Study guides · Stuff Every Wood Carving Scout Should Know
Practice facts for the Wood Carving merit badge. Not an official Scouting America credential. Grab a snack: this guide is the friendly version, with the answers explained and a groan-worthy joke waiting at the end of most cards.
Knowing Wood Carving Scout saves you money, time and the occasional embarrassment.
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Short answer: Explain hazards to your counselor and how to lessen them
Requirement one asks you to explain hazards and how to anticipate, prevent, mitigate, or lessen them.
Groan of the day: Don't let hazards get under your skin, plan ahead.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Minor cuts and scratches
Carving first aid focuses on minor cuts, scratches, and splinters.
Groan of the day: Splinters are just wood trying to get a point across.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Totin' Chip
Requirement two asks you to earn the Totin' Chip recognition.
Groan of the day: Earn your chip before you chip wood.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: The Safety Checklist for Carving
You discuss your understanding of the Safety Checklist for Carving.
Groan of the day: Check the checklist before you check the wood.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Five
You explain the care and use of five types of tools.
Groan of the day: Five tools, one sharp mind.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: How to use them
You tell how to care for sharpening devices and demonstrate their use.
Groan of the day: A sharp tool is a cut above a dull one.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Basic cut and push cut
You show a basic cut and a push cut on scrap wood.
Groan of the day: Push cut: give it a gentle push in the right direction.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Score line
The requirement lists a stop cut or score line as a skill to show.
Groan of the day: A stop cut stops wood from tearing out.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Woods differ in qualities and characteristics
Any wood can be carved, but each has different qualities and characteristics.
Groan of the day: Pick the right wood or you'll have a rough time.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Basswood
Basswood and tupelo are the two most common carving woods in North America.
Groan of the day: Basswood is a cut above the rest for beginners.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It is easy to work with
Basswood is a hardwood that is relatively easy to work with.
Groan of the day: Basswood makes carving a breeze, wood you believe it?
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Wood strength
Wood is not equally strong in all directions, and grain is the strongest direction.
Groan of the day: Go with the grain and you'll get along fine.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Along the grain
Arranging delicate parts along the grain helps prevent breakage.
Groan of the day: Delicate details need the grain on their side.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It can damage the work
Carvers must carve across or with the grain, never against it.
Groan of the day: Against the grain is a rough relationship.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A tool with a curved cross section
A gouge is a tool with a curved cross section, unlike a flat chisel.
Groan of the day: A gouge scoops out wood like a spoon.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A tool with a flat cross section
Correctly, a chisel has a flat cross section.
Groan of the day: A chisel keeps things flat out useful.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A v-tool
A v-tool is used for making fine lines or decorative cuts.
Groan of the day: The v-tool is very good at lines.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Make deep gouges in the surface
A veiner or fluter can make deep gouges into the surface.
Groan of the day: Veiner carves a vein of detail.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Working in folds or crevasses
Rifflers are smaller rasps of various shapes for working in folds or crevasses.
Groan of the day: Rifflers riffle through the tight spots.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Abrasive paper
Finer polishing is done with abrasive paper, starting coarse then fine.
Groan of the day: Abrasive paper smooths out rough edges.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Natural oils like linseed
Natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil protect wood from dirt and moisture.
Groan of the day: Oil your carving and it won't dry out on you.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It creates too shiny a surface
Gloss varnish reflects too much light and can confuse the form.
Groan of the day: Gloss varnish is too flashy for carvers.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A soft lustrous sheen
Wax protects wood and gives a soft lustrous sheen.
Groan of the day: Wax on, shine on.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Indoor carvings
A wax finish is comparatively fragile and only suitable for indoor carvings.
Groan of the day: Wax finish belongs indoors, no need to wax poetic.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Removes large portions of wood smoothly
A gouge is a curved blade that can remove large portions of wood smoothly.
Groan of the day: A gouge scoops out the big picture.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: About 35 degrees
For harder woods, gouges may be sharpened with stronger bevels of about 35 degrees.
Groan of the day: A stronger bevel is a sharp angle to take.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A gouge
A mallet is used with a gouge, similar to a stone carver's mallet.
