Bear carvings have been part of North American culture for centuries. The giant creatures have come to represent courage, family, health, strength, and vitality in the mind of the public. Although they are not as cuddly in the wild as they appear in the town zoo. So I can’t recommend you measure one up for your next wood bear carving project. Rather lay your hands on a bear wood carving pattern such as this:
You could use a pattern like that to imagine the potential inside the piece of timber you are holding. We’ll explain in a short while how this works, whether your interest is hand carved or chainsaw bear carvings. But we first need to consider a spot of carving theory.
Making a Hand Carved Bear is Not Necessarily Something to Rush
Wood carving is such an amazing skill and very underrated; once you cut it, it’s hard to go back. (Jonathan Anderson, Brainy Quotes)
Bear wood carving is a creative process. Whereby you gradually remove surplus material to reveal the shape of the animal in your imagination. I recommend revealing the head first, and working down. I believe this is the correct approach, because if you get the head wrong you may like to begin again.
Notice also how the designer has also positioned the bear so it fits naturally inside their piece of raw timber. This means they have less material to remove and ultimately discard. Wood is a natural material taken from a living tree. True wood carvers respect its origin by giving it a second life.
Two Distinct Ways to Create Wood Bear Carvings
Wood carving in its original sense is a gentle art where the final product, not the time it takes is the measure of success. Nowadays of course we also have electric powered tools so our wood bear carvings take less time. We have great ones right here on this website. Please follow this link to imagine what you may be missing.
However, if you are looking to make hand carved wood sculptures for sale, then you may be interested in the faster chain saw method. This could be your ideal solution if you want to put a large sculpture outside your cabin in the woods. Although we would be less than honest if we claimed this would prevent a wild bear raiding your larder.
So How Do You Whittle a Wooden Bear by Hand?
Making smaller bear carvings is a great way to get started with your new hobby. That’s because you don’t need a full workshop, and you can pack your work away at night. Here’s one way to go about it:
Tools and Materials You Need to Get Started
1… Block of fairly soft wood of the right size.
2… Suitable wood carving pattern of a bear.
3… Marker pen to lay out the design on the wood.
4… Couple of different-size wood carving knives.
5… Basic Dremel tool kit for finishing the details.
5… Pair of comfortable safety gloves or thumb guard to protect your hands.
Follow Easy Steps to Discover Best Bear Wood Carving
1… Get your project off to a good start, by setting your pattern out on the wood with the marker pen. Leave some open space around the design just in case you cut away too much wood. You can fine tune later.
2 … Begin by defining the basic proportions of the bear’s head. This is only the first stage of your bear carving. Create the main features not the details, and leave rounded corners for later. You don’t want sharp edges breaking off at this early stage!
3… When you’re ready, move on to roughly defining your bear wood carving’s arms and legs, as you allow the body shape to emerge. Leave the outer edges rounded as your creation assumes the shape you imagined. Now it’s time for the finishing touches!
Use your Dremel tool to work through the wood gently as you discover and find where the features belong. This is one tool you really must have if you want to turn your hobby into a work from home occupation. A leisure activity where rotary hand tools replace effort.
And Now a Drum Roll for Chainsaw Bear Carving
Chainsaw carving is a fast growing art form that merges modern technology with an ancient craft. It began in the 1950’s, but really took off at the 1980 Lumberjack World Championships when folk discovered the wonderful potential.
Please Don’t Use Your Average Chainsaw for This
You could get yourself into trouble if you tried this with a chainsaw from your local hardware. That’s because the blades on carving versions are actually ‘guide bards’ with smaller noses. This empowers the user to create some amazing details!
Moreover a modification ensures the shorter teeth don’t kick back when attempting a cut. Despite this, we still recommend a course of instruction to ensure safe operation when attempting anything ambitious as this!
Did You Check Out Our Recommended Range of Power Tools Yet?
Best Carving Wood Tools has a researched a range of electric chainsaws and rotary power tools for bear carvings, and almost anything else you could safely apply your mind to. Perhaps I should mention I am not the average amazon trader who never touched the wood carving tools they sell.
I learned wood carving while I was a kid from my dad and uncle, I’ll never forget the skills and safety tips they shared. When I recommend a product you can be confident I reviewed it personally. I’ll sign off now with another photo of what you could achieve with a piece of wood, and a few decent tools from Best Wood Carving Tools.
Thanks, but I just want to buy Bear Carvings
Ok, ok, so you want to save some time and just skip to buying bear carvings? Or perhaps you’d rather buy a wooden bear to copy for your first try? Both are great choices and we are here to help.
- Etsy always is a great choice for hand crafted and unique wood products by amazing artists. Perhaps you’re ready to start selling your carvings? Etsy will certainly give you a good idea on how to price your product.
- Jeff Fleming has been around for over 30 years in the business of creating amazing wooden bear carvings. We think he’s the best of the best, and worth checking out. No, we don’t make any money from referring you to Jeff, his work is amazing and sells itself. Plus we see he can ship around the world now.
- Of course Amazon has a wide selection of various bear ornaments, wooden sculptures and hand carved bears for gift ideas like the one below.
