This little guy was inspired by a video in Doug Linker’s 1x1 series, in which he uses hardware store 1x1 inch dowels to carve a number of different figures.

I used a bit scrap basswood I had and shaped into a 1x1 inch cylinder (dowel) to whittle this Cardinal (stands about 3 inches tall). Its a fun quick little carving and have now done a few. Just a single knife (my Drake 1.25 straight) and a 3mm V-tool (also Drake) were used.

I did try one using a piece of actual dowel a la Doug, but found my dowel to be a hard one prone to chipping. After loosing the beak in a pile of chips, I went back to basswood. Not ready to claim defeat yet and will return to the dowel again in the future.