Category: Carving With Knives

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How to Carve A Wooden Duck

Wooden ducks are very rewarding carving object becuase they are relatively simple and they make great decorations. Wooden Ducks also are used as decoys for the water foul hunter. So there is a well established market and supply ofdecoy ducks. Most ducks used in hunting are no longer made of wood but despite that the duck making industry is large and thriving.

My home has several carved wooden ducks that were here when we purchsed it.

So the steps to carving wooden ducks are as follows:

Ten Steps to A Wooden Duck

Step one, obtain your example duck. If you have a certain duck that you’d like to pattern a wooden duck after get a photo in hand. It is not necessary that you copy the duck exactly but it is nice to have an example pattern duck to go by.

brown white and blue duck
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Step two, obtain your wood, click here to find what tyes of wood are ideal for a project like this. For this exmple I plan to use pine wood from a tree removal project in my front yard. To do this you can purchase wood prepred for carving or just use wood that you already have. In my case I am using a pine log.

Step three, prepare wood by removing the bark and blocking the wood for easy transfer of the duck template.

Step four, draw the duck onto the wood from sides and top and bottom and front views. Sketching the duck onto the wood is a critical step for the beginner.

Step five, make the large cuts and the larger wood removal steps. For example cut out the wood behind the head. Large cuts can be made with power tools if wanted. .Tools like table saws or hand saws can be used to rough cut and remove large amound of wood. Major rounding around the body, around the head.

Step six, begin to carve with a sharp carving knife, this is where the duck begins to take shape. It is critical to have sharp blades during these steps. It is also helpful to re-draw your duck shape as you remove wood, take your time.

Step Seven, once the duck has taken shape and you are satisfied with its shape and have done the fine carving and feather lines. Begin to sand your duck.

Step Eight, move between sanding and line carving and making your finishing touches.

Step Nine, Paint and or Varnish the duck.

Step Ten, take photos, learn from your mistakes and do it again.

brown wooden duck figurine near brown ceramic mug
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

Share a picture of the duck you carved below. If you get brave try to carve a wooden duck with a chainsaw, it can be done. This article from my friend can get you started.

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Carving Wooden Ducks

Caving Wooden Ducks

Carving of wooden ducks from wood used to be the primary means that duck hunters made decoys for hunting. When ducks fly overhead and see (or think they see) other ducks they are more likely to fly down and socialize. Then the hiding hunter can shoot one.

Best Wood for Carving Ducks

These hunting ducks were commonly made from cedar wood or pine, which holds up well to water and is very buyont in water. Today ducks are carved from any wood as they are typically not used for hunting and are not placed in water.

Today the demand for decoy ducks is filled by plastics or rubber manufacturers. Injection molding of plastics or rubber is much cheaper and repeatable and can even create more realistic looking decoy duck. Similar to the plastic duck anchored in our pond that fools the real ducks flying by almost every April.

But carving decoy ducks from wood is still a great hobby. It is also a great way to make a unique household decoration, that can even be valuable. It is possible to purchase duck carving kits that help the beginning carver get started.

Our sun room, when we purchased our home was full of wooden ducks and other wooden birds. One of them, pictured in this post looks like a hand carving. I was also impressed with the cost and creativity of some of the wooden ducks being sold online. The average value of a carved wooden duck is about $100.

Painting Wooden Ducks

If you are really planning on putting your carved duck into water (which is rare nowadays) then a wood primer to first seal the wood is advisable. Use of cedar wood with a quality primer can help your duck last for years. After priming use finish paint a Satin finish looks more like an actual duck than does a gloss finish.

Cedar Ducks
Country Duck

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How to Carve with Knives

Carving with knives is a rewarding hobby that takes some time to develop. It also takes the right set of tools, but with just a little investment you can get going.

Another word used for carving with knives is whittling. Whittling can be used and has been used for centuries to make anything from spears for hunting, to figurines for Christmas, to signs in a local tree declaring love for a special someone.

To get started carving with knives or whittling thre are four cuts that need to be mastered.

