Craft Articles

When you first enter the wonderful world of wood carving, you may feel a little overwhelmed by all the new names for tools, techniques, measurements etcetera. How large is a board-foot? What is the difference between AD wood and KD wood? How can I tell a butt chisel from a framing chisel? To make it easier for prospective wood carving enthusiasts, we have compiled a short list of a few words commonly used within the hobby. 

• Board-foot
The term board-foot is only used in Canada and the United States. If you order one board-foot of wood, you will get a volume that equals 1 feet x 1 feet x 1 inch. This is the same as 144 in³ or 1⁄12 ft³. For those more familiar with the metric system, one board-foot equals 2.360 litres (0.002360 cubic metres). Wood ordered using this form of measurement is typically rough lumber that has not been dried or planed. If you instead order planed lumber, the term board-feet will refer to the nominal thickness and width of your lumber. The calculation will be based on the size prior to drying and planning, but the length will be measured after planning. Keep in mind that softwood and hardwood react very dissimilar to drying and planning.   

• AD wood
AD stands for Air Dried. Air dried wood has been left to dry over a long period of time. The moisture content will usually drop to 12-18 percent over time. 

• KD wood
KD stands for Kiln Dried. Kiln dried wood is not left to dry naturally; it is instead heated by a gas or solar fired kiln. This expedites the drying process. Once of the main difference between air dried and kiln dried wood is that kiln dried wood has a lower moisture content. Kiln dried wood will usually have a moisture content no higher than 6-12 percent, while air dried wood can consist of up to 18 percent moisture.

• Chisels
A chisel is a tool used for carving or cutting hard materials. It is commonly used by wood carvers, but you can also purchase chisels adapted for stone or metal work. A chisel is characterized by its cutting edge. When you use your chisel for wood carving, you push the chisel into the wood in order to make a cut. Some woodcarvers use a mallet or a hammer to force the chisel. You can find small hand chisels for detail work as well as large chisels capable of removing big sections of wood. As the wood carving techniques developed, more and more specialised chisels were invented. Today, you can for instance use butt chisels, corner chisels, framing chisels, mortise chisels, paring chisels and skew chisels. The butt chisel is a very short chisel used for shaping joints, while the corning chisel is ideal for cleaning out corners and square holes. The cutting edge of a corning chisel is shaped like an L and the tool is somewhat similar to a punch. A framing chisel is similar to a butt chisel, but the blade is longer and more flexible. The framing chisel is often used together with a mallet or hammer. A mortise chisel has a thick and rigid blade and features a straight cutting edge with square sides. If you want to clean grooves or reach into tight spots, the paring chisel can be a good choice since it has a very long blade. If you instead need to trim and finish your item, the skew chisel with its 60 degree cutting angle is to be preferred.

Traditional wood carving techniques utilizes a hand-held cutting tool when sculpturing wooden figures, ornaments, mouldings or similar. Today, many craftsmen prefer to use power tools even when carrying out traditional wood carving techniques. There exists a wide range of different traditional wood carving techniques, including whittling, chip carving and relief carving.

Whittling is a wood carving technique where shapes are carved out of raw wood using a knife. The term whittling is sometimes confused with general wood carving, but when you whittle you use no other tools than a knife. Other wood carving techniques can on the other hand utilize not only knifes, but chisels, gouges, mallets etcetera. If you want to try whittling, the preferred type of knife is a small, light-bladed one. Many whittlers all over the world use ordinary pocket knifes, but you can also purchase advanced whittling knives. A specialized whittling knife will typically have a larger and more comfortable handle than a standard pocket knife and is therefore easier to use.

Chip carving is a time-honoured wood carving technique where knives are used to take out small triangular chips of wood from the surface of the carved item. When you perform chip carving, you will work with to planes: the surface of the wood and the spot beneath the surface where the cuts intersect. By varying the size and position of the triangles, chip carvers can create very beautiful and unique decorative patterns. 

The most commonly used relief carving technique involves fixing the wood in a workbench. You can for instance use a clamp or a carvers screw to secure the wood. Most craftsmen will then prefer to sketch out the main lines onto the wood, but it is of course possible to work free-hand as well. If you wish to create a highly elaborate pattern, it can be a good idea to prepare the pattern on paper first and then trace it to the wood. Proceed by grounding out the space between the lines using a gouge. A gouge is similar to a chisel, but the edge is curved or angled in cross-section instead of being flat. After the grounding, an upstanding pattern will remain for you to work on. During relief carving, it is common to go over the same part several times before the item is ready. This can be compared to the chip carving technique described above, where the items tend to be finished in one sweep rather than being gradually shaped into the desired form.