Haha I get it now. Didn’t pick up the reference at first

Sort of. I started with a blank. So something that has the general outline of a spoon.

What did u finish it with?

You can do it. Get a saw. Bass wood is pretty soft so it will be annoying but 100% doable. I do it all the time as I also have wrong sized wood and no power tools. Coping saw is good or I also got a Japanese style saw that works pretty well too

HACHIEMON Japanese Saw RYOBA MINI 180mm for DIY and Hobby https://a.co/d/7DkeL0R

Dude sharpening is so hard. I have a ton of knives and chisels and all kinds of tools for sharpening and I still suck at it. I think it just takes a shit ton of practice or maybe I need to have some one show me live because I also struggle with getting and keeping a good edge and it makes such a big difference.

Also I hear ya on the nose thing. I think it’s one of those first finer details that makes such an huge difference when it looks good/bad. I’ve fucked up many a wizard nose but it’s honestly kind of fun if u can pull it off and fix it after u mistakenly fuck it up lol

What paint do u use? I have a bunch of basswood figures I made and haven’t painted any yet

Good call on the gloves. I should have said that first.

Glad i could help. It’s an awesome hobby that take very little to start but is pretty rewarding. Check out some videos on YouTube by a guy Doug Linker. He gives tutorials for a lot of great beginner projects. That’s where I started.

Also, shameless plug. Check out this community

https://sh.itjust.works/c/whittling

It small and just getting started but so far, everyone is super chill

Hell yea. This looks pretty sweet for a first project.

I also started with a linker video. He makes everything look so easy. Try the wizard next. That was my first thing we’re I was like wow this is actually a recognizable item.

What knife did you use?

Sorry for not seeing this sooner. I haven’t gotten a hang of the best way to check if anyone replies to comments in Lemmy yet. Your post is the perfect starting wood. Basswood is soft and cheap so you can make cool things and practice pretty easily. I wouldn’t use a pairing knife though. Not to say you can’t but u might wreck that pairingknife. You can get cheap semi decent knives from companies like flexcut or morakniv and then move from there. My first couple knives specifically for wood were a whittlin jack (I think this is by flexcut) and a morakniv 120. Both about 40$ and still hold up great. The first knife I actually used was a Victorinox Swiss Army knife and was just something I had around the house. I think it was 20$. Not built for whittling but will work fine. Honestly use whatever your comfortable with. Once you get into it you will get a better idea of what you want in a knife and n apiece of wood. Happy to help with any advice if u need any. Not an expert but can give you any tips I’ve picked up since I’ve started.

Pick up whittling. This what I did when I was struggling in early covid. The start up cost is low and u can get as creative as u want. Im not very creative so make spoons and give them to family and friends but also make little figures like gnomes, wizards, rabbits, fish.

If u got wood and a semi decent knife, u can start right now

I’ve actually tried whittling a wooden stool leg from a stool someone was throwing out and this must have been treated or something because it was hard as fuck and took forever.

Large trash day is not a bad idea. It’s warm by me. People Gotta be doing some sort of yard work on weekends that I can grab scraps from.

I’m pretty crappy at identifying wood species but I’m also not picky at all

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And my axe!

Just signed up. Would love to try

Thanks so much man. I’m in. Appreciate the help there

Haven’t heard anyone say anything good about those guys in a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the advice

This is a really cool piece. Love it

No time better to pick it back up then the present. Glad you liked the spoon. It’s one of my more recent pieces and a little more polished than previous iterations.

I will admit, I did take inspiration from someone else’s posts. I’m not artistic enough to make things from scratch so I usually look at what other people make, try and imitate, and maybe add some small personal flair if I can.

Wish u luck in the journey. I started the same way. I saw a video of Doug linker (some guy on YouTube) on Reddit. He carved a wizard face out of a stick in like 10 mins and thought “I could totally do that”

I only cut myself twice that day lol

Gotta start somewhere I suppose. I do recommend Doug linkers videos though if u need a place to get ideas.

I love the look of opinels but never tried using one. What model do u use?

Any models in particular? I’m always on the look out for new things.