u/JohnnyTheLayton

Just sharing some dwarves i carved from wood.(by hand. Knife and gouge) finishes with Black walnut danish oil and paste finishing wax.

Hand carved by me. 6inch tall on the knight, dwarves are 4 inch tall. All knife and gouge work.

I get so flipping excited when I see how these carvings turn out after waxing and buffing. I love the look so very much its insane!! 😊😊

Hand carved dwarves I made.

4inch tall 2x2 block, hand carved, finished with black walnut Danish oil and wax.

Hand carved dwarves I made.

4inch tall 2x2 block, hand carved, finished with black walnut Danish oil and wax. Hand carved by me, not AI, check my profile for proof. Carvin wood is what i do.

6inch tall 2x2 block, hand carved, finished with black walnut Danish oil and wax. Hand carved by me, not AI, check my profile for proof. Carvin wood is what i do.

6inch tall 2x2 block, hand carved, fonished with black walnut Danish oil and wax.

Still plugging away at my hand carved chess set. Sharing photos for those that like to peak at the progress.

Not going with pieces quite so large for that backrow, I think i'll shrink them down a bit more. Those 8 finished pieces are the pawns. Each a bit different.

The pieces are 1.5x1.5 inch blocks of basswood. Chess squares are 2 inches wide, and each piece is hand carved and of original designs.

Still playing around with designs for my hand carved chess set. i've got 8 dwarven pawns carved so far. i'm playing with the idea of what sizes I like for other pieces in the game, and how they'll work in actual play.

I need each piece to be readily identifiable as the piece in question. to have no one doubt, "this piece is the rook. or that piece is absolutely the bishop"

taking my time to do it right.

Pieces are 1.5 x 1.5 inch, 3 inches tall. Board has 2 inch squares.

Still playing around with designs for my chess set. i've got 8 dwarven pawns carved so far. i'm playing with the idea of what sizes I like for other pieces in the game, and how they'll work in actual play.

I need each piece to be readily identifiable as the piece in question. to have no one doubt, "this piece is the rook. or that piece is absolutely the bishop"

taking my time to do it right.

Pieces are 1.5 x 1.5 inch, 3 inches tall. Board has 2 inch squares.

They are Knife only, beginner friendly carving. 2inchs tall, 1x1 basswood. Figures seen here are finished with Black Walnut Danish oil, Varathane's Cabernet (Maroon), and Minwax True Black, as examples of what finishes you can use. All waxed with paste natural finishing wax as well.

Tutorial posted to my channel.

Just posted the 3rd Beginners Woodcarving Tutorial for the DND Miniature series to my YouTube channel.

Its a Knife only, beginner friendly carving. 2inchs tall, 1x1 basswood. Figures seen here are finished with Black Walnut Danish oil, Varathane's Cabernet (Maroon), and Minwax True Black, as examples of what finishes you can use. All waxed with paste natural finishing wax as well.

Hope you like it!

I'm not the best youtuber, but I can promise Woodcarving is fun and you get to make epic stuff!

Here's how I carve the braids on Dwarves, with spoken audio to explain whats happening and why!

Braids aren't that difficult its simple cuts in a pattern, over and over.

Hope someone finds value in it!

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Want to get into Woodcarving?

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Some hand carved dwarves i just finished and wanted to share with folks.

I have a passion for woodcarving and attempting to entice others into the hobby. So my ulterior motive with every post is "how do I make this hobby more accessible" or "how do I inspire someone to want to give it a go."

Hopefully the picture did that, and now you're reading.

To carve like i do, you need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Tutorials abound EVERYWHERE. Youtube is your friend in that regard. You dont have to look up my channel, there are plenty that have easy to begin tutorials and one of them will be right up your alley.

Some hand carved dwarves i just finished and wanted to share with folks.

I have a passion for woodcarving and attempting to entice others into the hobby. So my ulterior motive with every post is "how do I make this hobby more accessible" or "how do I inspire someone to want to give it a go."

Hopefully the picture did that, and now you're reading.

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Tutorials abound EVERYWHERE. Youtube is your friend in that regard. You dont have to look up my channel, there are plenty that have easy to begin tutorials and one of them will be right up your alley.

Some hand carved dwarves i just finished and wanted to share with folks.

I have a passion for woodcarving and attempting to entice others into the hobby. So my ulterior motive with every post is "how do I make this hobby more accessible" or "how do I inspire someone to want to give it a go."

Hopefully the picture did that, and now you're reading.

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Tutorials abound EVERYWHERE. Youtube is your friend in that regard. You dont have to look up my channel, there are plenty that have easy to begin tutorials and one of them will be right up your alley.

Some hand carved dwarves i just finished and wanted to share with folks.

I have a passion for woodcarving and attempting to entice others into the hobby. So my ulterior motive with every post is "how do I make this hobby more accessible" or "how do I inspire someone to want to give it a go."

Hopefully the picture did that, and now you're reading.

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

In europe, the equivalent is Linden, in Asia, Jelutong, and in south America Caxeta is a good substitute.

Tutorials abound EVERYWHERE. Youtube is your friend in that regard. You dont have to look up my channel, there are plenty that have easy to begin tutorials and one of them will be right up your alley.

The finish on these is pretty easy, but you have to follow the process. I use Watco brand black walnut danish oil usually, but sometimes I use other stains like a cabernet color from Vatathane, etc... the key is waxing. I use Minwax brand paste finishing wax, but any soft wax should do.

Apply the Stain/ Oil, then do NOT WAIT, apply the wax and buff off with a stiff bristle brush. (I use an amazon basics stiff bristle brush for scrubbing floors) The buffing lifts wax off the high spots and the wax pulls oil / stain with it as it does. This leaves the high spots a lighter color and the lower crevices darker.

My experience has been that danish oil darkens more over time into the next day, making those dark crevices pop even more. To a lesser extent other stains do this as well, but I find it more pronounced with danish oil.