Frank Egholm - Snitte: The Danish Art of Whittling: Make Beautiful Wooden Birds

Before you get started on whittling your birds, make sure all your equipment is in place. On the following few pages well explain how to design and draw your bird template. Small birds with folded wings make really good whittling projects. Adults and children from about the age of 11 can carve birds. Of course, your first attempt at whittling a bird will be challenging, but it will be easier the second time and practice makes perfect, as the saying goes. Using dry limewood as a material and cutting the birds outline out of a block of wood first makes the process relatively simple.

Lime is a soft wood and easy to carve, but you can also use other soft woods, such as poplar, alder or basswood. The bird can then be mounted in a decorative fashion for example on a piece of driftwood and painted. So, once you are equipped with a sharp knife and a pre-cut block, its time to whittle.

For templates, see , but you can also find inspiration in bird books and on the Internet. Use a block of wood with a thickness of about 3.54.5cm (11in). The simplest method is to draw the profile of a bird on the block of wood, so that the neck and tail are pointing in the same direction along its length.

Position the template so that it lies along the wood grain, as otherwise the beak can break easily.

Once youre happy with your bird shape, you can start to cut it out. There are several ways you can do this, depending on what equipment you have. To cut out the bird shape you can use a scroll saw with a strong blade, or a jigsaw with a narrow blade for curves. You can also use a fretsaw/hand scroll saw if you prefer, or a band saw with a narrow blade. If you are not confident, protect the hand holding the piece of wood with cut-resistant safety Kevlar gloves, for example.

See supplier list, . You can also protect your thumb and fingers with leather finger guards (or you can cut the finger off a thick glove).

Now its time to start whittling and bring your bird to life! There are several different whittling techniques you can use to make your bird, all described in this section. If you want to see videos of techniques and birds being whittled, go to www.snittesiden.dk. Hold the wood in one hand and cut away from you. Watch out for your legs! Brace your hands against your body, holding the knife in the usual way.

Push the knife away from you, and pull the wood back at the same time. You can also twist the knife as you cut.

For extra cutting power, use a tree stump or a block of wood as a support, stand up and cut downwards towards the block. You may also need some support when cutting the back of the birds neck, as there is not much to hold on to. Use a whittling board to support the wood when youre sitting down. It is used in the same way as you would when supporting the work on a tree stump or block of wood.

See for instructions for how to make one.

Your thumb may become sore, so protect it with a thumb guard if necessary. Press against the back of the blade. There are three techniques and these can also be combined. Next page