Groan of the day: A mallet and gouge make a striking team.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A chunk of wood near the figure's size
A carver selects a chunk of wood the approximate size and shape of the figure.
Groan of the day: Start with a blank and carve your story.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: To create the required size
Several pieces may be laminated together to create the required size.
Groan of the day: Laminating layers builds up to big things.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Greater luster and longevity
Hardwoods are harder to shape but have greater luster and longevity.
Groan of the day: Hardwoods last longer, that's the long and short of it.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Wood with fine grain and little figure
A detailed figure needs fine grain and very little figure to read detail.
Groan of the day: Fine grain keeps details from getting lost in the crowd.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Texture from shallow gouges
The texture left by shallow gouges gives life to the surface, called a tooled finish.
Groan of the day: Tooled finish has a lively texture.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: The Shigir Idol
The Shigir Idol, carved from larch, is around 12,000 years old.
Groan of the day: The Shigir Idol is old as the hills, or older.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It is light and takes fine detail
Wood is light and can take very fine detail, suiting masks and carried sculpture.
Groan of the day: Light wood carries the detail and the day.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Its fibrous strength
Wood can be carved more thinly and precisely due to its fibrous strength.
Groan of the day: Fibrous strength keeps thin carvings from falling apart.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A method and style of wood carving
Chip carving is listed among methods and styles of wood carving.
Groan of the day: Chip carving makes chips fly, on purpose.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: A chainsaw
Wood carving can be done mechanically, such as with a chainsaw.
Groan of the day: Chainsaw carving is a cut above the rest.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It is plain and blond
Basswood is plain and blond with little grain, so carvers may stain or paint it.
Groan of the day: Basswood is plain, but that is just plane fine.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Carving tools are made specifically for carving
Carving tools are specifically made for wood carving, unlike a general pocketknife.
Groan of the day: A pocketknife is not cut out for carving.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Hands get very tired quickly
Hands tire quickly because carving uses muscles you have not used much.
Groan of the day: Short sessions keep you on the cutting edge of rest.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: They have more strength
Older Scouts have more strength and can hurt themselves more easily.
Groan of the day: With great strength comes great need for care.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: Not a lot of strength
Wood carving does not require a lot of strength if you do it right.
Groan of the day: Carving right takes less might.
Sources: Scouting America: Wood Carving
Short answer: General smoothing
Rasps are flat-bladed tools with pointed teeth used for general smoothing.
Groan of the day: Rasps smooth things over nicely.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Large grained rough paper
Large grained paper with a rougher surface is used first, then finer paper.
Groan of the day: Start rough and smooth things out later.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Too shiny a surface
Carvers call the confusing shine of gloss varnish the toffee apple effect.
Groan of the day: That finish is a sticky situation for detail.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Larch
The Shigir Idol, the oldest known wood carving, is carved from larch.
Groan of the day: Larch is a large part of this idol's story.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: The finished product
The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from sculptures to mouldings.
Groan of the day: Carving can mean the product, not just the process.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: They face decay and fire
Wood is vulnerable to decay, insect damage, and fire, so outdoor sculptures do not last long.
Groan of the day: Outdoor wood has a short shelf life outdoors.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: Oak
In England, many complete examples remain from the 16th and 17th centuries, where oak was preferred.
Groan of the day: Oak was the go-to wood, no acorn-cident.
Sources: Wood carving
Short answer: It is soft and inexpensive
Decoration to be painted is often carved in pine, which is soft and inexpensive.
Groan of the day: Pine is a fine choice for painted work.
Sources: Wood carving
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Explain hazards to your counselor and how to lessen them. Requirement one asks you to explain hazards and how to anticipate, prevent, mitigate, or lessen them.
It is easy to work with. Basswood is a hardwood that is relatively easy to work with.
Natural oils like linseed. Natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil protect wood from dirt and moisture.
Wood with fine grain and little figure. A detailed figure needs fine grain and very little figure to read detail.
They have more strength. Older Scouts have more strength and can hurt themselves more easily.
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