Carving

Fruit and Vegetable Carving for Halloween

Halloween usually calls for pumpkin carving, but why not carve other fruits and vegetables as well, or try some new techniques with pumpkins? The culinary arts include artisans who prepare foods to eat, of course, but also those who make food attractive. Carving fruits and vegetables for Halloween allows you to be creative and outrageous. Use your imagination — the final product does not have to be edible.

How to Carve Dogs in Wood

Wood carving is an ancient craft that has been practiced in every culture. Most decorative woodworking is done by machine, but highly skilled wood carvers can charge premium prices. When setting out to carve a dog in wood, it is best to have an idea of what kind of dog, and the pose you want before getting started. Select or create your own images to work from. You can even photograph an actual dog to use as inspiration.

How to Create Your Own Pumpkin Carvings

While books of templates come readily available in most department stores around Halloween time, the same designs may be used by your friends, neighbors and family. If you are looking for some fresh ideas for pumpkin carving, the best way to create an original pumpkin is to design the carving yourself. With a bit of preparation and a careful carving technique, you can have the most original pumpkin on your street for Halloween night.

How to Carve a Crying Pumpkin

Jolly jack-o'-lanterns are festive, familiar sights around Halloween. If you're in the mood to create something unexpected, carve a crying pumpkin. Large teardrops are simple to carve and add a unique, expressive touch to a basic geometric face. If you're feeling extra crafty, create an entire scene around your teary-eyed squash. While your Halloween display may not be the scariest, crying pumpkins can make it the most memorable one on the block.

How to Carve on Cement and Plaster

Carving on concrete and plaster can create beautiful decorative objects and pieces of art. Carvings can also be used to decorate the home. Fireplaces, doorways and walls are all places to add carvings to your house's structure. Because plaster and concrete dry to very different hardnesses, work on plaster while it is dry and on concrete while it is wet. Carving can be a challenging art; take a carving class or practice on sample pieces before you commit to a larger project.

How to Carve Wood Art

Woodcarving is one of the oldest pastimes. First men used sharp stones to carve, then metal blades were invented. Originally loose sand was rubbed across the surface of the wood to make it smooth, then sandpaper was developed. Today you have many more choices than your ancestors when choosing tools for wood carving and enhancement, yet the methods remain similar. Carve out your desired shape and smooth the wood to the exact contour and dimensions of your design.

How to Carve a Crab into a Pumpkin

Carving a pumpkin is a way to show your creative side during the fall season -- whether it's for Halloween or just for fun. Although carving an intricate design, such as a crab, can require a little more attention and time than a traditional jack-o'-lantern, it can be rewarding, too. When working on a design like a crab, remember that the pattern has to be transferred, so making it intricate may not be the best way to accomplish the task. Instead, make a bold crab that is easily recognizable, but still has the traits you envision.

How to Do a Hard Pumpkin Carving

Hard pumpkins, such as jarrahdale and knucklehead varieties, are a bit of a challenge to carve compared to softer, more hollow pumpkins, but the extra effort is worth it. Hard shell pumpkins have appeal because they often come in unusual colors, shapes and textures, giving them more of a fantasy or ghoulish look compared to regular pumpkins. Hard pumpkins are sold at some farmer's markets, pumpkin patches and specialty grocery stores in the fall.

How to Carve Funny Faces in Pumpkins

There is no rule that says that all Halloween pumpkin carvings need to be spooky. Pumpkins can be carved with funny faces and still be highly effective Halloween and fall decorations. "Funny" is a subjective term, so the pumpkin designer can choose any range of characteristics, such as oversized facial features, gap teeth, offset eyes and wagging tongue. The funny face can be transferred from a pattern or an original design can be used. Display the funny face pumpkin by itself or in a group of pumpkins with a variety of funny faces.

Traditional Islamic Woodcarving

Tradition Islamic arts were established and brought to a high degree of development between the 7th and 15th centuries. One of these arts, woodcarving, was particularly prevalent in the 9th century. Examples of Islamic woodcarving, with its focus on intricate geometric and organic plant motifs, can also be found during the medieval period which spanned from the 11th to the 15th century. Traditional Islamic woodcarving is displayed in many art museums and is studied by art historians throughout the world.

