John Hein Woodcarver

John Hein Woodcarver All work carved by knife and hand-painted.

I have begun listing items on Etsy and will resume shipping Basswood as soon as the tundra melts or about late Feb/March 2026 time frame.

Here's a tip. We make a lot small Christmas ornaments for a European Christmas Market. When the top end of an ornament i...
08/19/2026

Here's a tip. We make a lot small Christmas ornaments for a European Christmas Market. When the top end of an ornament is thin, or a screw eye looks too large relative too the size of the ornament, we use a jewelery wire loop. Before painting, I cut the wire end at an angle so that I am forcing a blunt end into the wood. Then grip the loop with a pair of pliers close to the end and force it into the ornament, adjust the pliers and keep pushing until the wire is deeply inserted. You can make this a bit easier by dipping the end of the ornament first into water to soften the fibers. Note this ONLY works on the end grain where the wire can go between the fibers. These wire loops can be found at a craft store, such as Michael's or Amazon.

...and so begins the day. A bucket full of cut-offs, a knife, a strop, and an audiobook. I found an empty ice-cream buck...
08/18/2026

...and so begins the day. A bucket full of cut-offs, a knife, a strop, and an audiobook. I found an empty ice-cream bucket, actually I will plead guilty to making it empty. The bottom of a cut-off plastic water-bottle sits amongst the pieces, stuffed with a paper towel and added water. This knife (KN14?) is well suited to both remove the large portions of wood and detail around the nose.

If you can get hold of a piece of Birch Bark you can make a handy knife sheath, or two.Ensure that you allow enough spac...
08/17/2026

If you can get hold of a piece of Birch Bark you can make a handy knife sheath, or two.
Ensure that you allow enough space such that the sharp edge of the blade does not cut the sheath whenever the blade is removed or inserted. It won't last forever but it is easy to make.

Adding my initials to the back of some simple gnome ornaments. When signing your work 1. Use archival ink that won't fad...
08/16/2026

Adding my initials to the back of some simple gnome ornaments. When signing your work 1. Use archival ink that won't fade in UV light. 2. Smear a drop of wood glue (it dries clear) over the initials for added protection.

Butternut spoons. A beautiful wood that carves like Basswood.Here's a tip.. when selecting wood orient the grain such th...
08/03/2026

Butternut spoons. A beautiful wood that carves like Basswood.
Here's a tip.. when selecting wood orient the grain such that the growth rings are "U".
This will result in the bowl having concentric "U" rings as those in the photo.

The making of a Loon ornament.Before, during, and after.Enjoy.
07/30/2026

The making of a Loon ornament.
Before, during, and after.
Enjoy.

A word on my experience with Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO). Why/when do use it? Refer to photos 2 carved blocks of Basswood. ...
07/30/2026

A word on my experience with Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO). Why/when do use it? Refer to photos 2 carved blocks of Basswood. I applied BLO to one of them with a brush and as it has cured (dried) over several days, it has an obtained a slightly darker, orangish color and the grain is visible. The BLO has created a water resistant shell as evidenced by the droplets visible on the back of the carving. Water droplets on the other have soaked in. So should I wish for the grain to be visible through acrylic paint I would water down the paint and apply. Couldn't I just skip the BLO and just water down the acrylic? Yes, I could. However, the wood end grain would soak up more paint than other parts. Using BLO gives me more control over how much grain I want exposed.
Yes, BLO is susceptible to self-combustion when bundled up with rags or paper towels. I do not use rags as cotton tends to retain moisture better than paper. I spread used paper towels out on concrete to let them dry.

What'cha doing John? At the Community Woodshop today cutting out 3 dozen of my Loom ornament bodies.
07/24/2026

What'cha doing John? At the Community Woodshop today cutting out 3 dozen of my Loom ornament bodies.

The goal was to give our Christmas ornaments bright colors (I carve a lot of Cardinals) while allowing the grain to show...
07/16/2026

The goal was to give our Christmas ornaments bright colors (I carve a lot of Cardinals) while allowing the grain to show through the paint. I started using water-soluble wood dye years ago as I was dissatisfied with watered down acrylics I had been using. The use of acrylics alongside the dye poses it's own challenges but I find the time and effort worthwhile. You can't get that vibrant blue using acrylics. For those interested I will post more on my process in the future.

Address

3233 Xenwood Avenue
Saint Louis Park, MN
55416

Telephone

+16124192159

Website

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