Using a sharpening stone can be a little overkill if all you really need is a little touch up before your knife is ready to go again. Which is why the best leather strop will allow you to fix anything from blemishes to rolled edges in seconds.

Frequently used with compound, these fine abrasives are what can give a mirror polish to an edge.

We determined the best leather strop to use for wood carving tools is the Garos Leather Paddle Strop that comes with white, green, and red compounds. 

How to use a strop

First you must apply your compound (black, white, red, or green) to the leather strop, a little bit goes a long way so there is no need to cake it on there but do make sure the strop is covered in the compound.

Lay the bevel against the surface of the best leather strop and apply light pressure and begin moving the blade away from the cutting edge. Flip the blade to the opposite side and repeat the process.

 

It’s important not to move the blade toward the cutting edge because it will cut right into the strop, which will cause dulling of the balde and ruin the best leather strop. Four to six strokes is enough to get the job done.

If you want to maintain that razor sharp edge, you will need to strop your blade before you even think your edge is dull. [Read more…] about Best Leather Strop For A Mirror Polish Edge

Have you ever tried carving a spoon with JUST a whittling knife?

If you have then you know it practically takes a lifetime to accomplish. Granted, it CAN be done, but if you want the bowl of a spoon to have a smooth finish then I suggest getting the best spoon carving knife (a.k.a. “hook knife”) to do it.

Luckily, for a decent hook knife, it is quite affordable to purchase and even easier to maintain, but I would not advise buying just any hook knife. You have to know which one is the best spoon carving knife before you can make a decision like that.

[Read more…] about Best Hook Knives For Easy Spoon Carving

Splitting, chopping, breaking your back to get the wood just the right size for your stove or fireplace can be a long and grueling job. What you want to make sure of though, is that it is no harder than it has to be. To do this, you need the best splitting axe for chopping wood available!

Item:	Length:	Weight:	Blade:	Head:	Handle:
S.A. Wetterling	30.5"	5 lbs	Forged Steel	Traditional	Hickory (Wood)
Fiscars X27	See All Options	5.8 lbs	High Density Steel	Sharply Beveled	Composite
Gerber	See All Options	2.7 lbs	High Carbon Steel	Sharply Beveled	Composite
Fiscars Super Axe	36"	6 lbs	High Density Steel	Sharply Beveled	Composite
Helko	36"	6.7 lbs	High Carbon Steel	Sharply Beveled	Hickory (Wood)
Estwing E45A	26"	3.5 lbs	High Carbon Steel	Narrow Blade/ Missing Bevel	Carbon Steel

That’s why I wrote this guide, to help you find the best axe for splitting wood. There are small yet crucial differences between different types, and each is made for a particular job. 

For instance, the best splitting axe is not designed to go against the grain like a felling axe, but instead, will split the wood along the grain. Even this small detail is crucial to saving you a lot of back breaking labor!

If you want to find the best axe for splitting wood, keep on reading! [Read more…] about Top 6: Best Splitting Axe Reviews

The adze (also spelt adz) is a wood cutting tool dating back to the Stone Age. With its broad and rectangular head, its appearance is largely axe-like. The head of the adze, however, is attached at a right angle to the handle, like that of a hoe.

What is it used for?

The adze is a versatile tool, with numerous variations of different weights, sizes, and blade shape. Different types of adze are have been specifically designed with certain tasks in mind, but generally speaking, the purpose of the adze is to shave slithers from the wood’s surface, rather than chopping out sections. It can be used for hollowing curves, or for shaping and smoothing flat pieces.

The history of the adze is long and geographically far-reaching; it’s actually one of the earliest-dated tools in archaeological record. Examples of the adze dating back to the Stone Age have been discovered across Europe, and there’s evidence of it having also been used by the Maori tribes of Australia and the native people of the Northwest American coast. Depictions of the adze have even been found in Ancient Egyptian Art, from the Old Kingdom onward. [Read more…] about The Adze Tool: History, Safety, and Technique

Not sure if many of you have given power carving a hand, but my god. The possibilities are insane.

During a time, I was pretty apprehensive about giving power carving a try, mainly due to costs, and hauling off bigger pieces of wood. I feel like a lot of people associate wood carving exclusively with hand tools, and it’s true that there’s a certain feel to working so directly with the wood that a power tool just can’t replicate. Some projects and some tasks hand tools are better for, but that doesn’t mean that power carving tools doesn’t have a place in a workshop. [Read more…] about Power Carving Introduction: What To Expect

One of the most tedious and frustrating aspects about the art of wood carving is not the amount of money spent on tools.

It’s not even when you accidentally cut your finger and have to retire yourself out of commission for weeks until it’s healed.

Want to know what the most tiresome thing that we all have to deal with is?

 

Here are 7 reasons you should consider basswood as the best wood for carving:

[Read more…] about 7 Reasons Basswood Is The Best Wood For Carving

Here’s a quick and easy carving  by Whitesock1 simple enough for anyone, even if you have never carved before. Here is the finished project:

But before you can do anything, there are some essential tools you will need to complete this carving.

[Read more…] about How To: Carving A Necklace Book Pendant