Whittling in Your Free Time. Tom Hindes

so the weakest part of the carving will take advantage of the strength of the long “bundles.” For example, you want the giraffe’s neck to run the length of the wood grain; orient the grain horizontally and the neck will more likely snap.

      The patterns I use for flat-plane whittling are one-dimensional side views of the object to be whittled. You can source these patterns from a few different places—your own sketches, coloring books, and copyright-free illustrations on the Internet. You will probably need to make changes to most illustrations you find. Most animal drawings have curved edges; draw straight lines to give the overall impression of the animal silhouette rather than an exact copy.

      Once you settle on a subject and illustration, you can size the pattern. You can use a copier or a computer and printer to reduce or enlarge the pattern to suit your preference. When your pattern is ready, trace it onto the wood with a pencil and cut the shape with a scroll saw, band saw, or coping saw. Now you’re ready to whittle!

      Once you’ve traced the shape onto the wood, you can cut out the blank with your saw of choice.