Wood carving and whittling
Whittling is carving with a knife alone; wood carving adds gouges and chisels. This page gives the woods the USDA Wood Handbook names for carving, with their hardness, and the knife rules a safety agency and carving-knife makers agree on.
Woods for carving
Basswood is the carvers’ wood: soft, with little grain to fight.
Two sources: USDA Forest Products Laboratory and BeaverCraft , sources [1, 2]
Sources
The Wood Handbook names these species for carving, softest first. A lower Janka number is a softer wood; the Janka hardness chart ranks every species on the site.
| Wood | Janka hardness at 12% MC |
|---|---|
| Basswood | 410 lbf |
| Mahogany | 800 lbf |
| Purpleheart | 1,860 lbf |
| Goncalo alves | 2,160 lbf |
| Jelutong | Not given at 12% |
Knife safety
From the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s advice on sharp blades, and the carving-knife makers Case and BeaverCraft. Where all three agree it says so; where two state a rule, both are named.
Keep the blade sharp: a dull blade takes more force and slips more.
Wear a cut-resistant glove, especially on the hand holding the wood.
Add a thumb guard.
Two sources: Case (W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery) and BeaverCraft , sources [2, 3]
Cut away from your body, with nothing of yours in the blade’s path if it slips.
Two sources: CCOHS (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety) and Case (W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery) , sources [1, 2]
Wear eye protection.
Two sources: CCOHS (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety) and BeaverCraft , sources [1, 3]
Take your time: small, slow, controlled cuts.
Two sources: Case (W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery) and BeaverCraft , sources [2, 3]
Sources
Wood dust and the species listed as sensitizers are on the wood dust and toxic woods page.