The Stop Cut – is a cut with a carving knife that penetrated into teh edge of the wood then stops. The stop cut is perpendicular to the plane of the wood, so it goes straight in. Then a second cut comes in and meets the stop cut to terminate it. This cut causes considerable shadow and is usefule in a wide variety of figurines and other carvings.

The Pyramid Cut – is a cut into the face of a piece of wood that is three cuts which meet at a point in the wood. When the 3 cuts are complete a small pyramid of wood pops out, creating the divot or void in the wood. They create nice shadow and are helpful in creating details.

The Vee Cut – is just what is sounds like a very simple cut into the edge of a piece of wood that creates a V shape in the wood. The Vee cut createss low shadow in the piece.

The Sweepng Cut – is a sweep of the wrist along the edge of a piece of wood that curls and creates a curved feature in the woods edge. The sweeping cut can meet a stop cut or a V cut to create the curved effect and it has a little more shadow than the Vee cut.

I will post pictures of all of these cuts to help with the beginner. Make sure to practice these cust often befure you attempt to carve something with real wood that you care about. Its good to practice using pine wood. Also here is a link to a good wood carving kit.

Enjoy and get practicing.

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Carving Basswood

Basswood tree

Basswood is another common knife carving wood. It s commonly the wood you get when you buy a carving kit for knife carving in hobby stores.

basswood carving blocks

Basswood is similar to pine wood in that it is a soft wood. However its grains are tighter, it is classified hardwood. 

basswood grains

Basswood commonly grows in the Northeast of the US.

Some Details on Basswood from the Wood Database

Common Name(s): Basswood, American Basswood, Lime, Linden Scientific Name: Tilia americana Distribution: Eastern North America Tree Size: 65-120 ft (20-37 m) tall, 3-4 ft (1-1.2 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 26 lbs/ft3 (415 kg/m3) Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .32, .42 Janka Hardness: 410 lbf (1,820 N) Modulus of Rupture: 8,700 lbf/in2 (60.0 MPa) Elastic Modulus: 1,460,000 lbf/in2 (10.07 GPa) Crushing Strength: 4,730 lbf/in2 (32.6 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 6.6%, Tangential: 9.3%, Volumetric: 15.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Color/Appearance: Pale white to light brown color, with sapwood and heartwood sections not clearly defined. Growth rings tend to be subtle, and color is mostly uniform throughout the face grain of the wood. Knots and other defects are uncommon.

Grain/Texture: Grain is straight, with a fine, even texture and moderate natural luster.

Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; medium pores predominantly in radial multiples or clusters of 2-4; growth rings indistinct or distinct due to marginal parenchyma; medium to large rays, normal spacing, noded; parenchyma banded (marginal), apotracheal parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates.

Rot Resistance: Basswood is rated as being non-durable in regard to heartwood decay.

Workability: Easy to work, being very soft and light. Perhaps one of the most suitable wood species for hand carving. Basswood also glues and finishes well, but has poor steam bending and nail holding characteristics.

Odor: No characteristic odor.

Allergies/Toxicity: Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Basswood. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Widely available as lumber or carving blanks. Prices are in the lower range for a domestic hardwood, though larger carving blocks are more expensive.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Common Uses: Carvings, lumber, musical instruments (electric guitar bodies), veneer, plywood, and wood pulp and fiber products.

Comments: Species in the Tilia genus are usually referred to as either Lime or Linden in Europe, while  in North America it’s most commonly called Basswood.

Basswood is an ideal wood for  many woodcarvers. Its soft, fine, even texture make it easy to work with, while its pale, inconspicuous color doesn’t detract from the carved patterns of the finished product (which also makes it easier to paint and color).

Though Basswood has high initial shrinkage, the wood is stable in service after it has been dried. And though the wood is both lightweight and soft, it has an outstanding MOE-to-weight ratio. However, its MOR is on par with its low weight; simply put, when put under stress, the wood will remain stiff, but will still break (rupture) at a relatively average weight.

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