Beginning Fruit Carving

Fruit carving has its roots in 1300s Thailand, when Lady Nang Noppamart carved a bird as part of her presentation at the annual Hanging Lantern Festival. The king took notice and ordered women to learn the art form. Professional artists spend years perfecting this art, which requires small precision carving tools. Advanced designs require hours of precision work, but there are some easy fruit carving designs that beginners can create.

How to Carve a Pumpkin Into an Alien

Pumpkin carving allows you to show off your creative talents. Carve an alien pumpkin instead, if you're looking to change the theme of your carved pumpkins from the traditional to something different. Children love being scared by monsters of all types at Halloween, and space monsters are no exception. Let them pick or even help draw the design. This is a good project to let their imagination run wild. Supervise kids carefully if they help with the actual carving.

How to Carve From Print Outs for Pumpkins

Whether you prefer funny or scary, you can carve pumpkins quickly and easily using patterns you print from your home printer. There are many patterns available. If you prefer, you can draw your own pumpkin carving pattern using a graphics program, and print it out. Shrink or enlarge the carving pattern as needed to fit on the pumpkin you choose to carve.

Carving Food as an Art

Food carving has been a craft for centuries. Traditional to countries like Thailand and Japan, the art of food carving is also practiced in the British Isles. Foods can be carved to serve as garnishes or centerpieces. Carved foods can also be the main meal -- or they might not be intended for consumption at all, but serve simply as decorations.

How to Carve a White Pumpkin

White pumpkins may seem dramatically different from their traditional orange counterparts, but in reality, their outside color is virtually the only difference -- they carve the same, and they both sport orange interiors. Still, white pumpkins provide a notably cleaner canvas for drawing or tracing images onto the surface, enabling you to see your designs more clearly than on darker orange pumpkins. You can carve the pumpkin just as you would any other, once you've added your design.

How to Fill in the Carved Patterns in Cabinets

Transforming existing cabinets goes a long way in updating the look of your kitchen. Minor details, such as handles, hinges, and stenciled or carved designs help define the style of your cabinets. Sometimes these stylistic aspects do not fit with your design goals for the kitchen. When refinishing your cabinets, help change the style by removing, replacing or altering the details. Eliminate carved patterns in the wood with wood filler.

Is Basswood Preferred for Carving?

Basswood is considered to be one of the best woods available for carving, especially for beginners. When looking for carving wood, two main visible hints are given. The wood should be as even as possible in color, indicating consistent density. The grain should be straight, which indicates a wood that is highly predictable for cutting. Basswood gets top marks in both categories.

How to Carve a Lumpy Pumpkin

Finding the perfect pumpkin for your jack-o-lantern is the most important step in pumpkin carving. While some styles require a smooth, uniform pumpkin, lumpy pumpkins add their own character to your carving. Some pumpkins develop large lumps as they grow around defects in the soil or vines around the fruit. Smaller lumps develop from scars after insects feed on the young pumpkins. According to the University of Maryland, aphids carry a virus that is harmless to humans but causes warts to cover the skin of a pumpkin. Keep your design in mind when you are choosing your pumpkin.

How to Wood Carve a Fish and Put on Scales

Fish are among the easier things to carve. They are open to almost any interpretation and you can even carve them in an abstract way. They come in all sizes and do not have the detail that accompanies other wood carvings. They are a great way to learn carving. You can paint a carved fish, or leave it natural, it's up to you. You can also add as much detail as you like. Scales are relatively simple to apply to the fish if you have the right tools.

How to Carve Picture Portraits on Pumpkins

Pumpkin carvings have transformed from simple geometric jack-o'-lanterns to custom portraits. With a computer and photo software, you can transform your pumpkin into a portrait. Before creating the pattern, find the right pumpkin for your masterpiece. Look for a smooth, solid pumpkin with a face that is at least 8 inches wide and 11 inches tall. Choose a pumpkin without warts or bumps. Sometimes the warts are hard to cut through, and they mar the final picture.

Pumpkin Carving Materials

Pumpkin carving can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. You might start with a traditional jack-o'-lantern face and then try increasingly complicated designs. To create pumpkin art, draw a pattern on a piece of paper, cut it out and trace it on the pumpkin. If you have a steady hand, draw your picture directly on the pumpkin and then cut it out with your tools. A capable adult should always handle these tools or decide if children are ready to use them.

How to Carve Casper in a Pumpkin

Halloween decorations typically feature ghosts, but they are usually nameless, curvy shapes with gaping holes for eyes. Ghosts often scare young children and create a creepy atmosphere. An alternative is to use Casper the friendly ghost, an animated cartoon character, instead. For a creative jack-o'-lantern, carve Casper's outline into a pumpkin to make an inviting character to set on your front porch for Halloween.

