Chip Carving Starter Kit

It is soft, even-grained, and pale — the chip carver's standard. It cuts cleanly (the chips lift without tearing) and the pale surface shows the shadow of the cut relief. Hard woods resist the knife; resinous woods gum it. Basswood in boards and plates is the chip-carving stock; buy it kiln-dried and smooth.

The primary chip-carving knife (short, angled blade) makes the two angled wall-cuts of a chip; the stab knife makes the third, perpendicular cut (the floor) and is used for the straight-line borders. Most chips need both. The knives are specific to chip carving (not general carving knives); they are the craft's tools.

Chip carving demands a razor edge maintained constantly — a leather strop with polishing compound hones the edge between every few cuts (it takes seconds), where a stone would remove too much metal. The strop maintains the edge; a stone reshapes it (only when the edge dulls past stropping). Strop constantly, sharpen rarely.

A geometric grid (triangles, rosettes, borders) drawn or transferred to the wood with carbon paper, then the chips cut along the lines. The geometry is the design — the chip carver works from a grid pattern, transferring and carving each chip. Freehand chip carving is rare; the precision of the grid is the craft.