On 2009-01-19 David Craig, Michigan wrote: If your desire is to start out in bird carving or if you desire to expand your knowledge, this book should do it for you. It comprehensive and covers everything from tools, techniques, painting, and anatomy to model building and sketching your subjects. The book´s emphasis, however, is on power carving techniques. If you carve by hand, the book should still be a useful reference for everything but techniques used to carve the three studies you are guided through. The step by step pictures are very detailed and the descriptions well written.
For those on a limited budget, I offer a few more tidbits -
In the tools section, the artist recommends a foredom power grinder, a micro carver, and a fairly expensive woodburner. Altogether, the recommended products would cost you well over $800.00. Please keep in mind that the artist is a professional and will use professional tools to achieve her results. There are more inexpensive tools available.
I personally use a craftsman rotary tool with a flexible shaft, a dremel stylus (has a nice handle for detail work)- [...] and a colwood woodburning kit that is advertised here - [...]
There are variable temperature hobbyist woodburners that are between 25-50 dollars. The Colwood kit comes with a woodburning pen and a few replaceable nibs, as well as a book on pyrography to get you started. Wecheer makes a power carver that is about half the price of the foredom. Proxxom also makes rotary carving tools at a more reasonable price. There are purists who will argue that one should use the best tools out there. I don´t disagree, but I think you should use the best tools out there that you can afford.
Whatever power carver you go with, do not get too cheap with the rotary bits. The carvers are only a motor that causes the bit to spin. The actual bit is what touches the wood. The burrs can be purchased at many online locations. Go with what works for you.
Also, keep in mind that the artist is truly a professional. Do not get discouraged if your carving is not as nice as hers. If you can make something even a quarter of the quality of this woman´s work, you should be extremely proud.. And summed up by saying Comprehensive Volume on bird carving. Currently Carving Award-winning Songbirds: An Encyclopedia of Carving, Sculpting and Painting Techniques has an overall rating of 10 over 10.
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Phil Galatas claimed This handbook provides all the tools and guidance needed to carve and paint realistic songbirds, including an overview of carving tools, materials, and safety. An in-depth look at carving techniques covers bandsawing basics and songbird anatomy, including instructions on carving the torso, head, and feathers. A special section focuses on the difficult task of carving the legs and feet. Three projects, the Mountain Bluebird, the Waxwing, and the Red-Breasted Nuthatch, feature natural history notes, male and female measurements, patterns with step-by-step instructions and progressive photographs, and paint-mixing charts.
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