Woodcraft was out of the gouge tools I was looking for in order to start woodcarving. I had the basswood and the carving knife purchased for whittling but I had my heart set on making the coat of arms from the town my family, on my Dad's side, in Grossbottwar, Wuttemburg, Germany.
I hit my Garmin up to see if it had any ideas where another store might be that would have this tool. I called several it listed but no one there seemed to know what I wanted and kept trying to look for electric tools.. and yes the beautiful Dremel.
I wanted this to be old school whittling and woodcarving from the craftsman's hand.
Lightbulb: call Dad. So I do. He refers me to the stores I had already hit up, minus one that I didn't know existed and was already 30 minutes behind me. Through our ramblings, while he searched for his woodworking magazines, it hit me that I might try a store like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Neal knew Hobby Lobby was closed on Sundays and thought Michaels was no longer there. We thought we could try our luck and just drive down 31 to see what we could find but first.. the library.
We stop by the Indianapolis Central Library right downtown. I forgot my library card, go figure, and Neal has to sign up for a new one. While he does that I turn in some books the kids had read. We meet up and I find a computer to find my selections.
They had several selections and I wasn't sure which aspect I wanted to get involved in with woodcarving/whittling so I decided I should gather a few of everything and see what appealed to me most. But i definitely needed a book on carving signs so I could make that coat of arms. I get five books, check out, and head on out. Now it was time to venture down 31 and find a hobby store that carried the gouge tools I was missing.
It was a shot in the dark and while I was on the phone, Neal spotted a little hobby store and we rolled in. Hobby Town USA. This place was stocked with all kinds of hobby gear. This place made me feel like a nerd and I loved it. I made my way to where they kept their carving tools and found a small kit. It was cheap and I knew it wouldn't last me long but its all I could find. To my amazement they had nice long slabs of basswood just perfect for cutting off what you needed and getting off to work. They also had Balsa wood. I had not heard of it and I thought I would give it a try. We check out and head home.
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