Carving can appear somewhat confusing when you only begin. There are a lot of different Wooden blanks materials to choose from, even more tools to decide on and a million patterns and projects to take up. Not easy to decide where to start at all!
The issue of choosing the correct and best carving tools is quite relevant with the way the market develops. Especially in the times of lockdown, everybody started crafting things at home and wood carving got more popular than it was before. So with the demand rising the supply rises as well. And now we have a fair amount of different manufacturers and creative tools to choose from.
The answer to the question “What tools do I need as a beginner?” can vary depending on your needs and wishes in the carving hobby. However, there are some things that you simply won’t do without — like wood and a carving knife. Not a very surprising answer, is it?
There is an easier and, quite frankly, a better option for you to start with — get a wood carving kit for beginners. With that thing you will be able to figure out what you like in carving the most and you will get some starting skills to improve with more advanced tools. In the beginning of your path those beginner sets are a safety ring for you to not drown in the great variety of the things you don’t know about.
In this article I’ll try to tell you about separate tools and how to use them as well as some of the best beginner kits I can suggest you to grab.
Best tools for beginner wood carving
Okay, so now that we’ve established how subjective the answer to this question will be, I’m going to tell you a little more about what tools are out there and how you can use them for your advantage.
A knife for general carving
Wouldn’t want to be Captain Obvious over here, but you do need a knife for carving in order to carve. Some people prefer bench knives, some people carve with their pocket knives, but I’d suggest you get a proper knife for carving — that way you’ll enjoy the process much more and get more possibilities of what to do with the said knife.
A hook knife
This is the tool that’s great for using when you carve spoons and bowls. And since that is almost always a number one topic to carve for beginners (it’s easy to do but there are still tricks that you can learn as you improve) I’d say this is a quite important tool in your beginner’s arsenal. Hook knives allow you to scoop wood without much effort and in the exact shape you need for your spoon, kuksa or bowl carving. They won’t chunk away a lot of wood at the same time so you’ll have to be patient while working with something like that, but it’s definitely a handy tool for beginners.
Chisels and gouges
Well, there you go, I’m introducing you to the world of wonders. Indeed, the variety of gouges and chisels there is on the market adds to the world of wonders you can create in your workshop. They are the tools to go when you want to learn how to add details, fine lines or deep patterns to your carving without sweating above your general carving knife. Chisels and gouges come in so many different shapes and sweeps (depth of the tool) that they will easily allow you to get the work done and make your carvings much more alive and thorough.
Wood carving tool brands
After this short excurse into the diversity of beginner tools I’d like to talk more on the topic of wood carving tool brands. As a beginner you never want to spend too much — you never know if the new hobby you’re taking up is indeed what you need. Grabbing a set of wooden materials, maybe some blocks, and a simple knife for carving might be enough to get acquainted with whittling techniques and there is nowhere to rush.
When looking for something worth investment, make sure you pay attention to the reviews and prices — how suitable you find them for yourself. One of the best inexpensive brands, especially great for beginners, is BeaverCraft. As I already told you, my personal suggestion would be to get a wood carving kit for beginners and not make your life harder by having to figure out a lot of things unnecessary for the beginning. And this seller, BeaverCraft, has a couple of kits like that. Those include a pattern and a video tutorial on what you are about to carve, beginner’s tools, wooden blocks and even a compound to polish your knives with.
Their tools are comfortable to work with, especially considering the fact that in those video tutorials you’ll be able to see how to use them and what to do to start away with your carving journey. They’ve also got separate tools, not kits, if you are set on building your arsenal yourself.
It will be difficult to find something else of that quality in the same price range, but if you want you can always get something more expensive if you feel like the price is a proof of the quality. Your experience is your own and I can only advise on what I think is a smart thing to do.
In general, I hope you’ll find your way with this awesome hobby and join the friendly and warm carvers’ community. Welcome and enjoy!