[Woodcarver] Teaching Children to Carve?

[Alex Bisso]

I have a grandson that has a love of knives, swords, battle axes, etc. and
was always wanting me to make them for him.  Instead, (he was about 7) I got
him involved by just cutting out the basic shapes in clear 3/4" pine and
making the major stop cuts on the hilt and handles and getting him to do the
shaping with a good, sharp pocket knife.  I first made him draw all of the
centerlines and shaded the areas between them that he had to carve off.  At
first what he did was really rough but he learned how to watch the grain and
got improved quickly.  Because of his interest I also let him clean up some
diamond willow sticks (lots of tricky grain) and he does pretty good with
them.  When we started he was really choppy and I had LOTS of clean-up to do
for him.  Now (just made 11) he is much more careful and does a better job.
He really likes it when he gets to the point where I say it is OK to use the
sander or the finish work.  I have a good palm sander mounted facing up so
all he has to do is rub his piece over it for final smoothing and shaping.
If I let him, I think he would do the whole thing on the sander because he
likes the way in makes it smooth.  At one time he really bugged me to let
him use a V-tool to put grooves in an handle (I would use it to put rings
around the handles or a u-tool to put blood grooves in the blades for him).
I relented and emphasized the need for caution and safety.  After a few
minutes I noticed that he had left the room and did not come back.  Turns
out he and cut himself - didn't want me to know so he slipped off to grandma
without a word.  He had cut himself before with the knife but this was a bit
worse yet still not a major injury.  Perhaps we were lucking but I also feel
that a good focus on safety has a lot to do with preventing major cuts and
that having faith and accepting some risk is important to learning.  He also
did the 5-minute owl and did a very good job on it although I again helped
with the major stop cuts because he lacks the strength to do a good job on
them and trying to use that much force is where the greater danger lies.  He
also especially enjoyed using my wood burner to burn in some details
(feathers, feet, etc.).  I should probably note that I did not require him
to where a carving glove but when we started I did use vetwrap on the thumb
and a couple of fingers on his holding hand.  After a while I left the
decision whether or not to use it to him.
At one point he wanted to try to carve one of his favorite Pokemon action
figures so I cleared of the surface of a piece of cottonwood bark and we
drew it on so he could give it a try.  Since I knew that he knew from
experience the dangers of not being careful, I let him use a v-tool and a
couple of gouges for the job.  Although I felt that what he did was not too
bad for a first shot at something like that, he was not pleased with it and
abandoned the project.  He still occasionally does a knife or sword and
likes to whittle points on sticks when the opportunity arise but otherwise
shows no interest in carving anything more difficult.  Maybe he will try
more later in his life and maybe not.  I think a child should get the chance
to try if they show interest, either with soap and popsicle sticks or a
knife if they are older.  Start simple and let them determine how far they
are willing to go - maybe nowhere, maybe Michaelangelo.
ALEX
-----Original Message-----
From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net]On Behalf Of Classic Carving
Patterns
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 4:18 AM
To: '[Woodcarver]'
Subject: RE: [Woodcarver] Teaching Children to Carve?


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Good Morning Everyone!

I had an interesting question in the e-mails this morning concerning a
young person (8 years old) wanting to learn wood carving.  Now I have
never taught children!  So I thought I would post both the question and
my reply for feedback from those of you on the digest that do teach
kids.  Any ideas or suggestions would be fantastic.  If you know of any
WebPages that focus on young carvers, tools sets for young carvers,
books or instructions for young carvers, safety issues (for any carver
at any age) ... would you please share them with us.

Oh ... Please, this question is about an inexpensive holiday gift that
probably will end up is some shoe box or kitchen drawer in a few weeks
... At least that is what would happen with my son at that age ... So
let's not get into $50 tools sets versus $50 individual tools - you
should always buy the best -  sort of thing :)  The focus of my question
to you is Teaching Children to Carve.

