Complete Starter Guide to Whittling

The best single book for someone who has never whittled before. Published by Fox Chapel and compiled by the editors of Woodcarving Illustrated magazine, this guide draws on the experience of twelve professional woodcarvers to walk you through 24 complete projects, each designed to be finished in a weekend or less. Every project comes with step-by-step photography, carving patterns, and clear instructions that assume no prior knowledge.

Why Start Here

Most whittling books either overwhelm you with advanced techniques or give you a handful of simple projects without explaining the fundamentals. This book hits the sweet spot. It opens with the essentials: how to choose a knife, how to select the right wood (basswood, butternut, and pine are the go-to options for beginners), and how to make the basic cuts safely. Then it moves into projects that build your confidence and skill progressively.

The 24 projects are carefully sequenced. You start with straightforward shapes like a simple letter opener or a wooden egg, where you practice the push cut and the paring cut until they feel natural. From there you progress to animals, caricature faces, and small figures that introduce more advanced shaping techniques. By the time you reach the later projects, you have developed the muscle memory and knife control to attempt them without frustration.

What sets this apart from single-author whittling books is the variety of styles and perspectives. Twelve different carvers contributed projects, so you get exposure to different approaches, different finishing techniques, and different aesthetic sensibilities. That breadth helps you figure out which style of whittling appeals to you most, whether it is realistic animals, folk art figures, or decorative objects.

What to Expect

A compact 96-page guide with full-color photography throughout. You will need one good whittling knife and a few pieces of basswood to get started. The book recommends specific tools but emphasizes that a single quality knife is enough for every project in the book. Expect to spend one to three hours on your first project. The patterns are printed at actual size, so you can trace them directly onto your wood blank. No power tools, no workbench, no clamps required.