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hi all
i was thinking of starting back wood carving. i've carved a few love spoons in the past and would really like to start carving more, and also tackle something a bit more adventurous wood spirits etc.
just wondering if anyone on this site does or has done any woodcarving in the past. I know toolmaker on here has, he's pretty good too.
also anyone know of a good wood supplier? looking for Lime, Walnut, cherry, type wods etc.

This might be of some interest to you.....

http://www.welsh-lovespoons.co.uk/carvers.html (http://www.welsh-lovespoons.co.uk/carvers.html)

hey paul i visit a few site looking for ideas for  designs on spoons here a good one from a lady in Ohio who's grandfather was welsh so she found out about the welsh love spoon tradition and started carving them
http://www.blakespa.com/ (http://www.blakespa.com/)
i think some of her designs are great

i have made a few love spoons amongst other things but i find once i have achived something i lose interest

i have love spoons to finish but cant get around to finishing them 

and the fact is i don't have a workshop

Hi zorro, my grandfather was a prolific carver mate ...from clocks to walking sticks .....from cats sat on a bench to full size golden eagles, he was amazing and i miss him dearly. I carved 2 love spoons for his grave but thats just about as much carving as i have managed. Very theroputic i think though and with the right tools and time to spare could be a great hobby..... Good places for wood mate funny enough is in skips  ;)

I have carved lot's of walking sticks, have'nt done any for a few years now though, a very interesting hobby, perhaps i'll start back at it during the winter nights.
Used to carve the handles in shape of horses, dogs, fish, birds, shepards crocks, even a miners lamp.

Also used all types of horn, antler etc. a very smelly job boiling the core out of rams horn. First time i done it, i used the mrs best sauspan and boiled it on the cooker, whilst she was out shoping. Thats all i'll say is she went ballistic, took all day to get rid of smell  ;D ;D

There are lots of exotic woods going cheap on ebay, and as LoveDoc said, keep a look out in skips, and also keep a look out in Church Yards for old Pew's being thrown out, i hear the wood in pew's  make great Love Spoons , as for walking sticks, cut them in the winter when the sap is down, dry them for at least a year, then start carving.  :)

A little tip, if you see a good stick to cut, and its out of cutting season, dont worry, cut him down, and stand it in a bucket of water for about a month, that will draw the sap out of the wood , you can then dry it as normal ;)

Ace  ;)

I tried to make a superlight detector in response to the Deus, out of Balsa wood. :o
It had a wooden stem, wooden control box, wooden coil, trouble is......wooden work :D ;D ;) :)

Nice one Karl m8  ;D ;D ;D ;D
Ace  ;)

thanks for the tips guys. there are some lovely carved walking sticks of wood spirits here.
http://www.randymacintyre.com/main.html (http://www.randymacintyre.com/main.html)

walking sticks are something i'd never thought about before. just goes to show what you can do with a knife,a stick and a little imagination.
I'm off "skip hunting"
lovedoc know what you mean about carving being theraputic when i started a while back hours would fly be in my shed. wife used to say "put a toilet out there and you wouldn't need to come back in the house"....she was right as well  ;)
ace i've been told that when you've cut the wood, leave the bark on, seal the ends with PVA glue and leave to dry. is that about it?

Hi Zorro, thats right mate, leave the bark on, seal the ends basically to stop splitting, P.V.A is excellent for this and cheaper than sealing waxes. Sometimes if the stick was long, i just left it dry natural without sealing, did'nt see much difference mate.

Another tip my father taught me, if you got a bundle of sticks tied together, spray them with a woodworm killer, and hang them up, rather than resting them on their edge, stops a lot of warps, and of course the dreaded woodworm, ruining a bundle of sticks.

Hope this helps  ;)
Ace  ;)

thats a big help cheers mate  ;)

I bought wood carving knives a while ago after watching Ray Mears make a spoon. Not as easy as he makes it look..lol

your right there rob, though the ones ray mears' carves are more functional than decorative. i use a u-gouge to scoop out the bowl of the spoon.I've seen mears use a hook knife, is that what you used?
Rob where did you buy the knives from? what set was it ? thinking of getting me a set of knives, only have chisels at moment.
as lovedoc  has said its very theraputic though.

Here you are look on here . They sell Pfeil tools . probably the best Swiss woodcarving tools you can get. The palm tools are Brill for delicate works on stick handles or love spoons. Well worth every penny of the price. You have to keep them sharp though ,wood carving with blunt tools is a waste of time. Buy diamond grit sharpeners;I used to sell my sticks at Game fairs. I only have one left now it was the first stick i ever made at a stick course in evening classes at colleg many years ago I`ll put a piccy of it up soon as i take a photy of it.
I don`t carve now ,I had to give it up due to Arthritis in my fingers freezing my joints. ;http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/B8ERA (http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/B8ERA)

hey Jeb thanks for that Pfeil tools are world renown for the steel. agree with you about keeping gouges, chisels and knives sharp, but as you know there is an art to that as well.
never carved with knives though. it seems to be very big in the USA, more whittling than carving. but i've seen the results of what a knife can do in the hands of a professional carver and some works are absolutley stunning.
Did you used to buy your wood or cut it yourself?
kev