Carving Tools

People often ask me which carving tools I recommend. Generally speaking, for a traditional style of carving, I recommend full sized (sometimes called "professional sized") carving tools. These are usually close to 10 inches in length and are meant to be held with two hands or driven with a mallet.

The brands that I have used and found to be of good quality are Pfeil "Swiss Made", Ashley Iles, Stubai and Dastra.

Flexcut also make a good line of tools. They have full sized tools that are usually a little less expensive than the other brands listed above. Due to their design, I'm not sure you will get quite as long a useful tool life out of the Flexcut as the others. Before you think I have anything against Flexcut, consider that I measure tool life in decades. You can get a lot of good use out of Flexcut tools.

Flexcut also makes some carving tool sets that have interchangeable handles. Changing handles can be a pain for extended carving sessions at your workbench, but they can be great for a compact travel kit.

Having said all that, I primarily use a variety of Pfeil, Ashley Iles and Dastra full size tools. I also have a set of Flexcut interchangeable tools for when I need to travel light.