Features

Fishing… with a Chainsaw

Fishing… with a Chainsaw

By Kathleen Ryan “I like to go fishing—not with a pole, but artistically, with a chainsaw and some wood,” said Jessie Groeschen, a California chainsaw artist and the author of The Art of Chainsaw Carving published by Fox Chapel Publishing. Over the past 20 years, Jessie has created innumerable carvings […]

by January 15, 2016 Features
Book Corner: Cover Shoot for 20-Minute Whittling Projects

Book Corner: Cover Shoot for 20-Minute Whittling Projects

By Carly Glasmyre Haas With almost every book published at Fox Chapel Publishing, the editorial and design teams get to dream up and photograph a cover. Mindy Kinsey and I had a lot of fun shooting the cover for Tom Hindes’s new book 20-Minute Whittling Projects. After brainstorming with our […]

by January 15, 2016 Features
Kutzall Grit Hand Rasps

Kutzall Grit Hand Rasps

Even expert carvers find themselves in situations where it’s challenging to get a clean cut. Either there’s a bad spot in the wood or you can’t get a tool into the area. The best tool to reach for in these situations is often a rasp, but the utility of traditional […]

by November 27, 2015 Product Reviews
2015 Woodcarving Illustrated Holiday Gift Guide

2015 Woodcarving Illustrated Holiday Gift Guide

Does your family always ask what to get you for whichever holiday you celebrate? Send them here to find a good selection of tools and materials guaranteed to keep you in the chips all year long!   .   The Cape Forge Fine Detail Knife is a hand-forged standard #3 […]

by November 27, 2015 Features
Hun Brothers Build Toys for Homeless Children

Hun Brothers Build Toys for Homeless Children

For the past year, Hun School students Logan and Sam Leppo ’17 have been hard at work in their family workshop constructing handmade wooden toys to donate to local homeless children. The twin brothers are fourth generation woodworkers, and their passion for crafting is a tradition they wanted to share […]

by October 6, 2015 Features, News

WcI72 Bonus Photos – The Art of Leaf Carving

By Kathleen Ryan For centuries, Asian culture has recognized paper cutting (kirigami) as an art form. Cutting and engraving plant leaves have recently emerged as an offshoot of that ancient craft. Although the terms are often interchanged, the methods for accomplishing leaf carving and leaf engraving are distinctly different. Leaf […]

by August 11, 2015 Features

WCI 72 Bonus Photos – Skeletal Remains

By Kathleen Ryan Maskull Lasserre transforms flea-market finds into eerie works of art by carving internal bones and muscle structure that were never there before. “My work really begins where the rest of the world ends. I like to start with a material that has some history,” said Maskull. After […]

by August 11, 2015 Features
(Bark) Cottage Industry

(Bark) Cottage Industry

Rick Jensen has taught America how to carve cottages from bark By Bob Duncan It’s something of an incongruity that one of the most innovative and influential carvers in the United States uses a humble found wood as his medium. Rick Jensen has been carving cottonwood bark—literally, the thick bark of dead plains cottonwood trees, which Rick […]

by November 30, 2014 Features

Stunning Soap Carvings

Flip through a gallery of intricate pieces carved from soap In Woodcarving Illustrated Spring 2014 (Issue 66), Kathleen Ryan introduced a number of artists who work in the delicate but beautiful world of soap carving. Scroll down for a gallery of soap carving photos that we couldn’t fit in the […]

by May 22, 2014 Features
Product Review: Tormek Water-Cooled Sharpening System

Product Review: Tormek Water-Cooled Sharpening System

The Tormek system helps you sharpen quickly and easily, with no risk of burning your tools By Bob Duncan   You can sharpen 99% of your tools with the Tormek system, creating the exact bevel angle you want with no risk of burning your tools. The system, which combines a […]

by May 22, 2014 Product Reviews