@redochre
I second most of what was said. For me (and my case may be different as I have a paralyzed left arm) I found a maul was a much better striking tool. Don't be afraid to go to the Tandy store and ask to try some of the mauls out. I use one around 18-20 ounces. I'm under the impression that Tandy no longer offers this size but a 16 ounce maul would serve you well. Try it out and then decide on picking a maul or mallet up.
Don't skimp on quality. Buy the best tools you can afford, you will thank yourself later. And for floral carving I find that I much prefer steep bevelers where I use relatively shallow sloped bevelers for most of my figure carving. Practice tapering your knife cuts and doing the same with your bevelers.
You're off to an awesome start! I wish my first attempt looked like that 😏 although I have a hard time going by the manufacturers opinion (I tend to do it my own way until I figure out the instructions were right)
@redochre I second most of what was said. For me (and my case may be different as I have a paralyzed left arm) I found a maul was a much better striking tool. Don't be afraid to go to the Tandy store and ask to try some of the mauls out. I use one around 18-20 ounces. I'm under the impression that Tandy no longer offers this size but a 16 ounce maul would serve you well. Try it out and then decide on picking a maul or mallet up. Don't skimp on quality. Buy the best tools you can afford, you will thank yourself later. And for floral carving I find that I much prefer steep bevelers where I use relatively shallow sloped bevelers for most of my figure carving. Practice tapering your knife cuts and doing the same with your bevelers. You're off to an awesome start! I wish my first attempt looked like that 😏 although I have a hard time going by the manufacturers opinion (I tend to do it my own way until I figure out the instructions were right)