Introduction
Wood Carving Tools Set come in different sundry of sizes, shapes, sharpness and handled. The type of wood carving gouges to buy depends on various factors such as
- Type of Wood
- Design
- Letters
- Sculptures
As a matter of fact, there is no complete set of carving tools; buying a set of gouges depend on the project you want to embark on. A set of gouges for project A might not be enough to complete project B. The manufacturers and professional sculptures would recommend to you buying sets of tools to manage different projects with variants wood and design.
We will try as much to break down these write-ups under different projects variation and recommend the type of tools that’s most ideal for each.
What Are The Best Woods For Carving?
Woods have varying textures, thickness, hardness, toughness, and stiffness. Carving woods into specific shapes and designs depends mostly on the physical characteristics of these woods. Wood carving varies depending on the woods to be used; these can vary from whittling, round and chip carving, furniture, sculptures, musical wood instruments, etc. And some of the best woods for carving are outlined below:
White Pine
White pine has a soft texture. It is mainly ideal for whittling because of its softness. It is also a good wood for carving because it is easy to carve, though soft but maintains its cleanliness during carving. Mostly used for fashion shapes. Ideal for round carving.
Basswood
This is the best wood a beginner can used to start wood carving. It is soft and easy to carve with minimum effort. Sophisticated wood carving tools are not required to carve. It is also good for whittling with a knife.
Mahogany
Mahogany is an ideal wood for any sort of wood carving. It is a wood that’s not too soft and not too hard. This great texture makes it a perfect wood to work with for any carving project. It delivers excellent result and can stand as a fundamental wood for other wood projects.
Oak Wood
The European oak is a tough wood with
European Lime Wood
This is another wood that’s most ideal for beginners and professional wood carvers. It is soft and
Other Woods
- Cherry – dense hard wood and ideal for chip round carving
- Black Walnut medium texture hardwood and very hard to carve
- Butternut – It is a coarse soft wood with good number of wood grains. Perfect for beginners and professionals wood carvers
- Sugar Maple – Hard and dense wood and hard to carve.
What are the Best Wood Carving Tools?
No wood carving tools set is complete or perfect. Wood carving professionals would not recommend a set of wood carving tools for you, it all depends on the project you are working on and the type of wood you want to work on. We will highlight some of the best tools for different woods for carving. These recommendations would be done based on the following:
- Type of wood
- sizes of tools
- types of carving
Chip Wood Carving Knife
The chip wood carving knife is primarily used for whittling and chip carving. It has a sharp blade about one and a half inches long and has a handle perfectly designed to fit in the hand. The blade is made of steel that will hold the wood for a long time.
Wood Carving Gouges
There are different types of Gouges, the U-Gouges, the V-Gouges, firmer gouge, bowl gouge, spoon gouges, etc. Gouges come in various styles, thickness, and curvature. Depending on the project you want to embark on, you have to get the correct gouge for a particular project. For example, spoon gouge would be ideal for carving spoons. Gouges are used to make curvatures in wood carving. The sharp blades are made of steel and the tightly fitted handle are made from wood.
Chisels
Chisels are like gouges but they have flat blades compare to gouges with curved blades. The blades are made of steel and the handle is made of hardwood. Just like gouges, chisels come in different styles and are used to make flat work in
Mallet
There are two types of mallet, the traditional wooden mallet, and a rubber mallet. Wooden mallets are used to put wooden pieces together without having to damage the edge of the wood and to drive dowels or chisels. It is also used to minimize the pressure on the cutting edge of a chisel, allowing it to have a firmer control.
The Best Hardwood Carving Tools Set
Hardwood requires very sharp, hard and tough carving tools to design or sculpture. Schaaf wood carving tool set is one of the best tools set to use for hardwood carving.
Features
- Comes in a set of 12 with very sharpen blades
- Made from alloy chromium vanadium steel and hardened to Rockwell C60
- Contains a wide variety of tools set for different carving designs and types
- It can be used with a mallet
- Strong and durable
Pros
- Sharp and strong
- Sharpness can last a long time
- Easy to use with hardwood
- Cost-effective compared to its value
Cons
- It requires regular sharpening
What is the Best Carving Tools Set for Pine Wood?
Considering the nature and the texture of white pine wood and that it is mainly good for round carving. A tool with the following features will be most ideal to carve it
- Sharp steel blades
- Good curvature
- Varying shapes
- Short and ling handles
Recommendation: MAMAR CraftWorks Wood Carving Tool Set
The MAMAR CraftWorks wood carving tool set is perfect for white pine wood and basswood. It is perfect for beginners and professional wood carvers. The tool set has the following features
- It consists of 12 pieces of unique sharp carving tools and 5 large pine wood carving blocks
- The blades are made from high-quality premium SK10 carbon steel
- Solid wood ergonomic electrolytic coated handle
- Comes in different sizes and shapes such as a deep gouge, medium gouge, shallow gouge, narrow straight chisel, wide straight chisel, rounded chisel, 4 angled knives/chisels, parting tool, and pinpoint tool
Pros
- Easy to use and gives you hours
of fun on your project - Perfect for working on projects with stencils or patterns, touching up antique furniture, carving spoons, bowls, or animals.
- Good for
whittling and round carving - Works perfectly on linoleum, clay
and soapstone
Cons
- All handles are short because of the nature of projects it is used for. You might need to buy a new set if you require a wood carving tools set with a longer handle.
