Central Texas Woodcarvers Association

Woodcarving Tips

Step by step, how to carve a Whittle Pup, a great project for beginners, by Jim Mischel.

Jim Mischel's carving blog, with many helpful woodcarving tips.

How to make sanding mandrels for your rotary tool.

The club owns a souped up version of the Burke Power Sharpening System, available at our meetings, together with expert advice how to use it. This system will help you keep your tools in top shape. A video for power honing is at this link.

Make your own electric power honing device for under a hundred bucks with these instructions.

Safety, why we wear carving gloves.

Here's a great endorsement from a user of our site--My son, Jack, ended up doing some of his own research and came across this article ( http://www.sofasandsectionals.com/wood-carving-guide ). When he showed it to me I found it to be very useful and convenient because there's a ton of information all in one place. We learned a lot! My favorite part is the "getting started" section. I know he has a long way to go before carving things like this but he's enjoying learning about it!

A good carving book for beginners is Woodcarving: 20 Great Projects for Beginners and Weekend Carvers, by John Hillyer, published by Lark Books (2002).

A good pyrography book for beginners is Pyrography Workbook: a Complete Guide to the Art of Woodburning, by Sue Walters, published by Fox Chapel Publishing (2005).