20-Minute Whittling Projects: Fun Things to Carve from Wood Kindle Edition

Almost all of these require you to first cut out the basic shape with a band saw. Not so great for just whittling out in the yard, spur of the moment. Pretty much a waste for me.

Good for Beginners, I think it could have put more description for the Carver.Make sure you get a good $$Pocket knife for these or you may not enjoy the time carving out the things. And I have had a Uncle henry for 40+ yrs . I always have a pocket knife on me . But my home made knife is the best, a longer handle very short blade. Detail carving knife, I bought my basswood here and in short, happy with the blocks, the 1inch are a little small but work, as for the Book, not very much help for me, I just like the YouTube videos for carving. Just my 2 cents. And a carving knife that is actually a true carving tool, there are a lot of them here on Amazon. Pocket knifes are ok for a outdoor green wood stick carving, I think! But 40 years ago I did alot of carving with the Uncle henry over the years I ground off some of the blades for detail work. Have a good time with carving with what you have ,have a carving glove if you can, just have fun. In the Days to come now we need a little wood carving to keep us sane. God Bless you all.

This book was listed on a website as a beginner friendly book. As a beginner, I would have to disagree. The photos are dark and are not very clear as to what step is being done. And, as other reviewers have mentioned, I'm annoyed by the assumption that I own a power saw to cut out the blank. But what really annoys me is the fact that the printed patterns don't fit on the wood size given. For example, on the gnome-in order to have it fit, the pattern has to be tipped up so that the hat will fit on the wood. But then the gnome would be on tiptoe. So I'll have to adjust the pattern to make it work, or go out and buy a different size of wood. What's the point of including patterns and wood dimensions if they don't actually fit each other?

This is a great list of projects, and each on has a template. The projects found in this book are somewhat unique, they aren't mostly overlaps with other books, which is a problem I found with other books. The only downside to this book is that the "whittling 101" section isn't very long, so if you haven't whittled before, don't rely on this book for that. Otherwise a great book!

This is a well written, well illustrated book that I will use to teach my grandchildren whittling. In addition to the little projects, it has helpful discussions of each type of cut and how to do it safely.

Decent projects, although we're not into gargoyles and such. Bought it for my 13 yo and it was a little beyond his capabilities. Very instructional though, and we learned about the good techniques of whittling.

Projects are simple and easy as the book states but some projects require more than just a piece of wood and a sharp knife...Some project require tools such as a band saw or a coping saw at the least...Overall the projects in this book are fun and this book is informative on certain types of common cuts and methods that may be used in whittling from time to time...this book contains patterns which is a plus and knife sharpening tips and instruction as well... Only reason I gave this book a four is because you need more than just a knife and a piece of wood to complete some of the projects...I am more of just a knife and rough piece of wood kind of guy...

Good book with easy-to-do projects but I am not that impressed by the eBook version. Should have sucked it up and bought the paperback version.

The title of this book is very misleading because it gives the impression that the projects inside are whittled in twenty minutes using just a knife.In fact, to complete nearly all of the projects listed, you must firstly cut them out using either a scroll, band or coping saw.To cut curved shapes on a scroll or band saw takes quite a bit of practise, and is not something a beginner could do easily.Even if you used a coping saw, it would still take some time to cut the pieces out first.With the exception of the four photographs showing the four basic cuts, I found the book un-informative and dull.

I like using this book for ideas and it can be helpful.However, each project takes longer then 20 minutes because that doesn't include the time it takes to cut out the rough shape (outline).

New to carving and liked the look of the projects in this book and the Tom Hindes Santa seems to be common in a lot of beginner woodcarving videos. The attraction of whittling is being able to create items out of wood just using knives and being able to do it anywhere. This book seems to rely heavily on patterns and using a scroll saw to cut out the initial pattern first. The instructions and photos are also perhaps not that clear for a beginner like me to follow. I prefer instruction books to videos but found following the carving sequence from the text and pictures difficult. I have used the patterns and have produced a pumpkin magnet and a passable gnome, but took several hours to whittle the wood down to the starting shape and then relied mostly on the finished photos to try and self-teach the steps to bring in the detail. So I have got use out of it but not the quick carving projects the title suggests.

20 minutes is optimist but probably saying more of my skills than not being possible. Excellent book with good templates which can be scanned and then used to trace onto the wood if your not an artist like myself!

I’m a totally newbie to this so obviously got all the beginners stuff, and although a great resource, the projects don’t appear to have the wow factor. Having said that the author does state that each project can be further customised based on your skill level, and a book with simple designs doesn’t scare away newcomers, or put off kids, so it has its place. This is a fun hobby and I recommend it to everyone.