Midwest Products Co. Wood Carvers Starter Kit -8pcs

This was for my 9 year old. He loved it. The tools are well made. It is the perfect starter kit.

I bought this kit (made in USA!!!!)despite the reviews which denounced the tools bad quality. I suppose that people should get what they pay for, and considering the price of these tools, I think it is DEFINITIVELY a wonderful purchase to introduce kids or beginners to wood carving. The kit consists in a 3mm and a 8mm gouges (both #8), a 6mm V-Tool(#13), a 3mm chisel, and a carving knife, plus one piece of softwood called basswood, and a kind of stone to sharpen the tools: when you buy chisels, you have to sharpen them before using it for the first time. Basswood is tender and easy to work with, and these tools will make their work. However, do not force too much, be gentle or they will break fast!!! You can find patterns on woodcarving.com. Do not count on the instructions flyer, it is not very useful. Nevertheless, many information can be found easily on internet. You will need patience, just to learn how to handle your tools. However, after approximately 10 hours, you should be able to feel comfortable. I recommend wood carving courses or training, even if financially it is an investment. In France, you can do a training of two days for 300/400 euros, but with a pro, you learn a lot. The best thing would be to choose a real and good craftsman, like a "compagnon" in France. It means that these people did a "tour de France"; it has nothing to see with the bike contest except that to become the best in their own discipline, they were once apprentices who learnt their craft and developed their skills for many years working with the best craftmen. Thus for years, they moved from one craftman's place to another in order to acquire all the knowledge accumulated in their discipline for centuries. Usually, whatever their discipline is, the compagnons realize incredible things.I would like to add that a few notions about wood working do not hurt. You need to know the wood you will carve on, its specificities, its difficulties, etc.Enjoy!!!!!

I got this for my 11 year old grandson foe Christmas. He loved it! I added a book to it.

This product was kind of cheap. The knives bent and broke pretty quickly. I would not recommend it.

I have this set of wood tools I picked up in a 99 cent store. The tools are designed for wood carving and are not for kids. Cheaply made set if you are not a professional. However they will give you practice in learning how to carve wood. If you are serious about wood carving then spend the money and buy yourself a better set than what you see here. Basically for practice and probably will not last long. The blades are not aligned well and the steel is cheap but they work.

The tools are cheap and a number of the chisels arrived without a sharpened edge. When sharpening two of the chisels, the tip broke off of the handle. I would NOT recommend buying this kit.