I'll try to answer at least some of the questions that frequently come my way concerning this type of woodcarving. Naturally, I'll answer from my own experience (which includes absolutely no formal carving training), recognizing that some carvers no doubt will do things differently and would answer these questions in a different way. No problem...The important thing is to "get the job done" and have fun at it.
1. What kind of knife do you recommend?
There are several parts to this answer. (1) A really sharp one! Please don't try to carve with a less than sharp knife. Guaranteed frustration if you do! (2) If you're using a pocketknife, make sure it has a small blade (1 1/2 inches/4 centimeters long) as well as the standard longer one (2 1/2 inches/6 1/2 centimeters long). Most of your carving will be done with the small blade...even if you're carving something big. (3) The steel should be good, sharpening well, and holding an edge well. It could be carbon steel or stainless steel. Some carvers are "allergic" to stainless, but I've found that the Victorinox Swiss Army knives I've been using for a bunch of years are very good. The main model I've been using for a long time is the Tinker, but I've also used the Recruit ( a bit smaller than the Tinker) and the Hiker (essentially the Tinker with an added saw blade).
One reason I recommend the Victorinox Swiss Army knives that I've mentioned is that they're very good knives and relatively easy to find, especially the Tinker and the Recruit. (And please do yourselves a big favor and never buy one of those cheap imitations of the Swiss Army knife--at least not for any kind of woodcarving! In my own experience I've never found one of these knives to have decent steel.)
2. What kinds of wood do you use?
While I occasionally use blocks or scraps of milled wood, most of the carving I do is with twigs and branches of all sizes. Little twigs 1/16 of an inch thick can be transform into little flowers, trees, and even Crockadile Dundee type hunting knives (for Polly Pocket!) Large maple, oak or sycamore forks make great slingshots for small pumpkins and large grapefruits...and for "Country Pitching Machines" that can toss a baseball 500 feet and pitch a knuckleball 130 miles per hour!! (You wouldn't believe all the fun I've had with water bombs...and the occasional tomato, potato, or spotted apple!)
Of the 80 or so varieties of wood I've carved in the past 45 years, I'm guessing that 75 of them have been hardwoods. To name a few: birch (any kind), maple, live oak, water oak, pin oak, holly, beech, ironwood (blue beech), cherry, guava, quince, orange, grapefruit, lemon, viburnum, bottlebrush, myrtle, alnos (in the Philippines), lentisco (my favorite wood in Portugal), olive, elm, certain varieties of apple.
Naturally, since these woods are hardwoods, I do most of my carving when they are still relatively fresh. Definitely don't try to carve a rooster our of seasoned pin oak, maple, or beech!!!
3. Are roosters the only thing you carve with a y-shaped branch?
Granted, the main "critters" I've carved over the past 45-plus years have been roosters--all shapes and sizes. They definitely are the "mascots" of the branch-carving concept. However, I've whittled (or carved, if you like that word better) many, many other things too. True, many are also birds or one kind or another: pheasants, herons/egrets, roadrunners, eagles (not many!), a Baltimore oriole (while I was at a Baltimore Orioles baseball game), a raven, a grackle, and a few generic songbirds. Oh, and there have been at least a couple of little cartoon-type ducks.
In the four books that I've written for Fox Chapel Publishing the great majority of the projects are not at all bird related. Some projects are for personal use, others for home decoration. Some are intensely useful, while others are "just for fun!" The newest book, BIG BOOK OF WHITTLE FUN (officially on the market as of April of this year) has 31 projects, very few of which are repeats of things I've written about in previous books. Even the all-important rules of this type of carving are expressed quite differently. Here's hoping your German, French,Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and .... are up to snuff! Don't worry, we've thrown in a bit of English too!
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Well, at least that's a start. I'll try to add more in the days ahead.
I'm sorry I can't promise to answer questions by e-mail. Time constraints, added to the fact that I'm just not a good e-mail communicator just don't lend themselves to that option. (My six-year-old grandkids know more about computers and this internet stuff than I do!) I can, however, try to answer questions by phone at times. For what it's worth, the program I did a number of years ago on the DIY Network does give a lot of good information. Click on my Home Page to the link to the DIY program. Also, I've tried to be fairly detailed in my explanations in my Fox Chapel books.
