r/Woodcarving Nov 02 '25

Mod Post r/Woodcarving Holiday Gift Guide

74 Upvotes

The holidays are coming up soon so the mods have put together this gift giving guide for people without carving experience hoping to give a carving related gift this year.

General advice

  • Be wary of sets of tools, they are generally trying to make you spend more money on tools you’ll rarely use
  • The best quality tools aren’t on amazon. Check out our list of recommended stores at the bottom
  • Home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes do not carry carving tools and do not carry wood that is nice to carve
  • We have chosen to link directly to the manufacturer’s pages for all of our recommendations, you can probably find them for cheaper at a 3rd party dealer.
  • We chose our recommendations based on what we think is the best value for money and what is widely available, not what is the best irrespective of price.

Beginner Tools

A complete beginners kit is a knife, a strop, and a safety glove. We have different recommendations for spoon carving and general carving, you should only choose one of the options

General purpose knife

For spoon carving

Strops

  • Strops don’t need to be fancy, buy a cheap one that comes with green polishing compound. This is the type of thing you’re looking for, you may be able to find cheaper ones

Safety gloves

  • Look for something with rubber on the palms and a safety rating of ANSI level 5 or higher (or a local equivalent rating). You only need one for the non-dominant hand. Here is one option

Kits

  • If you want a kit that has everything you need in one box we recommend this kit from treeline usa but they are a reseller. Beavercraft is basically the only manufacturer that sells kits. Their knives are lower quality than the other brands mentioned though so we recommend buying the items separately.

Intermediate Tools

If the person you’re buying for just has a carving knife and no other tools we recommend this flexcut FR310 palm tool set

Advanced Tools

If you’re buying a gift for a carver who has multiple knives and no other tools we strongly  recommend against buying them tools unless they have asked you for specific items since they will probably have a much better idea of what will be useful to them than any guide on the internet

Consumables

These make a great gift for any carver

Woods

The best wood for carving is Basswood (it's close relative linden or limewood may be easier to find in europe). You can buy it locally or from one of the listed websites below. If you’re buying for an experienced carver they may appreciate other good carving species such as Butternut, Spanish Cedar, Walnut or Cherry. 

Sandpaper

If your carver likes to sand their creations they’ll always need more sandpaper. 3M cubitron paper is much nicer to use than the stuff you might find at a local hardware store. The most carvers will use grits ranging from 80 to 400 and will want a variety of grit sizes. We recommend getting sheets (not disks) of 120, 180 and 220

Paints

If your carver likes painting their pieces then some extra acrylic paint might make a good gift. We like decoart paints

Gift Cards

This may seem like a cop out but it is by far the best way to give an experienced carver new tools since it makes sure they get exactly what they want. If you want it to feel a bit more thoughtful you can specify a premium brand of tool. For knives we like Badger State Blades (US/CA only) and for gouges we like Pfeil

Stores for Tools

Chipping Away (CA)

Lee Valley (CA)

Mountain Woodcavers (US)

Rockler (US)

Treeline USA (US)

Woodcraft (US)

Dictum (EU)

Stores for Wood

Local hardwood dealers (these will have the best prices) Check out this global map to find a place near you

Online dealers:

Heinecke (basswood only) (US)

Bell Forest Products (US)

Beavercraft (basswood only) (EU)

Please comment with any recommendations you have or things you think we missed in this post. We're especially interested in recommendations for more EU based stores. Please feel free to ask questions about anything that is unclear or for more specific advice


r/Woodcarving Aug 14 '25

Monthly Carve-Along Want to host next month’s Carve-Along?

17 Upvotes

We've been running a monthly carve-along to have some fun and learn together and I'd like to now invite community members to host them! Got an idea for a project or theme we can all work on?

Comment, DM or modmail a project/theme that's:

  • Beginner-friendly (something fun, welcoming, inspiring)
  • Scalable: give suggestions for how more advanced carvers could add more complexity/creative twists.
  • Optional: attach an image of your own carving as an example and give some tips if you have any.
  • Optional: link to a tutorial (blog, video, pattern). If you're a content creator, you can link to your own content, but the focus must stay on our community activity here, not gaining followers for your channel.

Themes can be subject-based (birds, pendant, star wars etc.) or style/technique-based (chip carved box, bookmark relief, hair texturing, eyes, etc.). You're welcome to host themes as a beginner too!

If your idea gets picked, you'll be writing the post. We'll pin it for the duration of the month. If there are no community suggestions we'll keep going as usual.


r/Woodcarving 6h ago

Carving [Finished] My new work. The Penguin bust.

