Wood offers a wide range of creative and practical applications for different hobbies. With various toolkits, aspiring woodworkers have no shortage of possible projects to keep them busy and develop their talents. Go in knowing some different hobbies that utilize wood to keep you occupied. Through them, you can hone your skills and discover what best fits your interests and lifestyle.
Whittling and Carving
As some of the most popular woodworking activities, whittling and carving don’t require bulky tools or expansive work areas. This fact makes these activities highly accessible. The most a carver will need are some whittling knives, chisels, and safety gloves to protect their hands to start. Be sure to have the three types of whittling knives, though. These include:
- A small knife for precise, detail-oriented work
- A large knife for rougher cuts to remove large portions of wood quickly
- A general-purpose whittling knife that fills a middle ground between the other two knives
A carver can practice their technique anywhere due to the portability of the tools and wood pieces, allowing them to perfect their methods before moving on to bigger projects.
Woodturning
Woodturning is another unique hobby that uses wood. Its most foundational piece of equipment is the lathe. This is a machine that spins a wood block 360 degrees at high speeds. A woodturner uses many instruments, such as spindle gouges, chisels, and parting tools, to form the wood as it turns on the lathe.
Woodturning does require some extra safety equipment to protect the person against the wood shavings the carving kicks up. Be prepared with respirators to filter out the harmful particles from the air. Wear this equipment will prevent you from breathing anything in.
You also need to ensure you have a quality lathe to do your woodturning. Investing in a quality one will improve your projects and develop your skills faster.
Woodburning
By literally burning wooden pieces, people can create works of art on their surfaces. Whether a person wants to add lettering, construct a portrait, or create a landscape, woodburning offers them the opportunity to do so. The hobby allows artists to explore a completely different medium from more traditional art forms. You don’t use graphite, charcoal, or oil paints to mark blank surfaces with woodburning.
The hobby only requires a burning tool and a piece of wood, making it easy to get into and practice. Just be careful of the burner’s tip, as it gets hot enough to burn designs into the wood. You don’t want it to burn your finger.
Discover a New Passion
With so many different applications of wood in creative works, hobbyists have plenty of things to keep them busy. Don’t be afraid to try out new things; many hobbies that use wood don’t require overly expensive materials.
