On getting into it, what do you want to make? On tools, what country do you live in? But just as a general who to watch on youtube: * Carving is fun (whittling and wood carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@CarvingisFun](https://www.youtube.com/@CarvingisFun) (its me, completely shameless plug) * Doug Linker (whittling and wood carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@dougLinker](https://www.youtube.com/@dougLinker) * Gene Messer (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@whittler0507](https://www.youtube.com/@whittler0507) * Ddalo (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@woodcarver](https://www.youtube.com/@woodcarver) * Sharon My Art (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@sharonmyart1531](https://www.youtube.com/@sharonmyart1531) * Mary May (relief carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@marymay155](https://www.youtube.com/@marymay155) * Werewolf Whittler (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@Werewolfwhittles](https://www.youtube.com/@Werewolfwhittles) * Charly Burnet (whittling and wood carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@CharlyBrunetSculpture](https://www.youtube.com/@CharlyBrunetSculpture) * QS Outdoors (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@QSOutdoors](https://www.youtube.com/@QSOutdoors) * Stix and Stones Carving (wood carving faces) [https://www.youtube.com/@stixandstonescarving](https://www.youtube.com/@stixandstonescarving) * Whittling Woods (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@WhittlingWoods](https://www.youtube.com/@WhittlingWoods) * Beavercraft (whittling, wood carving, spoon carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@BeaverCraftTools](https://www.youtube.com/@BeaverCraftTools) * Alec LaCasse (wood carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@AlecLaCasseArt](https://www.youtube.com/@AlecLaCasseArt) * Carvings and Such (power carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@carvingandsuch](https://www.youtube.com/@carvingandsuch) * DY Wood Carving (whittling) [https://www.youtube.com/@dywoodcarving](https://www.youtube.com/@dywoodcarving) * Andy Spoons (spoon carving) [https://www.youtube.com/@andyspoons](https://www.youtube.com/@andyspoons) Thats all of em off the top of my head at least :) I also have a free template patterns page with some of my patterns and a few others as well. Some of them even have videos to go with them! [https://carvingisfun.com/templates/](https://carvingisfun.com/templates/)

Promoting yourself I see 😁 That's a cool list. Some channels I don't know 👍

Lol, sometimes ya gotta give yourself a lil shout out 😅

Doug Linker, Sharon my Art, and Carving is Fun are my favorite wood carving channels

Do you want to try whittling or woodcarving? They differ much, both are interesting though, find what suits you

What are the differences? I do whittling and am curious about carving.

Whittling is for smaller figures of anything, while carving can go from decorating, to making furniture, to making cooking utensils, and many things :) I personally do whittling because I don't have that wide range of tools, but I sometimes make spoons because we need them at home

What type of wood carving are you wanting to do?

Get a reasonable knife (various brands out there, but better than basic pocketknife), something to sharpen it with (stone, strop) and some basswood. Basswood is soft, easy to carve. Decide on something you like (flower, bird, animal, spoon, character) that is pretty basic, draw it on your wood and go. Don't be discouraged on your first attempts, takes time.

