Sawing the Dolphin Block.

After I drew a rough sketch of the dolphin on the basswood block, I used a coping saw to cut away excess wood.  I then started chipping away with my flexcut roughing knife on the woodblock to make the dolphin's tale and lower back (lower photo). 

New Project -Carving a Bottlenose Dolphin

I have done quite a few wood spirits in cottonwood bark and am now going to attack a whittling project. I am going to use a small piece of basswood (1.75" x 5") to carve a bottle nose dolphin. For this project, I am going to use a band saw to cut out the dolphin and then my super sharp flexcut knives as the only carving tools until I have the body of the dolphin finished. I will be posting pictures as I progress. Thanks for following!

The first step is to sketch a dolphin on the basswood that I have chosen for the carving. You can either use patterns or draw it on the wood yourself as I have done here. In the next step, I will use a band saw to cut much of the wood away from the block.

Flexcut Knives Review

Recently I purchased the 3 knife starter set from Flexcut. Flexcut knives are made in the USA and you can check out their website at: www.flexcut.com.

I am a beginner when it comes to carving but I can tell you this, these knives are sharper than any knife I have used thus far. They whittle basswood as easily as a butter knife cutting through butter. These knives are well worth the $50.00 or so for the set and other knives like Walnut Hollow do not even come close to comparison.

In woodcarving, you usually get what you pay for. Flexcut knives get an A plus for affordability and usefulness. I highly recommend them.