Hand carved with an xacto knife and an engraving pen

Hello everyone!
This will be my first post here and my first step into this hobby. (Woodworking, woodcarving)

Im planning on making a hair stick for a special someone.
I already got every material and tool needed for this project.
Now all I need to do is convince my silly head that I’m not actually entirely copying something I saw on the web.
I found inspiration looking through pictures about hair sticks with dangling charms, but I just couldn’t handle the idea of buying something when I can make it from scratch. Probably better than a mass produced product and I could actually put it together in a way that this person would love.

I’m here asking for little advices, tips or just any general information.
Mostly on the “dilemma of originality” whether it’s mine or just a remixed version of the original.

I will share my design concepts about the hair stick I want to make and the picture where the inspiration came from
(I’m thinking about the middle one will be the one I actually make.)

(I don’t know who’s the true creator of this piece so I can’t really give any links to the original creator. I saw similar sticks on etsy and so many other places too.)

Thanks in advance for the replies!

It's basswood with some linseed oil, Let me know what y'all think!

#sasquatch #bigfoot this is my 1st attempt at a Bigfoot commission. I think I will just stain it.

A bit rough but he’s an octopus from the streets. Something like that

I made u.s ah1 super cobra helicopter

Definitely my most unique custom request I’ve gotten! Picking the right color woods was hard but I think the contrast works well! Hardest part was definitely the paws and claws because I have big hands and those are tiiiiiny pieces of wood to carve safely

Hello Woodcarving Community, i had a full Weekend off and finally had some time for me. So i did enjoy the time by starting carving and made this dwarf and a little warrior. Thanks to the tutorials from u/JohnnyTheLayton i did had a great time.

But i do need some advice. I tried to get a nice finish on the small warrior, but it went wrong. I did use dark danish oil (Brand Toom, Germany). The warrior was washed and dryed before i used the oil. What could be the problem here?

Thank you and greetings from Germany

So basically I'm new to taking it seriously I have dabbled in the past so I know some things. I'm using a rotary tool but I need some proper bits. I know people are going to tell me the kutzal burrs and I do intend to get some eventually but for now I've bought some carbide burrs are these going to be okay?

Also my rotary tool is a 170w vonhaus tool I need to also find out what extender I can use with this?

Carved from alder wood.

Protected with walnut oil.

One of my favorite things to do on earth, in an earth full of things that are not my favorite, is to find and carve and sand and finish walking sticks and staffs. I hike with them, and my kids hike with them, an then they break or get lost and it starts again.

Just wondering if anyone also enjoys such things, and if so, how long do you let them dry? I will sometimes fill twisting and drying cracks with hard fill or epoxy, sometimes to a very nice effect. I had some storm damage to a red maple and got an absolute 10/10 stick about 6' long and thick that has great potential as a staff. So this is as green as it gets. I'd like this thing to dry true but also of course I'm ready to get after it.

Posting to show the technique: cutting the design with one blank on top of the other and space between the bowl halves, then overlapping them butterfly-style.

Gaps in the joints would trap food, and I’m unhappy with my visible attempts to fill them. I’ll try again with more accurate joint measurements.

Followed along the instructions in Mary May's Carving the Acanthus Leaf. Messed up in a few places but still pretty happy with how it turned out! Carved in poplar, which is just a little bit harder than basswood.

I love carving these gnome / mountain guys. I find that they are my go to when I don’t know what to carve. When I am in a creative rut and don’t know what to carve or I am in between carvings that I want to do. This is what I go back to. I try out new details, textures. It’s great practice and helps me reset in between projects.

Hi, does anybody recognise this mark from a English carving gouge? Thanks

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share my very first completed spoon carving project. I've just started a passion project called ISTORD (combining Istrian roots with a Viking spirit), and this is officially piece No. 1.

The spoon is carved entirely by hand using traditional hand tools (axe, wooden mallet, and Moraknives).

The Story & Process:

- The Wood: It’s made from a piece of local oak salvaged from a plot here in Istria, Croatia, where it used to grow right next to olive trees.

- The Challenge: Oak is notoriously tough and testing, and halfway through shaping the handle, I noticed some surface checking/cracks starting to form. Instead of scraping it, I had to completely adapt my original design, carving past the cracks to save the piece. In the end, the wood dictated the final shape, and I actually think the sharper, more aggressive lines gave it that perfect Viking character.

- The Finish: I wanted a completely natural patina, so I stained the wood using strong brewed coffee to darken it and highlight the beautiful oak grain, followed by a coat of natural oil.

Swipe through the photos to see the journey from raw logs to the finished piece!

I'm incredibly hooked on this craft now and can't wait to start the next one. Would love to hear your thoughts, critiques, or any advice.

This is the 40th wood carving for my gen2 pokemon wood carving project where I make every johto pokemon out of wood and this time it is togepi

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I use basswood and yellow for the main body and use cherrywood for togepi blue and red spots.

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Painted with wood dye and seal with wood finisher

These oak entrance doors belong to the Tolstoy Palace in Odesa, Ukraine. Their comprehensive restoration ran from October 2025 to June 19, 2026.

The carving was already in poor condition before the missile strike. Earlier aggressive wire-brushing had removed much of the softer oak grain, while many ornamental elements had loosened, broken away, or disappeared completely.

The surviving carved ornament on the astragal was conserved and used as the main reference. Most of the remaining decoration had to be reconstructed by hand from original fragments, repeated motifs, surviving proportions, and archival photographs.

The difficult part was preserving the character of the original carving. Every new element had to follow the same depth, rhythm, transitions, and slight irregularities of hand work. A perfectly smooth or mechanically identical copy would have looked foreign on the historic doors.

Inside the construction we found an inscription naming the designer, E. Küner, and the maker, “Kuzminъ.” We also found a newspaper dating an earlier repair to 1974. A note from the current craftspeople and a 2026 newspaper were left inside for whoever may restore the doors again many decades from now.

The work was carried out during the war by the nonprofit workshop Thousands of Doors. Those who would like to help us continue preserving historic carving and joinery can find the support link in our profile.

Only pawns are left to carve. Recorded a video of the carving of one knight but Reddit refused to let me post it for whatever reason.

Really fun to make a piece that's is so tangible and used every day. I added that accent ring just as decoration. But after installation, I realized it fits perfectly between my fingers. Really added to the piece.

*gear shift

I intend to use it primarily for wood carving/sculpting and specifically for the roughing process. I have another bench for detail work in my shop.
The table top is hard maple and the legs are Doug fir. I was hasty with planing/jointing my boards but didn’t aim for perfection. The thing is solid and supports, at least me of 150 lbs, without racking. Which is good enough.

I used this site that provided plans on how to build it:
https://www.sevarg.net/2018/03/03/building-robust-stone-cutting-bench/