[David]

hello to you all,
yep, i'm located in france, and completely new to carving.
i live in a truck, with quite a woody interior, so to make things a bit more personal whilst getting through the winter, i thought, why not!
allways wanted to do it, but never got round to it.
i've ordered the book "a complete guide to woodchipping yesterday, and can hardly wait.
i'd like to order some knives by pfeil, but have no clue which ones to take, so i'll start browsing the forum tonight!
david

ps. really liked the personal mail from the moderator after subscribing to the forum. don't get that often!

[Janel]

Hi David,

Thank you for your introduction! Where in France are you, and do you move around for a change of scenery and winter temperatures? There are folks in the USA who release their connection to land based homes and live in their RV's (recreational vehicles) of all sorts and descriptions.

You may find that there are not many folks on The Carving Path Forum who do chip carving, but many members do carve wood in one way or another. There are other internet forums that might more specifically have information you might be seeking, if we do not manage to answer the questions you seek answers for here.

There is much read in the five years of archived topics and posts. As long as you have electricity and an internet connection, you will be able to read and research this forum's offerings.

Welcome again,

Janel

[David]

hi janel,
thanks for your message.
because are electricity supply is limmeted i thought carving would be a nice accupation. having lots of tools etc is not easy for in the truck, neither is a carving wood with the use of a big hammer(lost the proper english word..), so that's why i thought of picking up chip carving.
if i'm wrong please let me know, since all sorrts of carving do have my interest.
we do move around quite a lot, and would like to go to india.
we gave up our farm and "usual" life, to live a life with more freedom, and we completely love it.
our truck is a swiss 4x4 army truck that's been turned into a kind of rv by the previous owner. i'm busy making a blog that will have some photo's too. i'll post the link once it's online.
once again, if you could, please let me know what kind of carving / tools i should best look for requiring a mimimum of space, and if i'm right about the chip carving.
warm regards,
david
ps had a look at your site, just amazing!

[Janel]

Hi David,

Carving and whittling have many different descriptive names. They all produce chips of one sort or another. Chip carving is a particular style and would use an array of tools that differ from what I use for my small sculptural pieces.

Here are a couple of links that might help you to find some answers:

Chris Pye Woodcarver His site is "Dedicated to the teaching, the learning and the love of woodcarving." He has an enormous information on his web site. This link (click here) connects you to a list of numerous PDF manuals that he has prepared for students of woodcarving.

If you use the keyword "chip carving" you will find many resources, such as this one that has videos and tool talk.

WoodCarving Illustrated Board Woodcarving Illustrated is a popular magazine. A couple of our forum's members or friends of ours, have authored articles in the magazine in years past. This forum will connect you to wood carvers beyond those of us here on The Carving Path forum. If I had more time, I might enjoy rubbing virtual elbows with folks on this forum to see what others are up to. I see that it offers online wood carving classes, different styles of carving, tool talk, materials, finishes, and much more.

I agree that wood carving on a small scale will suit your present life of travel. Your travel companion might appreciate you carving outside, or having a cloth or box that catches the wood chips as you make them in your limited space though!

What sort of farm did you have? Where was it? I live in a rural area in the northern central United States, where agriculture and diary was once a main activity. The pull of the large city an hour away has caused a shift towards farmland being sold to be divided into unsightly home sites of 5-10 acres each, without trees, on once productive crop lands. I live in one of the oldest settlements, whose beginnings preceded the formation of our state of Minnesota as one of the first four land offices in the territory. It never grew, and remains a rather quiet place.

My father took on the RV life style for years, but kept a home place to return to for part of each year. They enjoyed the travel until age and health ended the journeys.

Thanks for taking time to look at my web site, and for the compliment.

Janel

[DanM]

Chip carving requires few tools.

ruler
pencil
protractor
compass
chip carving knife
sharpening stone and leather strop

[David]

thanks guys,
i had a look around on the other forum janel suggested, and got some answers there too. on top of that i received a mail back from w burton, the author's book i ordered, who told me which knifes to get, since i can't et his in france.

chris peye's site is realy awsome, downloaded some things and will make a donation to a tibetan temple a few miles down the road from here. in exchange. very nice idea from chris!

carving outtside for now isn't realy an option janel, it still rains a lot, so i guess i'll just have to pass the broom a bit more often...!
a shame that i only start carving now, would have been a lot easier when we had te farm... it used to be a dairy farm, but we just lived there with our dogs and parrot, enjoying the countryside. it wasn't that big for french standards, so i guess tiny or us standards... hahaha
pretty cool whaat your father did! it's a thing that's a lot more developped in the usa i think. like i said, we have a lot less space here than in the usa, and i think a lot more rules and regulations too. however, we're currently in an area in france where their seems to be quite some rv travellers.
i'm gonna have myself a pipe and walk the dog now, which makes me think... any pipe carving projects on the forum?
david

[JP Anderson]

Carving with chisels and knives makes chips rather than sawdust and that is a big plus when you work and live in the same space. Keep us posted with your progress.

John

[Hako]

Hi,

you also can look at www.dick.biz for tools

Greetings to France , Hako

[Toothy]

Hi David

Go with advice from Wayne Barton and/or Dennis Moore and you wont go wrong.
Chip carving needs very few tools ( see Dan M's list ) but your knives need to be kept Very sharp.
Dennis Moore only advocates 2 knives!

Enjoy the freedom to move as you please!

Toothy

[David]

thanks toothy,
i'll see if i can find that list.
david

[MikeG]

G'day David,
Just new to the forum myself. As I've found out through browsing, you'll learn a lot here.
Cheers
Mike.