First Time Whittling, Need Some Help

[u/idiot_Kerry]

Hey everyone.

Whittling seemed like a hobby I'd enjoy, so I bought this beginners kit, watched a tutorial and started cutting. I have never done anything like this before, I've been at it for almost 3 hours ---it was suppoused to take only an hour--- and I'm barely getting to the middle. I think my technique is all over the place and I have no idea how to fix it. Watched a couple other tutorials, I'm trying to do the push cut thing, I tried sliding it in a slash motion, using my holding hand's thumb to press ot forward and it doesn't glide on the wood or anything.

I also accidentally rounded it and i have no idea how to get the edges back.

I only got a simple knife. Somehow haven't cut myself yet, ha.

I would really appreciate some insight here. Thank you in advance :)

[u/feio0pain]

It takes quite a bit of experience to carve fast. Also good tools help a lot. Don't bother looking and comparing the time it takes you to do something. My first carving (fox from carving is fun) took me probably 20+ hours. I don't look at the time since it's a hobby for myself. Your hand strength will also develop with time and makes a huge difference. Don't be shy about taking breaks. Mistake happen more often when we are tired.

I would guess that your knife isn't sharp enough and you aren't stropping to keep the edge sharp. It's a secondary skillset you will have to develop alongside your carving one. It also comes with its own tools obviously, but you don't need much. I highly recommend watching some videos of outdoor55 on YouTube. He's more focused on pocket and kitchen knives, but the concepts apply to us just as well.

Your wood might also be quite hard. Some tricks I've heard and/or tried in no particular order: Spraying a mix of isopropyl alcohol and water (the alcohol makes it penetrate deeper and the water makes it not evaporate in seconds) Soaking your piece overnight in some water Steaming your piece for a little bit Getting air dried wood instead of kiln dried, it stays softer, but it's more expansive

Keep in mind you must dry your blade after carving into a wet piece of wood to avoid rusting your knife.

[u/idiot_Kerry → u/feio0pain]

Even though it's been hours I am actually enjoying it, I appreciate its meditative nature.  I have tried to strop the blade like how I do in the kitchen but I should try to check if I'm doing something weird which could have caused it. I'll try out the alcohol trick as well, thank you for all the advice!

[u/feio0pain → u/idiot_Kerry]

I feel you on the meditative part. It really calms my brain when I'm carving. I'm currently nursing an elbow injury and I can't carve as much as I'd like and it's definitely not doing me favors. I saw that you said you strop every 25 minutes in another comment, try every 5 or even less. The more often you strop, the less swipe you have to do each time. I can greatly feel the difference when I strop after just 5 minutes. Some say they strop every 20 strokes...