@davidcahan - I don't! Once I've correctly 'commissioned' my chisel or gouge, I maintain it. 'Maintaining' is not the same as 'sharpening' I only have to re-hone if I accidentally damage the edge. We have a video about this on our Woodcarving Workshops channel here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2nHfmN7fciSd9Ec

@chrispye5149 that's what I meant... I meant maintain. I think I remember you saying in that video for every 20 minutes of carving you "maintain" (maybe you used the word strop) it 20 times. Watching you go at that wood made me wonder if the same rule applies on single projects that might take hours and hours and hours of work

@@davidcahan I do give students a 'rule' like that to get them into the idea of maintaining but the reality is that I work more by a sense of the tool. If I even think for a moment that it's losing it's edge, I don't wait for those 20 minutes to be up. And it really doesn't matter what I'm carving, It's like someone playing the violin and tuning it straight way if they feel it's going slightly out. This whole tool sharpening/maintenance thing often appears to be a big deal but mostly it's habit and attitude, I think.

@tinaforster - Don't feel intimidated! Carvers have been sharpening their tools for hundreds of years and we all have to learn how to do it. Look at the sharpening videos on our channel and just take ONE tool and works at it step by step. If something goes wrong with the tool, start again. Carving tool blades are tempered to around an inch of the shoulder so, worse thing: the tool will end up a tiny fraction of an inch shorter... Get one gouge right before moving on to another. It's so much easier than calligraphy!

​@@woodcarvingworkshop Thank you. Already selected a block of soft pine to use as a step up. Just need to decided on the font🤔 😉 I'm 5'2", just a little short for reaching the top shelves of cabinets🤦‍♀️😬🤣🤣

@chadirvine9700 - As I've tried to show in these videos, whole logs are very likely to split when they lose water. There are a few species that resist: elm and yew, for example, but it's so unpredictable. Several times I've found an un-split log that went on to split after I carved it. So I never use them for the sort of work I do. Medieval whole figures were hollowed out at the back, so your idea of boring etc to relieve the pressures produced as the wood shrinks would seem to be the way to experiment. Sorry not to be more help.

@@woodcarvingworkshop thanks! ya i kinda figured there was no magic solution

Sorry I don't and, really, I mostly don't add carnauba and use the pure beeswax. The carnauba tends to make the surface too shiny.

@TheDreamCity - If you go to our channel, you'll find making beeswax under 'Carving Matters', Here's a quick link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fH_WpaujnM2DiMU

@@woodcarvingworkshop Thanks a lot.

@juancifuentes9956 - It's hard to say if I don't know where you live! I'm familiar with sources in the UK, USA and Europe, and woodcarving tools are easy to find if you search for them online. Another way is to see if you can find any local carvers and ask them for suppliers. Whatever you do, don't buy' sets' or the cheap options you see coming out of Asia. Buy tools individually as you need them and from well--established, reputable manufacturers. Tools are an investment and will last a lifetime.

@wescarpenter4298 - On 1st Jan 2025, we'll be publishing the whole of the Beginners's Course in Woodcarving on this channel, along with a tranche of other videos that should be helpful. Check back in!

@dscrive - Try searching for 'bronze brush for wood rasps'. Liberon make a 'Bronze Liming Brush', available from Amazon.

20-25 mm. With the turnover, you want a nice thickness, even if it means adding wood to that end to fatten it up.

I'm using European Limewood (tilia sp.). The nearest US equivalent is Basswood.

​@@woodcarvingworkshop I am from Sri Lanka. Not suer if I can find this. I'm wondering if Pine wood would work for this kind of work. I have a feeling the Pine wood we can find locally is much more similar to Limewood texture-wise.

@@TheDreamCity You can certainly use pine but it must be tight-grained to take the detail - in other words grown slowly so the annual rings as very close together. Clean, straight grained, knot free. Yellow Pine and Quebec Pine have been traditional woods. A lot of pine you can buy is grown too quickly for our purpose here. At the end of the day, however, why not just take a piece of what you have an having a go You'll soon know? All the best with your carving.!

@@woodcarvingworkshop I saw once you said that in one of your videos. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us. I will definitely try with a piece of pine wood.

I have found that pine is a tad too soft. It’s amazing that your tools need to be sharper with pine or it doesn’t cut as easily.