylic paints, stains,
items include a saw for preparing blanks, assorted grits dyes, and/or finishes.
of sandpaper, cyanoacrylate (CA) glue, clamps, and a Rotary tool: For shaping and adding texture.
drill press and bits. Toothpicks: To add fine details, such as eyes and
decorative dots.
Other Useful Items Woodburner: For adding details and creating lifelike
feathers before paint is applied.
Acrylic paints, stains, and dyes: For adding color.
Chisels, gouges, and V-tools: To add texture after the Sanding Through the Grits
initial roughing out is complete.
Epoxy putty: For creating lifelike eyes. The grit number on a length of sandpaper refers to
Carving knife: For roughing out and/or detailing the average number of particles per square inch.The
a handcarved project. Alternately, you could use a lower numbers, such as 60 and 80, are the coarser
traditional bench knife to rough out a project and add grits, which remove the most wood and are used for
texture and detail with a rotary tool. rough shaping.The higher numbers—220 and above—
refer to finer grits that remove less wood and are
used for smoothing.“Sanding through the grits” simply
means using progressively finer sandpapers to smooth
the scratches left by coarser grits. Rub sandpaper
on a project until the wood is smooth and shaped

the way you want, and then move on to a finer
grit of paper and repeat, sanding with the grain
when possible.

7

Hand Carving Basics

For the handcarved projects in this book, a few basic cuts are often used: the

stop cut, the push cut, the paring cut, and the V-shaped cut. Master these four

basic types of cuts and you’ll be ready to tackle a multitude of projects.

Stop Cut Paring Cut
As the name The paring cut gives
suggests, the stop you a great deal of
cut is used to create control but requires
a hard line at the you to cut toward
end of another cut. your thumb. Wear
Your hand position a thumb protector
depends on the or be aware of the
placement of the knife position at
cut you need to all times, especially
make. Regardless of if it slips beyond the anticipated stopping point. To
your hand position, simply cut straight into the wood perform the paring cut, which is also called a draw
to create a stop cut. Make a stop cut first to prevent a cut, hold the wood in one hand. Hold the knife in the
consecutive cut from extending beyond the intended other hand with four fingers. The cutting edge points
area. Make a stop cut second to free a chip of wood toward your thumb. Rest the thumb of your knife-
remaining from a primary cut. holding hand on the wood behind the area you want
to carve. Extend the thumb as much as possible. Close
Push Cut your hand, pulling the knife toward your thumb, to
For the push cut, slice through the wood. This is the same action used to
hold the wood in peel (or pare) potatoes.
one hand. Hold
the knife in your V-Shaped Cut
other hand with To make a
the thumb on the V-shaped cut, hold
back of the blade. a knife the same
Push the knife way you do when
through the wood, making a paring
away from your cut. Anchor the
body. This type of cut is also called the straightaway thumb of the knife
cut. For additional control or power, place the thumb hand against the
of the wood-holding hand on top of the thumb on the wood and cut in at
blade, and use the wood-holding thumb as a pivot as an angle with the
you rotate the wrist of your knife-holding hand. This tip of the knife. Rotate the wood, anchor your thumb
maneuver is often called the thumb-pushing cut or on the other side of the cut, and cut in at an angle,
lever cut. running beside the first cut. Angle the two cuts so the
bottom or deepest part of each cut meets in the center.
This creates a V-shaped groove. Use the center of the
cutting edge to make intersecting angled cuts on the
corner of a blank, creating V-shaped notches.

10 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

Practice Technique

Now that you’ve learned about power carving bits, it is important to know how to use them. This section
serves as a brief introduction to power carving techniques you might encounter over the course of a project.
We’ve included general information, practical advice, tips, and illustrations to allow you to dive right in or
improve your skills.

1 Lightly rough out and shape. 2 Continue light roughing. Use a 3 Smooth and shape. Use a micro
Use a micro motor, medium- micro motor, medium-grit cylinder- motor, tapered stump cutter. Hold
grit cylinder-shaped carbide cutter. shaped carbide cutter. Notice that the the tool as you would a pencil. Holding
Hold the tool with an overhand grip. thumb is out of the direct path of the the tool like this gives you greater
Smaller, coarse cutters are available for tool. Use carefully controlled, smooth control over the smaller, more precise
smaller areas. strokes, and don't be tempted to remove movements used in this stage. The little
too much wood at once. Always move fingers acts a pivot and support point.
the tool, not the wood.

Other Bits for Roughing Out

Ball-nosed cylinder-shaped carbide cutter. This bit Ball-shaped carbide cutter. Cutters are often color-coded
provides the necessary torque and power to complete the to indicate different degrees of coarseness. When using this
first step in power carvings—roughing in. Use an overhand bit, use the same overhand grip, with your thumb acting as
grip, curling your fingers over the top of the tool’s handle. a guide.
The thumb acts as a brace against the wood, and cuts are
made toward the thumb.