How to Carve a Faux Pumpkin

While real pumpkins have undeniable charm -- the pumpkin smell, the slimy guts and lots of seeds for roasting -- faux pumpkins have their advantages, especially if you're planning a time-consuming, intricate design. The "flesh" stays rigid as you cut, even if you make thin lines, and of course, it won't rot, so you can put it out year after year. Use realistic-looking hollow faux pumpkins made of foam or polyurethane, available at craft stores.

How to Carve a Pole

Creative woodcarvers carve totems, decorative light posts, walking staffs, sign posts and many other projects from poles. Use a combination of traditional hand carving tools and power tools, such as a rotary tool to add detail to your pole carvings. Carving poles follows the standard carving process from rough shaping to fine detailing. Take your time creating your design on the pole in pencil before you begin, so that you will have a clear idea of your end product throughout the process. Cedar is an ideal material for your pole because it is a soft wood for carving and naturally rot-resistant.

Foam Carving Techniques

Because foam (either foam rubber or polystyrene) is so soft and easy to carve, it is an ideal starting medium for anyone who wishes to experiment with sculpting. Foam is also a relatively inexpensive material, further making it attractive to the beginning artist or craftsperson. There are a number of ways to work with foam, giving beginning sculptors various options when getting started.

How to Make a Deer Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving has moved beyond scary faces and triangular eyes. Intricately carved details of this type have actually become an art, with the pumpkin being used as a natural canvas. By carving into a hollowed pumpkin, you can create any shape you like, animal or human. Carving intricate designs such as a deer into pumpkins is easier when you use a handheld rotary tool with an applicable accessory.

Kid Friendly Pumpkin Carving

Just like spider webs need a spider, and trick-or-treat bags need candy, no front porch is complete at Halloween without a glowing jack-o'-lantern. This annual pumpkin-carving tradition is a family activity that even the youngest child can participate in. Keep your carving party kid-friendly by following a few simple guidelines and safety tips.

How to Carve a Pumpkin as a Pokemon

While Halloween jack-o'-lanterns once wore traditional craggy-toothed faces exclusively, modern carved pumpkins are just as likely to represent the interests of the carver. If you love Pokemon, you have more than 600 characters to choose from. When deciding which Pokemon to carve, consider your skill level. A Pikachu face is simple enough for a beginner, while something like a detailed full-body Charizard or Scolipede is an advanced carving.

How to Carve a Fairy in a Pumpkin

A fairy is a mythical creature, often female, found in folklore. Disney's Tinkerbell is an example of a more modern fairy. Fairies are beloved by children, particularly girls. A fairy is an ideal pumpkin carving subject for kids of all ages. While its features are delicate and sometimes intricate, a fairy can be carved into a pumpkin using a template and simple carving tools.

How to Carve a Portrait Into a Pumpkin

Halloween brings out a seemingly endless variety of carved pumpkins. One clever idea is to shave part of the pumpkin rind instead of cutting it out completely. A light placed inside will make the pumpkin glow orange or yellow instead of white, creating shading in the carving. This method allows you to create pumpkin portraits. With a digital photo of a person, you can transfer her likeness to a pumpkin and make a memorable jack-o'-lantern.

How to Forge Your Own Carving Knives and Chisels

Having the right tool makes a job much easier. For woodcarving, it can cost a small fortune to get all the right tools. Fortunately, for the woodworking hobbyist, making custom carving tools is a simple and inexpensive process that requires few tools. The material for blades and chisels can be forged from old saw blades or files that would otherwise be thrown away. Achieving just the right temper for carving tools requires practice. Be prepared to make several attempts to customize and perfect this technique.

How to Carve a Celtic Cross

The Celtic cross is a variation on the traditional Christian cross, partially inscribed within a circle. With an origin in Irish culture as early as the eighth century, the Celtic cross marries Christian and Druidic symbology. In addition to being a powerful symbol of the Irish Catholic branch of the Christian faith, the Celtic cross is a basic enough shape to make a good beginning carving project. For more experienced carvers, use the basic Celtic cross shape as the centerpiece of a more complex design or add the ornate engraving found in the ancient Celtic crosses for a challenge.

