[Woodcarver] Advice to NOOB

[Megargee at aol.com]

Hi Chris,
     You are better off buying a small number of high  quality tools than a 
large number of inferior ones. In our club we start  beginners off with a basic 
Flexcut knife, which is already sharpened and honed.  You should also get a 
carving glove and a thumb guard; a trip to the ER will  really put a dent in 
your budget. 
     As for sharpening, you can spend $100s on  sharpeners, but IMHO there is 
nothing more cost-effective than fine wet-dry  sandpaper. Everett Ellenwood 
has a superb instructional DVD entitled Beginning  Woodcarving which has an 
excellent chapter on sharpening using sandpaper.He can  be reached at  
_http://www.ellenwoodarts.com/main.htm.  It_ (http://www.ellenwoodarts.com/main.htm. It) 
 retails for about $25. He also has a kit that accompanies it with  
demonstration materials and a set of projects including a stylized bird and a  flower 
in relief (wood included) that I found very helpful. Ellenwood also  has a DVD 
that is only about sharpening, but I recommend the beginning DVD. 
      BTW, during December some of the mail order  outlets like Woodcraft 
feature free shipping which makes small items much more  affordable. At $6.00 or 
$7.00 an order the S & H adds up, so I usually wait  and get stuff at this 
time of the year. 
      Good luck.
           Ned  Megargee, Havana, FL
 
 



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