Thanks, Susan Irish

--- The Question ---

Wow!  There is just so much information on carving!  I am a mother of an
8 yr. old who is interested in beginning carving.  I was hoping you
could answer a few of my question?  What is a good age to start carving?
What are some basic items needed to get started?  I read about 4 of the
most basic tools....how about a good book you can recommend for the
beginner?  Where do I get the wood?  And so many different types of
wood!  It is something she is asking Santa for and I have no idea where
to start shopping or looking...so hopefully you can help!
Thanks!
A Frazzled Mom


--- My Answer ---


Hi Frazzled Mom!

I really can't suggest what age is good to start carving as I believe it
would depend on the muscle control development, the size of the child's
hands, and their hand and eye coordination.  So I think that you are the
one that will have to judge this.  I would suggest for any child that
you get them either a carving glove which covers the wood holding hand
or an extra thick Terri cloth hand towel to protect that same hand.
Personally I use a towel both, doubled over, for the holding hand as
well as for my lap to catch the wood chips.  A vice, which is used in
3-D carving, is great to hold the wood and will keep her hands away from
the knife edge.  For relief carving, flat carving, you will want bench
claps or spring clamps to secure the wood plague to the work table.
Clamps will be available at your local hardware store, just tell them
what your daughter will be doing and what type of surface she will be
working on ... a table top, a small square of plywood for her lap ...

The greatest danger in wood carving is to the holding hand.  That's the
one that gets 'stabbed' because the knife slips on the wood and gets
imbedded in the thumb or index finger palm area of the holding hand.
So, please, be prepared because even the most experienced carvers
inadvertently stabs themselves once in a while!

First, I would browse the web for the wood carving badge instruction
pages for the Boy Scouts.  They have a lot of great suggestions for
young carvers both in what to carve as well as how to carve.  Basswood
and balsa wood are both excellent soft woods for a young carver to try
and are readily available at most hobby stores. Basswood is the best of
the two as balsa requires extremely sharp edged tools. Learning to keep
the tools properly sharpened is one of the hardest lessons for the new
carver.  Avoid any form of hard wood as maple, walnut, or pine and don't
use scraps of wood that are laying around the workshop or house.

Ivory soap has long been a carving media for a beginning carver as well.
Soap carves much the same as the softer woods, is easy to find, and
makes wonderful gifts for the family when the carver has transformed
them into different delightful shapes. It's a great learning media then
the new carver can move onto the wood forms.  Linoleum blocks that are
used in print making also make a wonderful media for a new carver.  They
require only a simple line design carving then ink is rolled on top of
the block to print greeting cards.  So you get two hobbies out of one
work.  www.dickblick.com sells linoleum blocks and ink.

I would add plasticine clay to the new carver's media as well.  This is
a plastic clay that never dries out.  So you can work on a sculpture
today, set it aside for a week, and return to it and begin work again.
With plasticine once the carving is done a cast is made and plaster used
to cast copies of the original work.  This means that you can make one
carving, create a cast (which is a lot of fun to do in itself) then make
a whole bunch of statues from that cast.  Plasticine is also available
through Dick Blick.

Personally I would get a basic bench knife and a set of Japanese Long
Handle carving tools.  This would give her all the different carving
profiles that she needs while keeping the cost down until you and she
discover if this is something that she will want to continue. Plus there
would be enough tools that both of you could carve at the same time,
sharing the tool set.  I would highly suggest that you plan to carve
with her.  First, of course, is the concerns for her safety so you will
want to be present as she learns her new hobby.  Second, and maybe even
more important, it can become something the two of you share in both
time and interest which will greatly increase her joy in the craft.

Instead of a book I would suggest going through our website and reading
some of the online tutorials we have.  Our books are gears to an older
carver but you might try www.foxchapelpublishing.com for other book
ideas.  They are my publisher and print about 600 different titles.

---

Thanks everyone!  Susan Irish

Carving Patterns Online
Designs Online Since 1997!
Classic Carving Patterns By L.S.Irish
http://www.CarvingPatterns.com
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