How to Carve a Werewolf Into a Pumpkin

Carving pumpkins is a time-honored tradition for many families at Halloween. While the jack-o’-lantern is always a favorite design, you can make other Halloween carvings as well. Carve a werewolf pumpkin to set on your front porch to set off your decorations from the neighbors'. Create the werewolf pumpkin from your own design or use one of the many designs available on the Internet or in books. Just remember to leave plenty of skin between cuts to help the pumpkin retain its shape.

Pumpkin Carving Halloween Creations

If you're gearing up for Halloween, you need to stock up on pumpkins. Carving pumpkins is a Halloween tradition as classic as trick-or-treating, and it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. That doesn't mean that your pumpkins themselves have to be classic, though. You can always forget the traditional and try something new.

How to Carve a Spirit Face

Wood spirits are an ideal introductory wood carving project because they will allow you to practice basic skills while producing a not-too-complex project. Folklore stories tell of a wood spirit that dwells in each tree. They are said to be protectors of the trees and overall forest. It is said to be good luck to find a wood spirit, so you may be bringing good luck to yourself as you free the spirit's face from the wood. Select a basswood block for your first spirit face carving. It is straight grained and easy to carve.

Harvest Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkins are one of the highlights of autumn. Halloween has long been an inspiration for carving newly harvested pumpkins. Jack-o'-lanterns, lighted faces carved from turnips or gourds, originated in Europe, but early colonists discovered that North American pumpkins were larger and easier to carve. While the freehand jack-o'-lantern is still a traditional choice, some of today's carvers have developed sophisticated and nuanced styles of pumpkin carving.

How to Carve a Turkey in a Pumpkin

Carving pumpkins is an autumn holiday tradition for many families around Halloween or Thanksgiving. A turkey is an appropriate subject for a Thanksgiving jack-o'-lantern. The practice of making jack-o'-lanterns started centuries ago in Ireland, where they were often made out of large potatoes and turnips. Later, Irish immigrants in America discovered that the brightly colored, edible pumpkins growing there made good jack-o'-lanterns because they were large and easy to carve. They soon became the standard vegetable for carving.

How to Carve Skulls

Portions of the human anatomy are some of the most difficult shapes to render in an artistic medium, yet are some of the most sought-after. When trying to carve the combination of round and angular shapes of the human skull, use a method that begins with the simplest shapes to reduce the complex forms into manageable portions.

Fun Pumpkin Carving

Artists make intricate designs on pumpkins with an assortment of tools for cutting and carving. Some tools make tiny slits and holes in a pumpkin shell and facilitate patterns and elaborate designs. Other tools skim off portions of the outer skin to add a design element of color by revealing the interior part of the pumpkin. A handheld rotary tool equipped with a multipurpose cutting bit allows more precision than a kitchen knife. Using power tools adds several possibilities to the art of carving a pumpkin.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving for the Expert

The classic jack-o'-lantern -- a grinning visage -- will always delight kids of all ages. But some Halloween fans may crave more complex pumpkin carving designs. You can achieve more sophisticated pumpkin-carving effects with a number of cutting techniques, or by augmenting your carved pumpkins with additional materials, such as fabric, buttons, paint or leaves.

How to Carve Jade

Jade stone is one of two different types of metamorphic rock: nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite is a fibrous matrix of calcium, magnesium and iron. The color of nephrite is determined by the amount of iron in the composition. Jadeite, a crystalline matrix of aluminum and sodium, is the harder of the two stones, which are both harder than steel. Carving jade is an ancient art that uses abrasion to wear away the stone. Jewelry and ornamental objects are created from jade, which has a translucent or opaque quality and polishes to a lustrous finish. Because it is softer, nephrite is a good choice for the beginning jade carver.

Early American Furniture Wood Carving

Early American furniture featuring intricate carvings and elaborate detail, called Victorian style, began in the mid-19th century (1837 to 1901). During this time, machinery began to make life easier for many people, and the mass production of furniture came on the scene. Furniture makers utilized ash, oak, rosewood, maple, butternut and black walnut to produce dark and heavily proportioned Victorian furniture. Previous styles of furniture, including Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance, Jacobean, Turkish and Oriental, had great influence on the Victorian-era woodcarvings. Damaged furniture can often be craved or engraved with a rotary tool and carving bits to exactly match the piece that is being replaced.

