Manual of Traditional Wood Carving (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Superb guide to every aspect of the craft: necessary tools and appliances, esthetics of wood carving, comprehensive history of wood carving design, and of course, clear, precise instructions on every technique. Index.

Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Republication edition (June 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486234894
• ISBN-13: 978-0486234892
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,613 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book ever written on wood carving, July 17, 2007

By	Mel the Woodworker (Virginia) - See all my reviews

If a person could only have one book on woodcarving, this would be THE book. It was written back in 1911, so some of the material is out of date. For example, the section on how to sharpen tools is dated. Some of the "tone" of this large (568 page)book is in the style of stuff written at that time. It can be a bit preachy and it can get a bit philosophical at times. For example it talks about how learning to carve wood makes you a better person. But these points are so minor, when you consider the entire book, that they cannot even be considered as flaws. There is no other book which even tries to cover just about all types of woodcarving. It covers:tools, history, and styles. It provides an almost unlimited (1146 to be exact), and certainly unparalleled set of photos and line drawings of different types of carvings throughout history. He even has a chapter on how to set up training programs for woodcarving for various groups of people.
Mr. Hasluck does provide some "how to" information. He provides a set of recommended gauges, clamps, sharpening equipment, bench designs, etc. He tells you about and even illustrates the various steps of carving (setting in, grounding, modeling and finishing). He is the only author I have come across who explains why he recommended every tool that he recommends. This is absolutely enlightening!!! It is interesting that his recommended set of tools is much different from the modern authors on this subject (eg Chris Pye, Nora Hall, etc). After researching this topic, I have come to the conclusion that Hasluck selected his set to be most appropriate to highly detailed relief carving, which is the type of carving that he spends the most time on.
I would bet that if someone wanted to start learning how to carve, and they bought only this book, they would be very disappointed. If you are looking for a "how to" book, which gives you a preselected sequence of five projects, from easy to medium, and tells you which tool to use to make each cut in each project, then this is NOT the book for you. There are other books that do this much better. Go to the website for Chris Pye and check out his books on introductory carving, and check out the videotapes of Nora Hall on her website. These will give you much more of the very specific "how to" information on a sequence of specific graded projects.
Every really good carver that I know has used this book extensively. Most of the good carvers that I have talked to are mostly self taught. All speak "lovingly" about Hasluck's book. It is the greatest source of carving information and suggestions and illustrations you can find in one place. One of its "drawbacks" is that it is so encyclopedic, that one could not read it from cover to cover. This is more of a reference book that a carver refers to VERY often during his/her development.
Hasluck's coverage of Chip Carving is an example of how encyclopedic he is. Other authors on this subject only cover one of the many ways that it can be done. He covers many of them in great detail, and he doesn't denigrate any of them. I would buy this book only for the set of chip carving designs that it includes. The rest of the book would be "gravy" to me.
This book is to woodcarving what the Roman Coliseum is to sports arenas. It is a classic. I doubt it will ever be surpassed.
Hasluck's book is really for the person who has taken control of his own education in woodworking, and who wants to become VERY good. It is far too much for the casual person who wants to make one or two carvings with inexpensive tools. Of course, if you like to have impressive books on your coffee table, this would be a good one!!!!!
I am in awe of Paul N. Hasluck, the author of this wonderful book. Having the goal of writing a book of this scope and depth would be like having the goal of climbing Mt. Everest without oxygen. It would not be for the faint of heart. Virtually all serious modern books on woodcarving refer to this 1911 book. It is incomparable, and it is a real bargain. In my humble opinion, you'll get far more out of this book, which will probably cost you less than $20, than you will from a course on woodcarving that will cost you $1000.
BUY THE BOOK. You'll be glad you did.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very worthwhile addition, May 30, 2005

By	Oavde "oavde" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a very worthwhile addition to a woodcarvers' library. I have not read or worked through the entire book yet (it is truly enormous, and I already have most of the skills so it is re-capping them for me) but it is worth 5 stars for the pictures alone - many, many examples of carved furniture through history. Books with that many photos of historical pieces are hard to come by and usually very, very expensive. So for that alone it is worth the price.

I cannot yet comment on the written content nor how suitable it would be for a beginner, but it is certainly worth a look.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good manual, October 24, 2006

By	Marius Vilemaitis "marijonas" (Lithuania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is more than I expected for.
I used to do some woodcarving for more than 4 years then I was teenager and had pretty good teacher explaining woodcarving itself. but this book gave much better understanding about wood, tools and techniques. I've got so many answers into questions which couldn't find by myself.