Basswood - Premium Wood Carving Kit - Best Value Real American Wood Blocks - Preferred Soft Wood Blank Sizes Included in This Whittling Kit - Made in The USA

I'm new to wood carving, this is only the second lot of wood I've bought. The first was from a random Chinese buyer. I wondered why I was finding carving so much harder than the people in the videos I was trying to copy. The answer was the wood. I'm not even sure the first stuff I bought was Basswood, it was so hard. This wood however was exactly what I hoped for- so much easier to get the results I want. I've had an Amazon account for a while and never written a review before but I thought this might help any newbie carvers like myself when deciding what wood to buy, because it really does make a huge difference. Some reviewers are complaining about how big the blocks are, but the sizes are clearly listed in the product description. Will be buying again.

Very good product, although I messed up my knife technique and ended up in A&E with a pretty nasty cut! Not at all the fault of the wood, but buyers beware, whittling can cause injuries if you’re as careless as I was! Definitely recommend it though. Will be continuing once my bandage is off! :D

Wood was very good for whittling but was only short 4 inches long one was 2 by 2 and the other 4 were 1 inch square

The quality of the wood is good but the quantity is not. For scale I’ve uploaded a photo against my Swiss Army knife. The size makes it difficult to hold and, well, it’s just not value for money.

I have never whittled before IN MY LIFE. the wood is as soft as it can be and the size fits well in your hand- it enables you to train some good techniques safely. Would and already have recommended. I have also bought another lot!

Smaller than I thought

Excellent quality and service

I ordered these thinking they would be good for whittling. How wrong I was, the wood splintered very easily creating an uneven effect no matter which knife was used. Very unimpressed

He comprado este kit varias veces! La madera es muy buena y el color muy bonito. Fácil de tallar y tamaños ideales.

Livraison impeccable, packaging sérieux. Un bois de belle qualité, sans aucun noeud. Parfait pour de petits projets de whittling (christmas pine, santa, chess pieces...). Du pur tilleul, léger et tendre, facilement sculptable au couteau ou autre.

ふつう

A corinthian door for a miniature house I am building, this American basswood was recommended to me and is a beautiful timber to sculpt and shape, also is from a fully sustainable source... says so on the presentation box.

First, let me start with my preconceptions: * I swear I saw somewhere that each set of blocks was 20lbs, which is why I was so excited and bought two. Seemed too good to be true. Should have known better. That's on me. * Based on that, I expected large blocks. I also expected a total of 40lbs of wood, so that belief kind of makes sense. * The description indicates that there are "absolutely no knots." You can see a few from my images, in 3 of the 10 blocks. Here are some realities: * The images of the product show me the dimensions of each block. I should have been able to tell that there would NOT be 40lbs of wood. * The wood is still quite high quality. Despite those "knots" I think I am being a little unreasonable in my expectations. Those are surface knots (or just minor imperfections), and I can definitely cut them out. * I have yet to even cut into one of these blocks. I was so shocked by the size that I am writing a review before I do. After I do, I will write another review. * I am not a Master of the art of whittling. I'm very much a beginner. These blocks are actually pretty great for me - and there is no way I could personally cut the blocks to this size for practicing. * Delivery was a day late - but it was really more like 10 hours late (was supposed to be here last night by 9pm, but it arrived early this morning). I don't blame that on the shipper, though, so much as whatever company delivered it. And it was still within what I would consider a very reasonable shipping window. So... no fault there really. * The size consistency is actually rather shocking. They aren't perfect, but I don't expect wood so perfect I don't want to carve it. I'm impressed. * The packaging is quite nice, even after shipping. The block sets are definitely gift-worthy. Additional Thoughts: * These blocks are worth every cent I paid for them. I'll likely buy a few more sets. Now that I know they are rather small, my expectations are realigned. I like these things. * To me, the phrase "Complete Whittling Kit" should contain a knife. I'd recommend modifying that wording. * There are way too many capital letters in the description. Drives me nuts. But that is just me. I still bought two of them, so maybe the description is perfect. * Another image that shows a size comparison of the whole set against something else would be nice, but to be fair the information is there. Alright, that's enough explanation I think. In summation, I love these kits and thinking I was getting a bunch of wood is really on me. The quality is quite good, the sizes are fantastic, and the price point isn't very high for what I received. I can't hold the size being smaller than expected against the seller. I apologize for being long winded. It is who I am =).