How to Carve a Wooden Rod Puppet

Rod puppets are toys that can spark a child’s imagination. Carve your own rod puppets from a tree branch and decorate it with fabric, craft paints and other craft items. These puppets make an ideal project for a camping trip or a lazy summer day with the kids. Allow your children to help you find a branch that has a large end that you can form into a head. A forked branch or one with a small burl are both ideal. Let your imagination work when you are searching for branches.

Beginner Carving Project

The thought of carving may bring visions of an old gentleman whittling as he sits in his rocking chair on a porch with a chunk of wood in one hand and a knife in the other. Actually, modern carving methods vary, depending on the type of project you have in mind. A beginner-carving project may include the use of specialized tools and techniques as well as a variety of lumber choices. To begin, choose one of the four main styles of woodcarving.

How to Make Wooden Headed Dolls

A classic rag doll gets a little more substance from a head made out of a round, wooden drawer pull or knob. The blank background of the wood allows for drawing or painting on facial features and hair, or you can glue on more realistic eyes and silky doll hair. Fashion a flat body from muslin and dress the doll later. Dolls with small, wooden heads are choking hazards, making them inappropriate toys for young children.

How to Carve People Out of Wood

Carving people out of wood is a traditional form of woodcarving. Folk characters have been carved out of wood through the generations. You can carve your own figures out of wood with just a few tools and a basic understanding of the process. Your first few carvings might not be very detailed, but over time your skills will improve to the point of adding more and more details with confidence. Select a classic folk carving for your first project, such as a mountain man.

How to Season Pecan Wood to Prepare the Wood for Carving

Seasoning wood is just another term for drying the wood. Drying wood before it is carved prevents the finished project from checking or splitting over time. Instead of setting aside a year's worth of pecan wood to season, create a rotating batch of pecan wood so that the wood matures in a quantity small enough to be carved in one month. This prevents over drying of the carving blanks. How quickly the wood seasons will depend on the climate and humidity where you live. If you start seasoning the wood in November, it will take longer than if you start seasoning the wood in June.

How to Carve a Wood Monkey

Woodcarvings add a decorative element to any room of your home. While there are many woodcarvings available for purchase, you can make your own woodcarvings with just a few basic tools. Animals such as monkeys make an interesting subject for a woodcarving, and you can carve the monkey so that it looks like it is holding onto the trunk of a tree. A good choice of wood for beginners is basswood, a soft wood that is straight grained and easy to carve.

How to Carve a Loon

The common loon is a large water bird with a long pointed bill and a long body. Loons sit low in the water and have backs sloping to the rear. They are common throughout Canada and the northern United States. You can carve a loon much like you would carve a duck decoy. Use cedar wood for its natural resistance to rot and insects. It is also soft, lightweight and easy to carve. You can leave the loon natural and allow it to weather to a silver gray color or paint it to resemble a loon’s actual coloring.

Olive Wood Carving Techniques

Olive trees produce hard wood with a rich, deep grain. These trees are subtropical and are cultivated for the olives and olive oil they produce. Pruning of olive trees takes place in early autumn. Wood for carving is collected from prunings of young trees or from sprouts of older, non-fruiting trees. Olive wood is aged for at least a year before carving. Carving it is a labor-intensive endeavor performed by skilled crafters who train for six to seven years.

How to Carve Pumpkins for Christmas

While pumpkins are traditionally carved for Halloween, don't reserve your pumpkin-carving skills for just one annual event. Using Christmas-themed designs, use the same techniques for carving jack-o'-lanterns to reflect the warm feelings created by a typically cold holiday season. Although store-bought carving stencils are available with Christmas themes, it's more rewarding — and not difficult — to create your own Christmas pumpkins.

How to Carve a Shell Cameo

Cameos became popular during the 15th century and were often portraits commissioned by the wealthy, but the first documented cameo was carved about 332 B.C. The ancients discovered that certain shells and gemstones were made up of different colored layers. This allows the carver to create a contrast between the background and the raised (relief) layer.

Elegant Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving most often evokes images of eerie scraggly-toothed faces, once intended to scare away evil spirits. Modern carved pumpkins aren't limited by the jack-o'-lantern tradition, so if you have a personal style that's more refined and elegant, your holiday pumpkins can reflect that, with designs that are more artful than scary.

Handmade Wooden Doll Bunkbeds

Doll beds come in as many different sizes as dolls. Little girls put their dolls to bed just as they are put to bed by parents and caregivers. Bunks beds put two dolls to bed in the space of one bed. Plus, many children find bunk beds just plain fun.

