Comfort Birdie to Fly | Easy Wood Carving for Beginners

by CoffeeGirlWood

79K24231

Intro: Comfort Birdie to Fly | Easy Wood Carving for Beginners

My friend died.

It was a long time ago, probably 10 years or so.

And my dad was trying to comfort me. While he was a woodworker, the only way for him to express his feelings was through wood.

That is why he made a Comfort Bird for me.

He said to me, that this birdie will wash away the pain.


And he was right. I was holding the bird and thinking of Lily to come to better place, it made me feel better. At the times I feel sad, I hold the bird.

Our dog is feeling quite bad these days, maybe his days are ending, I don't know.

I can't give him the bird to hold, but I can comfort my son.

My hubby, my son and I were making a comfort bird. So he had his own birdie as I have.

STEP 1: Cut Out Three Bird Patterns

You can draw them yourself, it's easy, just make sure to draw symmetrical lines.

Or you can get patterns in the starter carving kit from BeaverCraft.

It should be four sides, up, down, left and right one.

Better not to give this task to kids, otherwise, the result could be a bit funny but not practical. It was my mistake at first.

STEP 2: Glue the Pattern to Wood

Now all we need to do it's to glue the pattern to wood.

We took cheery for this bird project, as it has beautiful coloring after finish, but if you never tried carving before or did that just for a few times, then it's better to practice first on basswood.

STEP 3: Cut Wood Following the Lines

You don't need special techniques for this. Just make sure to follow the lines.

In a few minutes, your hands will be helping you out to work in the right positions.

Although if you're too afraid, then BeaverCraft has a detailed tutorial in a kit that can help you out.

STEP 4: As a Passing Result You Should Get Such Bird

Take a minute for some rest and look at your bird.

There is some work to do, although it's already getting some nice look.

STEP 5: Again Whittling Time, Carve Along the Lines

This time we work on the shape of the bird.

It's ok to give your kid a knife to proceed with carving. But wood carving is recommended for kids 12+ years old.

STEP 6: Wood Carving Is Finished at This Point

Finish line. We are done with carving part. It's time to proceed to the next step.

STEP 7: Now We're Going to Sand the Bird With 150 Grit Sandpaper

In order to remove all the rough sides. This will make the bird prepared for the flight

STEP 8: After That Take 220&320 Grit Sandpaper

STEP 9: Finish It With the Beeswax

Beeswax works the best for good finish.

STEP 10: Finally. We Have a Birdie Ready to Fly

In the end you'll have such birdie on your table. While it could have a different coloring if you went with basswood instead of cherry which is highly recommended at the beginner stage.

STEP 11: Enjoy Your Comfort Birdie

It took us three-four hours.

It can take you a bit longer if you never tried carving before.

But the whole process is easy and if you do it with your family it's really fun.

It's so good to put your life on hold and enjoy something real for a minute.

Wood carving works like relaxation while your attention is focused on real project that you are able to touch.

You can make anything out of the wood. And in the end feeling of achievement will please you a lot.

What's good about comfort bird?

It does comfort you.

It did comfort me myriad of times.


Hope you enjoyed my FIRST instructable. Sorry if there was anything inappropriate/boring/etc.

Comment if you liked it.

Cheers!


Yours,

Coffee Girl

17 Comments

biohazarus 4 years ago

What are those blue finger glove you are using?
Is it blue masking tape?
Mine is 4, might wait a bit before doing this, but totally on my todo list!

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

That is a blue safety tape to protect your fingers while carving. I have a BeaverCraft knife, man, it's sharp, so we always put a safety tape or wear gloves.
Yeah, it's not that easy for 4 year olds. But you can try doing your birdy though. And when your kid is older, do one more together.

Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the instructable. Have a nice day.

sawdustagain 4 years ago

Tell us about the "blue safety tape". Where do you buy it?

mlduffy 4 years ago

I was able to get cut-resistant gloves for cheap (used by chefs) and did basswood instead of a hardwood so it was much easier to carve. I would rec both for a young'un. I would have loved to do this with a parent a such a young age! Go for it!

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

Well done on the birdie. Totally agree on basswood part. Cheers! :)

mlduffy 4 years ago

I did this with my high school Art class! This class was my "advanced" class, a little bit older (sophomores through seniors), and seemed to be able to handle it even though NONE of them have ever carved something. Also, although some of them did birds, I allowed them to make any animal they wanted. I had them draw a left/right top template using the dimensions of the wood blocks I purchased. I decided to go with basswood since it is much softer but still easily carve-able than things like cherry, etc. I also allowed them to paint them if they did not want to stain them. It was a good way to teach them about Oaxacan alebrijes for Latin American history month.
I decided to have them wear light-duty "cut gloves". These worked well. I cut myself pretty bad while doing a test-carving (the bird I submitted in the "I Made It!" photo) so I was weary of 24 inexperienced teenagers with super-sharp carving knives! The gloves prevented A LOT of cuts and I only had one student who needed a band-aid. I also let them use a coping saw for trickier end-grain undercuts.
Overall they loved doing this project! Thank you so much for posting!
Cut Gloves (Amazon)
Knife Set [dulled a little bit] (Amazon)
Better knife set that retained edge but ran out of units when I ordered (Amazon)
Basswood (Amazon)

TurnerGirl 4 years ago

Well done! thank you :) ... I look forward to making my own birdie, as well to many more of your instructables.

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

Hey, TurnerGirl!

Thanks a bunch for your kind words.
Looking forward to seeing your birdie.
Sure, I'm gonna do a few more instructables.

I love this place :)

Redgecko100 4 years ago

Very nice tut. Well laid out and illustrated. Thanx!

terrefirmax2 4 years ago

I loved this. It encouraged me to try new things and showed the possibility of creating something beautiful...

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

Something beautiful and easy to do. There are so many things out there looking marvelous and you tend to think you can't do it. While carving a birdy covers both sides, lovely and simple. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

MarkN32 4 years ago

this was a lovely and positive instructable. love it and this will be a perfect project for my sons and i when we go camping this weekend.

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

Hey, Mark!

Glad you love my instructable. It's definitely worth trying. Camping sounds fun. Can't wait to see your son's birdy :)

jessyratfink 4 years ago

I love everything about this project! My Papa taught me wood carving when I was little and it was such a great experience. :)

CoffeeGirlWood 4 years ago

Hey, Jessy! Thanks for stopping by. Glad you loved the project. My dad was the one who taught me wood carving as well. Don't you do some carving now? I find it really relaxing, the same way as yoga, just you don't need a yoga mat :D