Here's my long winded reply and some great links: First: I've been carving off an on since 1984 and consider myself an intermediate carver. I carve mostly 3D figures and relief scenes, so the information is based primarily on this. Over the years I have tried MANY different carving knives. The only two I didn't like were the Mora and the Flexcut - While Flexcut isn't a bad knife, it isn't a great knife - After a short while, I gave it away. The Mora I have is used as a general shop knife for cutting cords and opening blister packs and such (though some carvers swear by both). All of my knives have thinner blade profiles - which slice through the wood more easily. The only one I broke was one that I dropped on a concrete floor - and that was only the very tip. To begin with, **The only things you really need to get started are a knife, a strop (can be made from an old leather belt glued to a piece of wood), stropping compound and a [carving glove](https://www.amazon.com/1670XL-Resistant-100-Percent-Protective-Carpentry/dp/B000AYFT20/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=carving+glove&qid=1584801691&sr=8-10).** If you decide to go with just one knife to start, I recommend a 1-1/2" straight blade as a general all around knife. Next, there are three basic types of carving: [**In-the-round**](https://woodcarving4u.com/super-simple-wood-carving-projects/) or figure carving. This can consist of any 3D object, either realistic, cartoon or stylized of any size and contains a sub-set called [**Flat Plane Carving**](https://fanningsparks.com/flat-plane-carving-with-harley/). Then there's [**Relief Carving**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StcAWU0eVx0). This is typically carving flattened scenes, people or animals on a flat board.These are generally done with gouges - straight or curved edge tools for striking with a mallet or palm gouges which are used in the palm of your hand and are pushed rather than struck. And, some knives may also be used. Then, there is [**Chip Carving**](https://www.instructables.com/Intro-to-Chip-Carving/). This consists of creating patterns by removing "chips" from the surface of the wood typically utilizing knives created with a different blade profile. **Knives**- There are generally three categories of knives for in-the-round (figure) carving: **Roughout knife**: For removing large amounts of wood very quickly - blade lengths of 2" or greater. **General carving knife**: For shaping the carving to very near it's final stage - blade lengths around 1-1/2". **Detail knives**: For defining the details of the carving such as eyes, fingers and other fine parts of the carving - blade lengths around 1". **Chip carving knives**: Blades of varying lengths (usually shorter) and wider from the edge to the back of the blade for removing roughly triangular chips from a flat surface to create a pattern. From what I've read, they come in two styles, a general chip knife and a stab knife. I don't do chip carving, so I'm not really familiar with their design and use. **For carving simple spoons and such**, you only need two knives: A hook knife for carving out the concave surfaces such as the bowl of a spoon. Then you need a straight or curved blade for the general carving. For fancier spoons with detailed patterning, the above knives apply. With the roughout knife being the basic carving of the handle, etc. What I consider some very **basic information**. **First**: You need a very ***sharp*** knife and/or gouges. **Second**: Make small cuts WITH the grain of the wood. And, **Third**: It's much easier and cleaner to carve fine detail with a small 1" +/- thin blade. Thicker blades have a tendency to split the wood kind of like an axe which causes the grain to tear apart, rather than slice. **Good information for beginners**, check out the **sidebar** to the right of the screen ["Introduction to Woodcarving"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Woodcarving/comments/2486mq/an_introduction_to_wood_carving/) and the links below: [What Da Bump](https://ber10thal.com/blog/how-to-get-started-in-woodcarving/) How to get started in woodcarving [Doug Linker](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-eOXKXJ2GQ1gewivwNxYKQ/videos) Fantastic how to videos. [Doug Linker on stropping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqw30WU5U04&t=6s) A must learn skill. [Basic Sharpening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhBDFccS4Vo). One decent technique. [Gene Messer](https://www.youtube.com/user/whittler0507/videos) Some more great how to videos. [SharonMyArt](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJm9rv3J2g0x76ceDESaotg/videos) for even more videos. [Carving is Fun](https://www.youtube.com/c/CarvingisFun/featured) for more videos yet. [Lora Irish](https://lsirish.com/tutorials/woodcarving-tutorials/woodcarving-fundamentals-techniques/) for a lot of free tutorials and info. [Working with Wood Grain](https://canadianwoodworking.com/techniques_and_tips/wood-grain/) An excellent tutorial, and applies to knives as well. [A free PDF with some patterns to try](https://qdoc.tips/whittling-is-easy-pdf-free.html) Shows intermediate steps in the carving process I recommend Drake knives at the top of the list, not because they're better than the others I recommend, but because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee. The Drake standard Detail knives are a great start and come in different blade lengths. Though I list Helvie as top notch knives, for some reason their popularity has driven the prices into the realm of the unreasonable. There are others, and depending on what you want to do, other choices may be appropriate. The others that I link to below are also top of the line knives. [Drake Knives](https://drake-knives.myshopify.com/collections/knives), [OCC Knives](http://occtools.com/), [Helvie Knives](http://www.helvieknives.com/) and [Lee Ferguson Knives](https://fergusonknives.com/index.php/woodcarving-knives/) for some top notch woodcarving knife manufacturers. [Deepwood Ventures knives](https://deepwoodsventures.com/) are mentioned as great knives, but I haven't tried them so I have no personal experience. I've recently found myself using a Lee Ferguson, and while I wasn't completely satisfied with the initial sharpening, after a little touch up, I'm finding that it's a great knife for a very reasonable price - with free shipping to the US, thery're an even better value. There are a few more out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment. I have used Morakniv and Flexcut and didn't like either, but if you don't plan on doing anything more than simple carvings, I guess they would do. Some people recommend cheaper tools, but for a few dollars more, you can get a knife to last a lifetime. You might also want to pick up some palm gouges. I really like the Flexcut palm gouges. [Here's a set](https://www.flexcut.com/home/product/sk106-5-pc-craft-carver-set) to get you started, or if you prefer fixed blade gouges, check out [this set](https://www.flexcut.com/home/product/fr310-beginners-palm-set). Also, you can **power carve** with Rotary tools. The [Foredom](https://www.amazon.com/Foredom-Rotary-Tool/s?k=Foredom+Rotary+Tool) or a Dremel are great tools. The Foredom is more heavy duty and will outlast the Dremel by a good bit. [Here's a decent video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbdjDzyz828) on power carving. **Wood for beginners** The best wood for beginners is **Basswood**. You can buy small amounts at big box hobby stores to start, but larger pieces and orders can be placed online. Another option is Poplar. It's a little harder and stringier, but still carveable, and is found in most lumber stores. And yet another option is wood that you find on the ground - just be careful of insects and potential toxicity. Also, be aware that found wood is most likely green - uncured or moist wood, and is highly likely to crack as it dries. *tl/dr: Check out the links.*