re: Rose

Thanks, folks!

BB1, I bought my palm tools made by Pfeil over a period of about 15 years. They come in sets (or singly) and aren't cheap. It's hard to say which set would be the best to start with. I'd suggest looking into the sort of carving you'd like to do, and I'd recommend looking at the https://forum.woodcarvingillustrated.com/ site for a ton of informative posts about any type of carving. This rose was done with chisels (flat blades) and gouges (curved blades). Some flat carving really takes scorps (blades edge-on rather than in-line with the handle). You can look up pics of the scorps. The comment has been made by accomplished carvers that not every tool has to be bought for a particular carving, and that other tools not specified by the person making the tutorial may be used. Substitutions can be made, but that takes experience. I have all the Pfeil palm tools, and some from Henry Taylor and Ashley Isles palm tools. No brag, just fact. Also have a bunch of bigger tools, but that's not a place to start (at least for me). The reason for buying them all is because I worked as a mechanic for many years, and if I didn't have the tool, I had to go buy it while the task sat, not making any money for me. Of course, I'm not making money with carving, but that was the mind-set at the time of purchase. Whatever your husband and the dogs buy, just be sure that the tools are about $20-$40 apiece, if bought singly. Those $8 sets are garbage and a guaranteed disappointment.