Pumpkin Carving for a Tall Pumpkin

Tall pumpkins provide space for bold designs, while leaving enough room for unique details. The biggest challenge in carving a tall pumpkin is hollowing out the inside and creating a design that uses the extra height to accentuate a spooky feature. Tall pumpkins are a fitting choice for long, haunting faces, towering trees with creatures of the night perched high and other ghostly figures that float just above the ground.

Pumpkin Carving With Children

Halloween is practically synonymous with pumpkin carving. Kids get a kick out of carving the big orange gourds and seeing them all lit up on the doorstep. Pumpkin carving also offers your kids an opportunity to exercise their creative and artistic abilities. Keep in mind that this activity does present safety risks and there should always be an adult present, especially when kids are working with carving tools.

Mayan Stone Relief Carving

A relief is essentially a carved picture. Mayans used relief carvings to document historical moments, give glory to their gods and keep track of the date. Each Mayan city was independent, similar to the Greek city-states half a world away. The Mayan culture developed around 2000 B.C and lasted until about 900 A.D. The relief styles changed drastically over this 3000-year period from simplified geometric shapes that approximated human features to three-dimensional pictures that are almost independent sculptures.

Decorative Concrete Carving

One simple method of carving decorative motifs in concrete is wet carving. An easy project to start with is a concrete steppingstone. You can begin carving simple designs, abstract or realistic, until you develop comfortable techniques and confidence. Gradually move into more intricate designs and larger projects, such as vertical concrete carving. Some basic tools and instructions will get you on the road to creating decorative concrete carvings.

How to Carve a Standing Rabbit

Rabbits make attractive decorations for gardens and flower beds. Instead of purchasing a generic rabbit decoration for your outdoor space, you could make your own as a woodcarving project. You can carve a rabbit out of a cedar block and allow it to weather naturally. Cedar weathers to tones of gray and silver, making it ideal for a rabbit carving that will inhabit your landscape. Additionally, cedar is rot resistant, lightweight and soft, which makes it a reasonably easy wood to carve for novice woodcarvers.

How to Carve Fruit from Wood

Fruit is often the subject of still life art. Wooden fruit makes an attractive centerpiece for a kitchen or dining table. Instead of purchasing wooden fruit to decorate your home, learn to carve your own. Decorative woods such as cherry, walnut or butternut are ideal choices for carving fruits. Add a clear, hand-rubbed finish to the fruit carvings. The clear finish will allow the beauty of the wood and flowing shapes of the fruit to become the focus.

How to Carve a Wooden Alligator

Alligators are very distinctive creatures, with their bumpy hide and long snout. An alligator makes a fun subject for a wood carving. There are three phases to every carving. The first is the planning phase, where wood is chosen and images selected for the design. Second is the drawing and rough cut phase, where the general outline is carved. The third is the detail phase, where final elements are finished.

How to Carve a Wood Spirit

Carved wood spirits emerge from all types of wood, including driftwood, pine knots, cottonwood bark and walking sticks. Oddities in the wood can be incorporated into the wood spirit’s face or hair. Wood spirits have the basic features of a person, but they can be exaggerated if desired. Hand or power tools may be used to create those features. The flexibility and creativity involved in designing and carving a wood spirit make it a favorite subject of many wood carvers.

How to Carve a Country and Western Pumpkin

Pumpkin carving is more than just a Halloween tradition. It is an art form that allows the expression of a wide range of themes that target special occasions. If you enjoy country music and western decor, carve a country and western pumpkin as an alternative decoration at Halloween. Choose from a variety of thematic designs, or honor your favorite musicians. This festive decoration is not only appropriate for holidays, but brightens events such as square dances, barbecues or country hoedowns.

How to Carve Wooden Bear Claws

Bear claws are considered by some cultures to be extremely powerful talismans of good luck. Many Native American Indian tribes used bear claws in their jewelry and ornaments. When carving any natural form, an easy way to get started is to find an example, or image of the item you want to carve. Work from this to create the basic form for your carving.

Cat Style Pumpkin Carving

Scary cats are very much part of the Halloween tradition. Creating a cat pumpkin face instead of a regular jack-o’-lantern allows you to incorporate cats into your Halloween décor. Choose one of the many cat pumpkin face patterns available or create your own. Be really creative and stack two pumpkins together to create a cat’s head and its body.

What Is a Teak Carving?

