Woodcarving Knife - Why and Which One?

Carving wood can result in numerous sculptures and useful items. The end-result of carving woods will be soothing for the eye of the beholder. For this beautiful creation, the wood carving knife plays a vital role. Woodcarving knives are an extremely pertinent one of them. The use of these wood carving knives are as tools to round, smooth and trim woods while carving woods for creating an item.

The knives for carving woods will consist of two main parts - handle and the blade. The handle of a woodcarving knife will be long. This is to ensure a strong grip while working. Secondly, the blade of the knife will be unusually thin. The thin blade is necessary for a good control over the blade that is crucial for some exceptionally sophisticated works on woods.

Depending on the tasks of the carver, the types of wood carving knives will vary. In most of the cases, there are three types of wood carving knives. These are "Detail", "Carving" and "Roughing". These knives have varying length of both handles and the blades. Roughing knives have both the longest handle and the longest blade among the three. "Detail" knives have slightly shorter blade length that the "Carving" type. The tasks of each of these three knives also vary. "Roughing" knives take care of the bulk of the woods quickly. As a result, the blade of the "Roughing" type does not necessary be particularly delicate. The "Detail", on the other hand, handles extremely delicate touch of the carving tasks. "Carving" knives usage is the most and for any task between the most delicate and the roughest.

The quality of woodcarving task depends on how delicately the carver handles the wood carving knife set. The handling of the knives, on the other hand, depends on the easiness. This easiness comes from the handle of the wood carving knife set. A handle needs to fit in properly in the hand of the carver. The ergonomic design ensures that the carver does not get tired or can move the knife easily to produce subtle details in a work. The carver should test this before deciding on a woodcarving knife.

The strength of the blade is also crucial. Woodcarving works are on both hard and soft woods. The hard woods are harder to carve than the soft ones. However, the former is more durable than the latter. The choice of the blade is dependent in the woods. To work on soft wood, a slightly softer blade may suffice, while the hard wood will require a hard blade. However, in either case, preference of the blade to be professionally sharpened. The sharp blade ensures easiness of carving tasks, especially for those that require long hours of work.

Typically, a woodcarving knife set may not be enough for carving tasks. Every wood needs some pre-processing before its construction, suitable for actual carving tasks. Therefore, the knives should be complemented by a variety of other tools. Some of these tools include gouge, mallet and chisel. Normally, the carving task begins with a large piece of wood. Gouge may quickly bring that into shape. Mallet and chisel may also be required to shape a hard portion of wood for carving.

The end-result of a woodcarving task begins in the imagination of the carver. The knives are essential to translate that imagination into reality. The choice of a knife or sets of knives depends on the experience level of the carver and the detail of the work. There is nothing universal about which knife to be used. Therefore, just choose the one that best suits you and your work.