12 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

Adding Texture Tip

A bird’s body is a landscape of textures that are Practice
overlooked when seen from afar but easily identified
up close. Individual feathers and even lumps and Take the time to observe real
bumps are present, and bird carvers spend a lot of feathers, and then practice drawing
time power carving and woodburning to bring their different feather shapes, individual
project close to that kind of realism. But even the feathers, and groups of feathers until
professionals may forget about some important details, you are satisfied that what you have
including rippled, split, and overlaid feathers. Used drawn represents the feathers you
judiciously, these features will contribute not only to want to carve and texture.
the overall look but also add interest to your carving.

Making Ripples

Rippled feathers occur on the trailing edge of major
flight feathers such as the primaries, secondaries, and
sometimes the tertials and tail (shown on page 8).
Here's how to achieve this look.

1 Sand away any remaining tool marks. Sand progressively 2 Sketch in some barbs as guidelines. In the case of this
through the grits to 150. The goal is to sand away the tool kestrel, as shown, the ripples follow the barb lines.
marks, not to achieve a flawless surface. When finished, outline
the feathers with a pencil so that they will show up better. 3 Sketch in the ripples. Good reference material is important
here because ripples vary in size and shape, depending
on the species and the feather. Many ripples are V-shaped, with
the widest part of the V at the feather’s edge, or parallel. Others
are perpendicular to the vane, such as the secondary feathers
of a Canada goose. Most ripples will not extend to the quill
but instead gradually flatten out to the normal curvature of
the feather.

Getting Started 15

Beginner
Projects

Beginner Projects

Regal Eagle

This majestic design is based on classic chainsaw
carvings. While simple, it’s a perfect intro to the world of
bird carving—you can practice the basic shape of a bird,
along with essential skills such as forming an eye and
shaping a beak. Once you’ve sawed the rough profile, all
you need to complete it is a knife, and there’s no painting
required; you can apply a natural finish or keep it even
simpler by leaving the bird unfinished. Done and done!

Materials & Tools Tools
• Saw: band or coping
Materials • Carving knife
• Basswood, 21/2" (6.4cm):
The author used these products for the
23/4" x 12" (7cm x 30.5cm) project. Substitute your choice of brands,
• Pencil tools, and materials as desired.
• Sandpaper: assorted grits to 240
• Finish, such as natural Danish oil

Tip

For triangular chip-
carving-style cuts, keep
your blade angled to
around 65º.

24 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

By Greg Young
Pattern on page 120

Getting Started
For this project, I selected a piece of basswood from a downed basswood tree being cut and split for campfire
wood. Basswood, clear pine, or any soft wood with tight, straight grain would work. Before carving, flatten the
bottom of the wood so you have a stable base.

123

Establish the head, neck, and Rough out the beak. Using a knife, Round the eagle’s body. I’ve found it’s
shoulders. Mark the blank. Use a coping make stop cuts under the bottom of the much easier to draw the body lines on the
saw, or band saw to cut the excess wood beak and remove wood from the neck eagle after rounding the back and front
away. Then draw the neck, head, beak, and shoulder area up to those stop cuts. of the body up to the neck area. Note:
and shoulder area. Repeat this process several times to
define the beak area. If you'd prefer a guide, draw on the body

45 lines, round the body, and then redraw the
lines. Round the blank 5" (12.7cm) below
the shoulder area. Then draw a centerline
on the front and back of the eagle,
continuing the line over the top of the
head and beak area.

Draw guidelines for the eagle’s Carve the wings. Make stop cuts on the back of each leg, under the bottom of each
features. Use the pattern to draw the wing, and around the tail. Carve away wood under and up to each stop cut. Then
wings and tail. Note how the primary make stop cuts on the wing lines around the shoulders and breast of the eagle. Carve
feathers are crossed at the bottom of up to those stop cuts from the breast area, and carve down from the neck area to
each wing. Then draw the legs and establish the shoulders and wings. Don’t carve too deeply next to the wings because
talons. Finally, draw the outer edges of it creates a trough. Taper and blend all of the cuts up to the stop cuts.
the eagle’s head and beak.

26 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

By Frank Foust
Pattern on page 121

12

Cut away the excess wood. Create templates by transferring Rough out the bird. Remove the sharp edges and rough
the patterns to thin cardboard and cutting around the outline shape the bird with a sanding drum equipped with 60-grit
of the patterns. Trace the templates onto the blank and cut the sandpaper. I use a 11/2" (38mm)-diameter drum attached to a
top view of the bird with a band saw. Tape the waste in place, radial arm saw, but you can use a rotary-power carver. Shape
rotate the blank 90°, and cut the side view. the neck with a 1" (25mm)-diameter cushioned sanding drum.

3

Finish shaping the bird. Use a carving knife to shape the beak. Use a rotary-power carver and your bit of choice to add any
desired details and to remove any remaining ridges. Make sure the bird is smooth and flowing with no hard lines or sharp angles.

