Learn to Carve Wooden Gifts: Cute Totoro Figurine

Hello everyone, today we will continue to share how to carve wooden gifts. Previously we shared an instruction on Totoro figurine, this post will serve as a more detailed addition with motion pictures highlighting the carving process.

Step 1: Saw off large pieces of excess wood.

Please refer to the first blog post for a sketch of the Totoro figurine, which we won't repeat here. For this step, use a tabletop vise to hold the left and right sides of the block in place, with the vise gripping the block off to the underside so that it is stable and less likely to wobble. Use a small saw to cut the top of the block, making an opening on either side of each ear to reserve space for the ears. The excess wood beyond the contour line was then sawed off.

Step 2: Sharpen the Totoro figurine along the draft edges.

We have hollowed out the center of the ears and now need to chip away the excess wood more carefully. A tabletop vise is no longer needed in this step, lay the Totoro flat on the tabletop with the front view facing up and chip along the outline lines starting at the head all the way to the bottom.

Step 3: Sharpening the side view of Totoro.

Often with intricately designed wooden gifts, it is necessary to sketch all sides to provide instructions when carving. However, this piece has rounded sides and only two arms, so you can skip the side sketches and go straight to chipping and carving. As you can see in the picture, you should prioritize the corners at the beginning of the cutting process, so that the original square shape becomes a rounded shape.

Step 4: Carve the details to finalize the wooden figurine.

Once all excess wood has been chipped away, carefully carve along the contour lines with a small carving knife so that all drafts are not visible, and angles are minimized. Pay particular attention to body parts such as the two arms on the sides, the junction line at the belly, and the feet.

Summarizing

In this post we have described in detail the chipping and carving techniques when making wooden gifts, using the Totoro figurine as an example to provide a more intuitive guide for wood carving beginners, I believe you have gained something, let's carve this cute Totoro!