Carving

Safe knife grips, wood choice and fundamentals of Scandinavian slöjd carving.

• The basic safe carving grips

  Safe knife carving relies on a few grips that keep the blade's path away from your body: the forehand grip, the chest-lever grip, the thumb-push (thumb-assist) grip and the paring cut. Always know where the edge will go if the wood suddenly gives way.

• Choosing wood for spoon and figure carving

  Freshly cut green wood of birch, alder, lime (basswood) or fruitwoods is ideal for spoons because it is soft while wet and hardens as it dries. For figure whittling, dry, even-grained lime/basswood is the classic choice. Avoid woods with a strong smell or known toxicity for food utensils.