So you've decided to start wood carving. You’re ready to buy your first wood carving tools, but then you encounter the jargon: Sloyd, Hook, Chip, and Detail. What does it all mean?
Choosing the right blade shape is the most crucial step after picking your wood. Each profile is engineered for a specific job. Understanding the differences will save you time, effort, and frustration.
Here is your essential guide to the four main wood carving knife shapes and what each one is designed to do.
1. The Sloyd (or Whittling) Knife
The Sloyd knife is the original all-purpose tool and the one you should generally buy first. "Sloyd" comes from the Swedish term for handicrafts and is designed for general-purpose work.
- Look: It has a medium-length, relatively straight blade with a gentle, often rounded, point. Its size sits perfectly between a small detail knife and a large roughing knife.
- Purpose: The Sloyd knife is your workhorse. It’s perfect for the overwhelming majority of cuts in whittling—from carving the initial outlines to roughing out the main shape of an object (like a figure or handle).
- Why It Works: The straight cutting edge delivers long, clean cuts, and the size offers a balance of power and maneuverability. You can comfortably choke up on the blade for precision or use the full handle for power cuts.
💡 Your Go-To for:
General whittling, roughing out spoons, handles, and small figurines. It's the everyday carry of the carving world. Take a look at the BeaverCraft range.
2. The Hook (or Spoon) Knife
If you want to carve anything that holds liquid—spoons, bowls, or kuksas—you absolutely need a Hook knife.
- Look: This knife is instantly recognisable by its distinct, curved, or 'hooked' blade. It can be single-edged (for specific handedness) or double-edged (ambidextrous).
- Purpose: The Hook knife is specifically designed for one job: hollowing out the concave (or dished) areas of wood. It removes material where a straight blade simply can't reach.
- Why It Works: The hook shape allows you to slice across and against the grain inside the bowl of a spoon, creating a smooth, round cavity without tearing the wood.
💡 Your Go-To for:
Spoon carving, hollowing out bowls and cups, and smoothing any other concave surface.
3. The Detail Knife
Precision is everything in carving, and that’s where the Detail knife steps in.
- Look: It features a very small, thin blade with a highly acute point. The blade length is minimal, often around 1 to 1.5 inches.
- Purpose: This knife is used exclusively for the finest work. Think about carving tiny features like pupils on a figurine's eyes, small lines of hair, intricate border patterns, or cleaning up tight corners.
- Why It Works: The thin profile and sharp tip allow for extreme control over shallow cuts. Because the blade is short, you can pivot it in very small, confined spaces without damaging the surrounding wood.
💡 Your Go-To for:
Adding fine details, cutting tiny relief elements, or making final, delicate finishing cuts.
4. The Chip Carving Knife
While sometimes confused with a detail knife, the Chip Carving knife has a specialised function—creating patterns by removing distinct chips of wood.
- Look: It has a very short, rigid, and sharply pointed blade, often angled to facilitate easy plunge cuts.
- Purpose: This knife is the primary tool for the Chip Carving style, which focuses on geometric patterns. It's used to make precise stop cuts and define the triangles and curves of the patterns before a small "chip" of wood is popped out.
- Why It Works: The blade’s stiffness and sharp point allow for controlled, deep plunges and precise changes in direction, which is essential for uniform geometric work.
💡 Your Go-To for:
Creating geometric patterns, borders, and decorative elements on flat surfaces.
Which Knife Should I Buy First?
If you are a beginner and aren't sure where to start, you can’t go wrong with a reliable Sloyd Knife. It gives you the versatility to explore most basic whittling and carving techniques.
However, the best value for a beginner is always a Starter Set (like the BeaverCraft S15 or S17). These sets often combine the essential Sloyd, Detail, and even Chip or Hook knives, providing all the profiles you need to explore different styles and discover which type of carving you love most!