- beard detail
- Shallow layered cuts suggesting individual strands or locks within a carved beard mass.
- beard/hat carving
- Shaping an overlapping beard mass and separate hat/hood form on a figure's head, more involved than plain face detail.
- beard/hat detail
- Carving a textured beard mass together with a separate hat form on a figure's head.
- beard/hat shaping
- Rounding and separating a beard mass from an overlapping hat or hood on a figure's head.
- beveling
- Cutting or sanding a consistent angled edge along a flat piece, softening a hard 90° corner.
- blade shaping
- Thinning and tapering a flat section down to a sharp, even edge, used for letter-opener/knife-style projects.
- branch layering
- Carving stacked, tapering branch tiers on a Christmas tree shape, each layer slightly smaller than the one below.
- brow/nose shaping
- Carving a pronounced brow ridge and nose as the dominant features of a blocky, flat-planed face.
- buckle detail
- A small carved rectangular buckle shape added to a hat band or belt for extra detail.
- chip cut
- Removing a small wedge-shaped chip by cutting into the wood from two angles that meet at a point, common for texture like foliage or fur.
- clothing detail
- Carving folds, straps, or seams into a figure's clothing to distinguish it from bare skin/fur.
- crenellation detail
- Carving the notched, castle-wall top pattern characteristic of a chess rook.
- crown detail
- Carving the distinctive pointed/rounded crown shapes that top a chess king or queen.
- detail cuts
- Small, shallow finishing cuts used late in a carve to define edges and features once the rough shape is set.
- drapery folds
- Shallow curved cuts suggesting hanging cloth folds on a robed or draped figure.
- ear shaping
- Thinning and rounding a pair of ears out from the sides of a block, common on rabbits and similar figures.
- ear/tail shaping
- Carving distinct ear and tail forms on a small animal figure.
- expressive face detail
- Exaggerated brow, eye, and mouth shaping used to give a carved face a strong expression or character.
- face detail
- Carving in facial features (eyes, mouth, expression), usually the last and most delicate step on a figure.
- face/beard detail
- Carving a face along with an overlapping beard/hair mass, more involved than plain face detail since the two forms read as separate layers.
- facial disc detail
- The flat, rounded face shape characteristic of owls, carved as a shallow concave disc rather than a projecting snout.
- feather detail
- Shallow stacked cuts that suggest individual feathers or vanes on a decorative handle or wing.
- fin detail cuts
- Thin, shallow cuts that separate and define fin shapes on a fish figure.
- flat plane cuts
- Leaving deliberate flat facets instead of rounding them smooth, a faster, more angular finished look than a fully rounded carve.
- flat tail detail
- Carving a broad, flattened paddle-shaped tail distinct from the rounded body, the defining feature of a beaver carving.
- fur/ear detail
- Small textured cuts suggesting fur texture, combined with shaping distinct ear forms.
- handle detail
- Shaping and smoothing a grip section distinct from the working end of a piece (e.g. a spoon or letter opener handle).
- handle shaping
- Rounding and tapering a grip section to be comfortable to hold, the main step distinguishing a handle from the rest of the piece.
- hook knife bowl carving
- Using a curved (hook) blade, pulled toward you, to scoop out a concave bowl, needed for spoons and can't be done with a straight knife.
- horse head detail
- The distinctive angled head-and-mane shape of a chess knight, carved from a blocky base.
- jack-o-lantern face detail
- Carving a triangular-eyed, jagged-mouth pumpkin face into a rounded head shape.
- limb shaping
- Carving out arms/legs as separate rounded forms from a blocky figure.
- long push cuts
- Extended push cuts run the full length of a piece (e.g. a blade or handle) rather than short overlapping ones, needs a longer, flatter blank.
- mask/tail detail
- Shallow cuts suggesting a raccoon's banded mask and ringed tail markings.
- mitre detail
- The angled notch cut into a chess bishop's top, referencing a bishop's mitre hat.
- painting
- Applying paint (often alternating light/dark) to a finished flat or carved surface for contrast.
- patchwork clothing detail
- Carved seam lines suggesting patched-together fabric on a figure's clothing.
- pull cut
- Drawing the blade back toward your body (with your thumb braced on the wood, blade moving away from your hand), used where a push cut can't reach the angle.
- push cut
- Pushing the blade forward through the wood with your thumb or palm behind the spine, cutting away from your body. Good for controlled, shallow shaving cuts.
- roughing
- The first coarse pass that removes the bulk of waste wood and establishes the overall silhouette, before any fine shaping.
- rounding
- Shaving flat corners into a curved surface by taking many light, overlapping cuts, the main move that turns a blocky rough-out into a finished shape.
- sanding
- Smoothing a surface with abrasive paper after cutting, used where a flat, finished surface matters more than knife-marks (e.g. a chess board).
- scarf/button detail
- Shallow cuts and small carved buttons that add clothing detail to a plain rounded figure.
- shell detail
- Shallow surface cuts that suggest a shell's plates or ridges without carving each one in full relief.
- snout/ear shaping
- Rounding and narrowing a block into a distinct snout and two ears, the main feature-defining step for most four-legged animals.
- stop cut
- A straight cut made first, perpendicular to the grain, that stops a later cut from splitting past a line. The most fundamental setup cut in whittling.
- tail/leg shaping
- Separating and rounding tail and leg forms on an animal figure, usually one of the last rough-out steps before detail work.
- texture cuts
- Repeated small cuts across a surface to suggest texture (bark, foliage, fabric) rather than carving each detail in full relief.
- undercut
- Cutting in underneath an overhanging feature (like a mushroom cap) to separate it visually from the part below it.
- v-gouge outlining
- Using a V-shaped gouge to cut a crisp groove along a marked line, common for outlining squares or borders on flat work.
- wing/beak shaping
- Carving simple raised wing shapes and a pointed beak on a rounded bird body.