How to Start a Chip Carving Collection
Chip carving is a traditional method of carving wood that revolves around cutting chips out of a piece of wood with a knife. Chip carving is used primarily to create designs. These designs can be for stand-alone pieces, as on a flat piece of wood (excellent for use as wall art), or for accent pieces attached to other objects or carvings. There are some truly magnificent chip carvings out there. If you would like to know how to start a chip carving collection, here's how.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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Start Your Own Chip Carving Collection
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1
Stick to art for art's sake. While there are plenty of interesting and beautiful chip carvings on furniture and other large, utilitarian objects, collecting a large number of these is not practical. Smaller objects are easier to collect and store.
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2
Get a book like "The Art of Chip Carving: Award Winning Designs," by Wayne Barton to see what you should be looking for in a top-quality collection (see Resources below). While mainly a teaching guide for those who wish to learn chip carving, this book also contains a good number of pictures of various kinds of chip carvings.
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3
Find your first few pieces on eBay (see Resources below). Searching for chip carvings on eBay will give you a selection of carvings to view online. You can then bid on a few or use the "Buy It Now" feature to purchase something directly.
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4
Patronize crafts fairs and flea markets. Wood carving artisans of all types are drawn to these events, as they make great places to sell their creations. You are likely to find a nice selection of chip carvings available to purchase and collect.
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5
Check with your local wood carving supply store. These stores will sometimes have a bulletin board section where local wood carvers can advertise what they have for sale. If your store does not have a bulletin board, ask the manager if he knows of any local artisans who are selling chip carvings. Managers of these stores have contacts among local wood carvers and can usually direct you to the resources you need.
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Tips & Warnings
Make sure you have a nice spot for storing and/or displaying your chip carving collection before you start it. Keep your collection somewhere cool and dry and in a place where the pieces are not likely to get scratched or broken. A display case, trunk or shelves usually work nicely.
