Customer Rating: 
Summary: better then not having anything, i guess
Comment: still not worth the money, go on line, alot better info on the web, its free and save the money for your tools. tim
Customer Rating:
Summary: Covers a lot of ground
Comment: As a beginner, I appreciated the breadth of topics covered in the book, particularly the various styles of carving. This was my introduction to chip carving, and I think he covered it quite well. Sharpening is also covered, but I'd already bought "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" by Leonard Lee (of Lee Valley & Veritas) and found that to be a most comprehensive source of information on that topic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Woodcarving
Comment: This is an excellent book that covers the fundamentals of carving plus adds great advice on what tools to purchase. Asked if I would buy this book again, my answer would be yes! I messed up on the rating of this book and I give it five (5) stars. Sorry!
David Self, New Boston, Texas
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Beginner's Book
Comment: To an experienced woodcarver this book may seem unfocused and thinly spread, but for the beginner it does exactly what it should do. The book begins with a good grounding in the tools of the craft and how to care for and sharpen each type. After that it gives you a sampler of carving styles with at least one project for each. It's guaranteed there is at least one or two chapters the reader will not care for. Even this is useful since the reader avoids launching into the craft with a project they really have little enthusiasm for, and then lose interest in wood carving all together. This book should be required reading before the beginner spends a single dime on tools, equipment, or wood. If it's not 'the' best beginner's book, it's in the top five.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A good technical guide to woodcarving
Comment: A good general book on woodcarving. This book could be better if it didn't try to be all things for all people. There are better books for beginners out there for the money and more advanced carvers probably need to buy a book concentrating on their type of carving. I found it to be a little on the technical side and would have preferred a few more patterns for each type of carving. My favorite sections were on finishes, sharpening, and the tool section. There are numerous photographs of some beautiful examples of the various types of carving. The author does show some very useful carving techniques in most of the carving styles.
Sections include tools, sharpening, woods and finishes, design, whittling, chip carving, relief carving, wildlife carving, lettering, archatectural carving, and a bibliography.
