Whittling Small Flat Plane Animals - GETTING STARTED

Whittling small flat plane animals is not as difficult as many think.  This posting will attempt to convince you to give it a try.

I am discovering that these small whittled pieces are great for stress relief and getting out of the carving doldrums.  They are fast not too difficult and folks seem to take a liking to them.

The vary size and nature of these smaller pieces kind of force you to slow down, both physically and mentally,

Here's some tips!

Use a very sharp, flat ground knife.

Use  slicing motion when cutting.

I sketch the animals on paper, in profile, or print them out from the internet.  When you print them out you can adjust the size from small to larger.

Select the wood thickness based upon the size of the animal on the print.  Heavy/wide bodied animals should be whittled from a thicker piece of wood.  Don't skimp on the wood thickness.

Use transfer paper (carbon paper) to transfer the animal profile outline on to the wood.  You may want to leave a "handle" on the cut out to help in holding the wood while whittling.

Use a scroll saw to cut the blank.

NOTE  When you sketch the blank you can sketch in the "flat planes" or you can sketch in the animals profile with the curves.  If you sketch the profile with the curves you will need to use the scroll saw to cut the "flat planes".

NOTE  The "flat planes" are easy to determine.  Rather than the curved surfaces of the profile, break these curves up into flat surfaces.  Kind of like "connecting the dots".

Here's a 15 minute Christmas tree ornament of  "Chesty".

Keep checking the blog for more on the ultra flat plane smaller animals.