Nother neat thing about whittling, it (can be) a cheap hobby. You can get a knife and an awful lot of wood for less than you'd pay for one good golf club (so I've heard, I don't golf. That's another story...) I say it can be cheap cuz like anything you can go overboard, top of the line pocketknives running at $100 or more. You can pick up either of the two knives I've mentioned, the Rough Rider Dual Whittler or RA Murphy bench knife for under $20. You'll find Basswood pieces all over the web for a buck or three. That is really all you need. You can turn a square into an egg with just your knife, I did. Kokopelli was all whittled, no sawing. I thought it would be a neat excercise in symmetry,and it was, I recommend any beginner to give it a whirl. Stop with the egg, or go a little further, whatever makes you happy.
Hint- when I'm trying to make something symmetrical- round, or flat, etc- I don't rely on my eyes. My hands are better at detecting the small differences in a surface. It's easier to feel a high spot, low spot, or other deviation. Rotate a round piece in your hand to feel for out of round.
You can save your self some time by sawing out the rough shape of your project (you can also buy roughouts of somebody else's project) If you want to saw your own you really don't need more than a coping saw, check your local hardware store or big box homecenter. Bandsaw is nice if you can get to one. Sometimes I rough out, sometimes I don't. Stay well wide of the lines, I don't try to saw much detail into my roughouts
I just finished the Octopus pen and am starting on another, dog this time, I sense a future blog, maybe a step by step is in order. Alaskan Yellow Cedar, cuz pencils are supposed to be made of cedar arent they? Tempera paint red, sharpie black and shellac clear coat on top. The shellac made the sharpie bleed a little, shoulda used paint.
Have you finished your egg yet? BTW, you can buy a nicely sanded basswood egg at some craft stores, or search online...
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