It will be about small sculptures like different figurines with a height of 10 centimeters. It is important for novice wood carvers to choose a good tool and wood, because a bad choice can turn into an unpleasant first impression of carving in general, especially for a child if you suddenly decide to awaken in him an interest in handicrafts. work, creativity, wood and craft. Well, or if he, a child, has such an interest aroused by itself without your direct participation.
In principle, you can carve wood with almost any knife. What to Look for in a Wood Carving Knife for Beginners? .Someone can cut something with a kitchen knife, someone with a scalpel, someone, look, and a screwdriver is ready to use, but all this, in my opinion, is from the category of sadomasochism. Much better, easier, more comfortable, easier and more pleasant to work with special knives.
If you want to cut out a small figure at your leisure, you can get by with a penknife altogether. There are even several foreign publications that tell about the peculiarities of woodcarving with such a tool, as well as describing the execution of several figures.
There are many advantages: such a knife can always be carried with you, it is quite versatile (suitable for both field use and for carving), often has several blades of different shapes (although not all of them are useful in carving), sometimes functionally no worse than specialized knives for wood carvings, often stronger than them, but at the same time thicker (the canvas itself), not as sharp, due to frequent use for working on materials such as stone, earth, etc., may be damaged and not suitable for execution carving.
Therefore, deciding to use a penknife, make sure that it is of good quality, without chipping, a broken tip, fits comfortably in your hand, and most importantly, the steel must be of good quality, keep sharpening well and sharpen. It is important that the blade of the knife is well fixed in the handle in the open position.
Another solution is to purchase specialized knives for woodcarving. A jamb knife, for example, will not work for these purposes. Something else is needed here. For example, the Bogorodsky knife.
Why is it called that? It's not hard to guess. It was named after the village of Bogorodskoye in the vicinity of Moscow. It was in this village that carvers made the Bogrodian toy, traditionally using special knives. Therefore, there is no doubt about the advisability of buying such a knife - it is convenient to use and, with proper skill, allows you to make both rough carving (creating a general "angular" shape of the figure) and fine details (this is where skill is needed). To cut such figures, for example, one such knife will be enough (this figure is the handiwork of one American master).
Another option is to use another specialized, kind of "European" knife. It is smaller than Bogorodsky, more maneuverable, while not inferior in functionality and practicality, rather the opposite - the blade is thinner, well suited for delicate wood processing. Knives come in different lengths for slightly different purposes, but there is also a universal size.
In general, all of the above tools are quite versatile in use and can be used to create and execute various shapes and drawings, the only limitation will be the skill of the master himself. Which tool should you choose? Decide for yourself. Some will appeal to you with a convenient shape of the handle, some pleasant feeling in the hand, some just color, etc. - everyone may have their own criteria. But you can still give advice - buy a tool from trusted manufacturers, which in case of anything can be returned or at least changed (having bought somewhere on the market it is not clear from whom, you run the risk of buying a low-quality knife that can discourage any desire for carving like yours and the child). And, if there is such an opportunity, buy the instrument not in absentia, but in person at the store where the instrument is presented live - then you will definitely understand which instrument is “yours”.
