Rose

Just lovely!  I would love to develop the skills to carve like this. What are the general dimensions?  

ditto,same as barb !

Thanks! If you have the right tools and aren't in a hurry, it isn't too tough to do. It's 11" X 7". I should add that this is in a box to be sent to one of my sisters, who makes xmas ornaments for the family every year. There are quilts hanging all over the house, so no place to put it.

Well done carving, and beautiful. Basswood is easy to carve, that is what my Dad used for his decoy carving.

Thanks, decoys are something I haven't attempted, as I don't hunt except at the grocery store. :D

My Dad was carving the decorative ones and entered shows. I recently acquired a ledge of his work, did not realize how many he carved over the years. Mid 80's to late 90's

Good work. Caving is on my list but time is running out and there’s a lot on my list. 🤣

this is a GR8  carving very nice details GR8 JOB 😍😎

What would be a good "starter set" of carving tools?  I was saying how cool this is and my husband said maybe he and the dogs could give me carving tools for  Christmas...

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.

Thanks for all those insights.  My dad always says that projects are easier with the right tools.  

I have been looking at the FlexCut knifes. Rockler has them on sale currently for the sets. Have not researched others, but just looking at the pricing which seems to be a good deal.

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I have been looking at the FlexCut knifes. Rockler has them on sale currently for the sets. Have not researched others, but just looking at the pricing which seems to be a good deal.

I have several sets of Flexcut knives; they are the manufacturers of my scorps. There are other brands of carving knives; some of the other carvers should weigh in before you buy a bunch of knives.

If you have several sets, then they must be good also. My only problem will be maintaining a good edge, need to refine sharpening skills.

Eric- those look to have good reviews
 

That is what I was thinking, and for the cost to get started down the rabbit hole, I was thinking why not. If it goes well, I could upgrade to something else down the road.

Look into Mora and some other brands. I did not know that Pfeil made knives, or I might have bought them instead of the Flexcut knives. Back when I had good cash flow, (I used to travel as part of my job, and was given per diem money with no questions asked- long story) I just bought the Flexcut knives. I'm really hoping that people hold off buying carving tools until they have more knowledge than I did, back in the day. Maybe a blog or something should be started to help people with tool purchases and techniques. Though, again, that's reinventing the wheel, when there are websites dedicated to just this.

That is a good point, I still need to do more research myself, but I am looking more a set to get me started done that road. Another carver is Hokie Ken, He could probably chime in on some of the others that are out there. 

A forum for carving would work here also.

The Flexcut knives seem to be more for chip carving, though I could be wrong. I'd really dislike seeing that someone spent a ton of money on tools that they won't need. I have a bit of that in the larger tools.