Teak wood comes from tropical rainforests of south and southeast Asia and belongs to the family Verbenaceae. Of the three main types of teak, Dahat and Philippine teak are endangered species, while common teak is the most common. The beauty of teak makes it popular for many things, such as furniture, flooring, decks and carvings. It is naturally weather resistant and durable enough to withstand many years of harsh outdoor elements.

Power Carving Dust Removal

Power carving produces wood dust that is harmful to breathe; in addition, the dust from many types of wood can cause adverse reactions, such as allergies, headaches and even cancer. Dust collectors utilize either a cotton bag or a pleated filter to collect wood dust. No matter which dust collection system you use, experts advise that you wear an air filtration mask to catch any remaining dust particles in the air, unless you vent your collected dust to the outside.

Is Carving Birchwood Hard?

Birchwood can be a difficult wood to carve, requiring the best tools available and a fairly high level of skill for good results. Though quite dense, birch is also smooth and largely free of the imperfections that plague other woods. However, if you're prepared for the undertaking, the results can be excellent.

Uses of Basswood

The American basswood or Linden tree has a soft texture, light color and a fine, tight grain. Despite its poor strength, basswood still finds use in a number of products. Basswood grows mainly in the northeast quarter of the United States from Minnesota to Missouri and east to Virginia and Maine. It grows best in rich, well drained soils.

How to Season a Walking Stick

Walking sticks work by increasing stability and transferring some of the weight of the walker from the legs to the arms, making them as useful for hikers as they are for those with chronic foot or leg trouble. While a walking stick can be crafted from greenwood in the field easily enough, anyone who makes frequent use of a walking stick will want a permanent stick. If that stick is to last, it must be properly seasoned.

How to Win a Pumpkin Carving Contest at Your School

Pumpkin carving is a long-standing holiday tradition that kids tend to enjoy. For this reason, pumpkin carving competitions can be a successful way for schools to engage their students and built school spirit. If you find yourself in such a competition with designs on taking home top honors, you’ll need to do some prep work to maximize your shot at victory. With the perfect pumpkin, pattern, tools and techniques, you’ll be tough to beat.

How to Write and Carve Into Wood

Writing into, or engraving, a board seems like a simple concept, but precisely removing stock to leave behind an intricate pattern, such as lettering, can be difficult. You'll need to ensure that you have the proper tools to complete the job to increase your chances of success. If you take your time, and work from a pattern, you'll very likely be pleased with the outcome of your endeavor.

How to Scrape an Image Into a Pumpkin

Carving a pumpkin, in the traditional sense, involves cutting pieces out to leave a negative image. Shining a light from within then illuminates the carved image. This method is quick and easy, but it makes detailed work difficult to achieve. Your pumpkin will also rot and turn into a revolting mush-ball quickly after you finish. Carving your pumpkin the way you would carve a wooden plaque is a better option if you do not need to light it from within. By scraping your image into the surface of the pumpkin, you can use a lot more detail and your pumpkin will go much longer before rotting.

DIY Carving Board

Carving boards are a mainstream utensil found in almost every kitchen. Some are installed on runners. Some are placed inside the cabinets and taken out when needed. Wood carving boards have a traditional quality to them, seasoning over the years. Make them from hardwood and they will last a lifetime.

Tools for Carving Walking Sticks

Carving a walking stick is a simple woodcraft project, despite requiring a major investment of time and some specialized tools. Since the word "carving" implies working from raw wood rather converting than a conveniently milled pole of some kind, the woodworking tools required must strip the raw wood of its bark and then shape the wood into an easily handled stick.

Woodcarving Methods & Techniques

There are at least two types of woodcarving methods, including those that use power tools, and those that rely only on small hand tools. Some woodworkers use both methods together, which is the most efficient. Woodcarving is fun and anyone can do it. You don't have to carve elaborate figures to be a woodcarver.

What Are Carving Canes & Walking Sticks?

Carving canes and walking sticks are ornamental versions of a device that is used as a walking aid. Carving canes and walking sticks are often made of wood and can range from simple walking aids carved out of a piece of wood to a highly detailed piece of art. No matter what design a carving cane or walking stick takes, the cane or walking stick itself must be strong enough to support the weight of the person using the cane or walking stick.

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Trio™
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Accessories

Moto-Saw™
Accessories

Other
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Rotary
Attachments

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Trio™
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Saw-Max™
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