Wood carving project for beginners – whittle an owl

Easy wood carving project – a whittling tutorial on carving an owl.

In this class I will teach you how to make a wooden owl that can be left as a figurine or turned into a lovely wearable pendant. You will need some hard wood – I am using black walnut. You can also use mahogany, maple, oak, cherry, apple, elm, yew wood or whatever else you can find. All done by hand using one knife.

Beginners are welcome! More seasoned carvers might also enjoy this tutorial and learn something new. I will teach you step by step starting from sketching your owl on the piece of wood, carving, oiling it and then turning it into a lovely piece of jewellery. It would be an amazing gift for someone special or a start of your new career as a woodcarver!

To participate, you will need a piece of wood (and a saw to cut it to a required size), a carving/whittling knife, and something to sharpen your knife with (I use a leather strop with some stropping compound). Some sandpaper would be beneficial too.

If you want to make a pendant, you will also need:

• A small eye screw (if you want to make it a pendant) with a length of approx. 8mm

• A necklace rope

• An awl tool or a simple sewing needle

• Some oil for the finish (you can use linseed or walnut oil)

• Pliers

Also, don’t forget to protect your hands with cut-resistant gloves. Join me for this fun adventure!

Who this course is for:

• People who like crafts and who are interested in wood carving and whittling