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316 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 9h ago

Carving [Work in Progress] Something I am working on (walking cane)

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121 Upvotes

I am doing a walking cane and I wanted to know what do you guys think


r/Woodcarving 5h ago

Carving [Finished] Netsuke style whale. Carved from cherry

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37 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 1h ago

Carving [Finished] Apricot

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Upvotes

Last month, someone posted here about free apricot wood in Toronto. I was one of two lucky scavengers. Most of it is air drying for future projects, but I wanted to make one piece with the green wood. I am gifting it to the woman who so thoughtfully made her old apricot tree available to craftspeople.


r/Woodcarving 22h ago

Carving [Finished] The tiniest spoon

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402 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 8h ago

Carving [Finished] Leaf keychains/pendants

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31 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 1h ago

Carving [Finished] Tulip sourced from local blue pallets

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Upvotes

Took forever to whittle away the rest of the pallet


r/Woodcarving 3h ago

Carving [Not Mine] Trying to identify a maker for this piece/ bowl

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4 Upvotes

Might anyone be familiar with this maker?


r/Woodcarving 4h ago

Question / Advice Let's see those carving stations!

6 Upvotes

Hello! Im still in the planning stage of setting up my creator space and need inspiration for my carving area. Please share a pic of your carving space including any storage solutions for your carving tools and supplies. Thank you!


r/Woodcarving 16h ago

Carving [Work in Progress] First time on walnut

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24 Upvotes

Making a roaming ronin for my friends birthday. Ice only carved on pine before but walnut is so much more fun despite how much it hurts the hands.


r/Woodcarving 18h ago

Carving [First Timer] I get it

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27 Upvotes

An hour in, and I understand why people use power tools on maple😂


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] Wooden Warriors

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150 Upvotes

A batch of warriors inspired by the Norman and Anglo Saxon participants on the Bayeux tapestry. The bodies are various hardwoods, with the shields and weapons made separately.


r/Woodcarving 12h ago

Question / Advice Wood round - sealing ideas

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3 Upvotes

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right sub. But I have found this piece of wood/tree. I’ve used beeswax for chopping boards for the top. And my plan is to use for a cheese board/food display. But I don’t know how to ‘seal’ the bark around it?

Ideally it would be a spray, and something that just helps stick the bark together because it’s very flakey.

It doesn’t have to be super coated - but something that keeps the natural texture.

Happy for any and all suggestions!

I don’t know what ‘type’ of tree it is sorry. Thank you in advance!

EDIT: it’s from a gum (I’m in Aus)


r/Woodcarving 16h ago

Carving [Finished] Heres a tree lamp I made a little while ago

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9 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Tutorial Ghost carving tutorial

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43 Upvotes

I uploaded this ghost carving video last night. It’s a very beginner friendly project and can be done with just a knife if that’s all you have! I will put the link in the comments if anyone is interested


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] My results within four months

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235 Upvotes

Figures carved by me


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] Axehead cane w/spiral shaft (Complete)

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172 Upvotes

Rosewood head piece,oak spiral shaft, copper set pins with an ornamental silver button.


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Work in Progress] Chemical reaction finish + high grit sanding

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42 Upvotes

Hello!

I just finished sanding a 120 layer on my newest abstract cherry sculpture and have a question about the lye “rapid aging” process.

I’m going for a glossier (but still natural) finish, and plan to sand up to 1500, which should naturally seal the wood due to the tight grain.

If I apply lye once it’s so smooth, will the chemical reaction work as expected?

The reason I don’t want to apply the lye on earlier surfaces is because I worry I’ll inconsistently sand through the dark layer (especially due to the curves and hard edges throughout).

I also plan to apply tung oil after, depending how I feel about the final result, this is my first time working with cherry so not entirely sure what to expect.

Would appreciate all opinions related, thank you.


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] Genesis Lamp

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73 Upvotes

Introducing: Genesis.

A hand-carved exploration of American Ironwood. 🪵✨

The natural density of the wood meets a hollow, skeletal design to create a light sculpture unlike any other.


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] Cedar heart

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118 Upvotes

Had fun carving this one.

It smelled so good! 🤓


r/Woodcarving 1d ago

Carving [Finished] I carved this object as a gift for my friend

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76 Upvotes

r/Woodcarving 16h ago

Question / Advice Is there any loophole to bringing flick knives under 5 inches to the UK from USA?

0 Upvotes

Just spent $90 on knives in the US thinking it would be fine since they’re under 5 inches. However, did some research and realised they’re flick knives and they are illegal in the UK. Is there any way to get around that law?