✅ WHERE AND WHAT IS A CUTTING EDGE? This is the first question coming up when you get to wood carving for beginners. Firstly, you should definitely know where is the cutting edge, there are so many wood carvers that don’t pay attention to the cutting edges and then hurt themselves.
✅ PROTECT YOUR EYES. It’s extremely important to wear eye protection. You will be surprised how far the small wood chip can fly when it pops up of the carving.
✅ PROTECT YOURSELF FROM DUST. A lot of types of wood can cause some toxic issues, that’s why we talk about dust protection as well. A simple dust mask can help you a lot!
✅ NO NEED TO HURRY UP! WOOD CARVING FOR BEGINNERS TAKES SOME TIME. Take your time, it’s not some kind of race. Better carve slowly and enjoy the process as well as control the knife!
✅ DEFINE WHAT YOU NEED! The right knife used for the job makes a huge difference. So you need to know what knife works for what (sloyd wood carving knife, chip carving knife for details, detail knife for very small details, spoon knife for the bowl, kuksa, spoon carving, etc). Take some time to choose the right wood!
✅ FIND THE LIGHT! Make sure to have your workplace well lighted. This way it’s easy to work with small details.
✅ MAKE PEACE. If you just had some kind of squabble, we’d recommend not to start carving for some time. Better give it some time and find a peaceful place, talk to somebody.
✅ TAKE SOME REST. It’s better not to carve right after you finished your work, take some rest preferably at fresh air and only then start carving.
✅ ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES! And the most important rule always wears gloves on at least your non-dominant hand, if not both! Or at least a thumb guard will work well.