30 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

By Steven Kulp
Pattern on page 121

By Frank Egholm
Pattern on page 121

Intermediate
Designs

11 12

Draw the eye and feather lines. Draw lines parallel with Add the eyes. Drill a 1/8" (3mm)-diameter hole on each side
the base of the beak about 1/8" (3mm) apart across the head. with a drill and bit or the point of the knife. Glue black beads
Measure in 3/16" (5mm) from the base of the beak on each side into the holes.
and mark the locations of the eyes. Use the pattern as a guide
to draw the feather lines on the sides, back, and tail. These lines
are just for reference; you can adjust them as you carve.

13 14

Carve the feathers. Make a shallow stop cut with the Finish the bottom of the bird. Remove any remaining
knife slightly angled in under the feathers. Carve up to the excess wood from the belly area. Then sand away the tool
stop cut to free the chip and slightly undercut the feather marks with 80-grit sandpaper. Remove the scratches from the
groups on the sides and tail. Sand away the tool marks with 80-grit sandpaper with 220 and then 320-grit sandpaper.
80-grit sandpaper.

Finishing
I sealed this nuthatch with two coats of interior satin varnish. You could also paint the
carving with acrylic paints or leave it unfinished. If you decide to paint the bird, seal the
wood with varnish, and then sand the finish lightly. Keep reference photos handy while
painting. I drill a hole in the bottom for a 1/8" (3mm)-diameter dowel and then drill a
matching hole in a piece of found wood to create a natural base for the nuthatch.

Smooth Nuthatch 55

By Chris Pye
Pattern on page 122

Advanced Carves



By Randy Conner
Pattern on page 124

By Paul Purnell
Pattern on page 125

23

Redraw the centerline and the side and top views. Using Sand the head. Use a cushioned-drum sander with 120-grit
a coarse-grit, bull-nose cylinder-shaped carbide-point bit, sandpaper. Redraw the centerline and both outlines. On the
shape the head to somewhere near its finished size, allowing top of the head, draw the notch and crown lines. The crown on
plenty of room for sanding. Don’t round over the bill. most ducks is about 50-60 percent of the widest measurement
of the head. The width of the notch across the bill is about
½" (1.3cm). Locate the approximate position of the eye by
piercing through the side template with a scalpel. Draw on
a line to represent the position of the eye channel. Use the
medium-grit, cylinder-shaped, carbide-point bit to take the
material from above the eye channel reference line up to the
crown line.

45

Round the top of the crown and the top of the ledge Shape the bill. Draw the centerline, the notch, and the flat
at the eye channel. Use the same bit. The latter will form area that extends from the notch down to just past the nares.
the top of the cheek. Draw reference lines on any feature With the coarse cylinder-shaped bit, remove material on either
you are working on at every ¼" (6mm) from each side of the side of the centerline; then remove material from the flat
centre line; this will help with symmetry. Drawing a pencil area, down to the lower margin of the upper mandible. Leave
line through each eye channel and viewing from the front will plenty of material where the nares will be carved later. Rough
also help achieve symmetry and accuracy for the width of the out the position of the nail. Sand with 120-grit paper on the
head and bill. Use the cushioned-drum sander with 120-grit cushioned-drum sander.
sandpaper to give the head, but not the bill, a rough sand.
Shoveler Hen Walking Stick 115

Patterns Regal Eagle (page 24)
Photocopy at 125%

120 Complete Guide to Bird Carving

Carve a World of Birds!

A must-have source of inspiration for carvers of every skill level,
Complete Guide to Bird Carving is a compilation of 15 all-time
favorite projects from the archives of Woodcarving Illustrated
magazine. Organized into three sections based on the level of
difficulty, the projects featured within these pages use a variety
of carving techniques and range from a textured chickadee and
simple songbird to a wren-in-the-round, stylized goldfinch, and
so much more. The book features clear, step-by-step instructions,
coordinating photography, and easy-to-use patterns—also
included are insightful opening sections on safety, tools,
materials, basic cuts, an introduction to power carving, adding
realistic textures, painting, and finishing. Perfect to tailor to your
specific comfort level or try something new, this exciting project
guide is one you’ll keep coming back to for years to come!

• An all-in-one resource for beginner to intermediate carvers
looking to refine their bird carving techniques

• Features 15 step-by-step projects for carving popular birds,
including a woodpecker, hummingbird, chickadee, owl, blue
heron, goldfinch, and more

• Projects cover a range of carving techniques, from whittling
to relief and realistic power carving

• Includes insightful front matter providing overviews on
tools, materials, adding texture, painting, and finishing

• Original projects and patterns contributed by several leading
master carvers, such as Chris Lubkemann, Chris Pye, Paul
Purnell, Greg Young, Randy Conner, and others

“Wildlife carvers of all skill levels will flock to this
immersive guide! Highly recommended.”

—Kaylee Schofield, Editor of Woodcarving
Illustrated magazine

$19.99 US | $24.99 CAN

EAN ISBN: 978-1-4971-0277-4 51999

9 781497 102774