Wood Craft

A kind of skill which involves practical art is known as Craft. The whole range of activities and hobbies that relate to making things with one's own hands and skill are known as arts and crafts. Most crafts require a balanced combination of skill, speed and patience.

Traditional crafts are carried on to make products for everyday use. Crafts are produced by full time workers, dedicated to their craft. Woodcraft is a kind of bulk exercised craft. Woodcraft variegates in style depending upon the region of production. Wood crafting is of three types: Wood burning, Wood carving and Woodworking.

Wood Burning :
Wood burning is also known as “Pyrography”. The term “Pyrography” means to write with fire. It is the art of decorating wood and other materials with burn marks. The marks are made by controlled application of a heated object like a poker. Wood burning is a traditional folk art of many countries of Europe. Some of the countries exercising wood burning are Hungary, Romania and the South American country of Argentina. Traditional methods of wood burning use heated tips or wires to burn or scorch designs on to wood. Wood burning can also be done using solid-point tools or hot wire tools.

Wood Carving :
Wood carving is done using a cutting tool to carve out figures or ornamenting wooden objects. Wood carving may also concern to individual products like sculptures or hand worked castings. Well known examples of wood carving from 16th and 17th century England are still preserved and are mostly made out of oak. The decoration of wood has been a widely practiced art since ages. Human nature has an implanted inclination towards decoration of every article of use. Americans or Red Indians carve their sportfishing hooks or the stems of their peace pipes. Some carve patterns into their paddles and boating oars. Figure carving is a widespread activity. Most companies represent their Gods in touchable figures and find manifestations in numerous ways. Carvers find that contributing expression to eyes is one of the most difficult tasks. At times, some carvers got rid out of this difficulty by embellishing the eyes with colored fabrics.

Wood carving includes various Techniques :

Chip Carving :
Chip Carving is the process to remove small chips of wood from the project surface by knives. Chip carvings have two planes which consist of the wood surface and the point below the surface where the cuts intersect. The patterns in chip carving are free form style and are based on geometrical patterns.

Relief Carving :
During this process, the wood to be carved is first fixed on the work bench by means of screws or clamps. The carver sketches the outlines of the suggested idea on paper. Details of the final carving like flowers, foliage or other subjects are detailed. The space between the lines are extorted out by the carver. The carver models and carves out the shapes of his pattern and balances the lights and shadows. Once the desired pattern is obtained, all the cuts are cleaned. Relief carved works are finished at once and not done in stages.

Caricature Carving :
Caricature carvings are humorous wooden interpretations of actual scene, person or things. This process exaggerate or deform the introductory gist of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness.

Caricature carvings are also made of nonliving objects, but it is mainly booked for illustrations of people, especially celebrities and politicians. Caricature carving can either be insulting or free.

Whittling :
Whittling is the skill of crafting out figures from raw wood with the help of a knife. It is usually done with a light small bladed knife. Commonly pocket knives are used. Special whittling knives are also available. They have thick handles which make them easier to clutch for longer time. Also, these knives permit control and pressure to a greater extent.

Wood Working :
Egypt and the China was the first one to introduce wood work. Woodworking is dependent on the acute boundaries of the cutting tools to give an acceptable finishing. Maintaining the sharpness of these tools is a significant aspect of woodworking.

Choosing the Wood for Woodcraft :
Choosing the appropriate type of wood in woodcrafts is very essential. The quality and texture of the wood prescribes the scope of the craftsman. Wood is an aeolotropic material, that is, it is not equally strong in all directions. The direction of the wood which is strongest is known as grain. It is advocated that the touchy parts of a design are formatted along the grain instead of across it. The thin part of stems or leaf-points should not be got rid of from their surroundings. Numerous damaged pieces of work are bear witness of the failure to cling to these elementary rules. The most superior kind of wood is oak. It is indestructible and sturdy without being too hard. American walnut, mahogany, Chestnut and teak wood are also good for working upon. Italian walnut, sycamore maple, apple, pear and plum wood is usually chosen for fine work. Pine wood is used for making particulars that are not too delicate and don't have to be painted.

Products of Wood :
Wood is used in manufacturing numbers of crafts which are used for utility and decorative purpose. Following are few of them :

• Wooden Home Furniture – A wide range of furnitures for home use are prepared out of quality wood.
  
  
• Wooden Box – Variety of wooden boxes are available in the market which are used both for utility purpose as well as decorative means.
  
  
• Wooden Toys – Toys are used for playing and mostly associated with children. Toys are much more than mere amusements. The way toys are used influence many aspects of life deeply.
  
  
• Wooden Kitchenwares – Different types of kitchen accessories are carved out of wood like wooden spoons, wooden spatulas, wooden salad hands, wooden serving bowls and wooden spreaders and knives.