Reviews (53)

Wealth of information, but not recommended for beginners.
I picked up this book at the library and I am impressed with the sheer amount of information Cavitch has stuffed into it. I learned things in this book that I haven't seen anywhere else, such as the idea to cut your PVC pipe in half to make it easier to remove your soap. I also found the information about petroleum lip balms. They fix the problem temprarily but ulitmately dry out your lips so you become addicted to it. That floored me because I AM addicted to lip balm! She gives us a recipe for a simple lip balm that is composed of beeswax and oil. I can't wait to try it!
Most thorough soapmaking book available
I have been making soap for several years now and have checked out 15+ books from the library on this topic.The soapmaker's companion is the most comprehensive resource I have ever read, and has enough of the basics for a beginner as well.The recipes included range from simple (basic bars) to complex (glycerin soap).I am a chemist, so I appreciate the chapter on the properties of all kinds of oils and the instructions on calculating the right amount of lye.If you want to make soap, this is the best book to get.

Great for Beginners
I had never made soap before, then used three different recipes from this book - all three turned out perfect.This is an excellent book for beginners. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - Cosmetics    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Soap    7. Synthetic Detergents    8. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    9. Industrial chemistry   

Reviews (23)

Rip-off
This book is a rip-off. If you want simple, easy recipes to follow, don't buy this book. This book gives a lot of useless information and is poorly written.

Beautiful photos, a bit confusing
I read this book countless times trying to absorb the processes before I began. I was a bit intimidated, but was that way with CP soaping as well, so knew it was all about "diving in". I've tried two batches of the alcohol method and they were extremely thin. After boiling the soap down for a whole day it got thick, but then crystals started appearing the next day. I probably put too much borax in, but don't really know since I messed so much with the recipe trying to first melt the soap completely (it says if doesn't dissolve it's too concentrated) then thickening it up (then it was like water). Just made my second batch and it's sitting there, thin as can be at 40% soap, with the maximum recommended Borax. I hope to write a better review with a successful batch.

Interesting, but not practical
After making cold process soap for several several years, and working in product development for a major soap company, I must say that this book is interesting, but not very practical and certainly confusing.I suppose I need more science to really understand this process.I found the soap to be very drying, with a "fat" smell that was really hard to cover.Also, the shelf life was not very long. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aromatherapy    2. Beauty & Grooming - Skin    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Crafts / Hobbies    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Soap    8. Crafts & Hobbies / General    9. Handicrafts   

Reviews (37)

Expert advice with good mix of recipes
Dr. McDaniel's book is a great reference for those who are seasoned soapers as well as beginners looking for an introduction. One of the reasons this book is superior to others is the fact that the photos are instructional as opposed to decorative. For example, on page 57, he has wonderful photos demonstrating what trace looks like and how it behaves. I LOVED that because trace was the most elusive thing for me. People described it till they were blue in the face and I still didn't get it. It wasn't till I saw the photo that the "Aha!" moment came.
A Good Book to Start With
Overall, as a beginner, I enjoyed this book and appreciated a lot of his explanations and directions. I found his explanation of the math/calculation portion a little confusing, however. His step by step soap making was nice. I wish he would have explained different methods of coloring soap a little more. I am interested in making herbal soaps as natural as possible, and this book has helped me to get a basic idea. He goes over melt and pour in a brief overview, and I was glad he didn't spend too much time on it. He teaches the cold process method. I plan to find books that teach hot process next. This book is recommended for beginners.

A very interesting book
I am a veteran soapmaker and really enjoyed this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aromatherapy    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Potpourri    8. Soap    9. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care   

Reviews (33)

Good resource for new soapmakers.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning to make soap. After reading the book, I was hesitant with attempting to make soap since the author made it sound so complicated. (It took reading several other soapmaking books to get up the courage.)I use it more as a guide/advice book rather than a book for soapmaking recipes.
natural soap book: making herbal and vegetable based soaps
I loved this book.Very helpful and easy to use

As Useful as it Can Be
One of the most useful books I had ever bought.This book explains step by step.I really appreciate taht is printed on Recycled paper.
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Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - Skin    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. General    5. Herbal Medications    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Soap    8. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    9. Industrial chemistry   

Reviews (14)

Dissapointment
I purchased this book and am dissapointed. It is beautiful, has wonderful color photos, but there is nothing in it that you can't find on the internet. In fact, my internet resources described hot process soap making better than this book did.
To the Reviewer April 3, 2004
I want to thank you for a wonderful review. My list was down for a time, but is up again and wish to invite you to join.
Great reference source
Many recipes and pictures to see your finished product.A must for beginners. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Folkcrafts    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Soap    7. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    8. Handicrafts   

Reviews (11)

"Soaps, Shampoos, Perfumes & Splashes You Can Make At Home"
This beautiful, slim book is split into two parts: sure are a lot of soap books
This is just another book that was written to cash in on the current DIY craze in toiletries and bath products.The author is not much of a soapmaker, and I ended up selling my copy to a used bookstore within 6 months of ordering it.The book is beautiful to behold, while being a pain to actually use due to the format and size, but is essentially useless next to the few books that actually impart info which empowers crafters to make ingredients decisions because they've learned something.Read Cavitch if you want to learn something. Not for a Beginner...
This was my first book that I bought on soap making and I really wished I had read the reviews first, before I purchased this book. I should have known something was not right when she didn't have any pictures of her finished soaps with her recipes. Could it be because they don't come out right, so she has none to show? I have attemtped to make two of her recipes so far. The Cinnamon Ginger,pg. 71; which came out a dark, ugly, smelley, mess. My second attempt was her Soothing Honey Vanilla Soap, pg. 73. What a fiasco that turned out to be.She neglects to tell you that when you add the 6 ounces of melted beeswax to the oils that are at 100F degrees(as instructed by her Basic Vegetable Soap), the beeswax will immediately solidify again and float on top. So, now I had to re-melt everything to a temperature around 150F to get the Beeswax to stay melted and blend into the oils. And of course, my Lye was already at 100F, waiting to be added to the oils. I see now why she has the section of water baths to regulate your Lye/Oil tempertures. You are going to need them.Anyhow, in order for the beeswax to stay liquid, I had to keep the temperature around 150F.And now I wasn't sure which temperature my lye should be. She also neglected to warn you that honey can cause your batch to separate, that happened to me also, when I added the warmed honey. I have serious doubts that my soap will turn out ok, it is in the mold now, but it did not look good when I poured it. And, I also just found out, after reading on the Internet, that you should not add more than 1.5% beeswax to a batch, otherwise you will have problems keeping the batch at a liquid state. The other reason is because of Beewax's hardening properties. Since it makes a soap hard, too much is not good, not unless you have a jack-hammer to slice it:). Well, her recipe called for 6oz of Beeswax, which is more than 13%, I am afraid I will end up with a brick in the morning. Again, this is the type of information she neglects to explain to you. Another important note is the use of Essential Oils in her reipes, e.g., again, her Soothing Vanilla Soap says to use 2 oz of Vanilla Essential Oil. I am not sure who her supplier is, but I couldn't find pure Vanilla Essential Oil for under $194.00, for 2 ozs, and that was for Vanilla Absolute. I am so glad now, that I used Fragrance Oil instead. I don't have 200.00 to throw away, while I try to figure her recipes out. Again, this is book is truly lacking in information. I am sure an experienced soaper would have known these things, but than, I think an experienced soaper would have read this recipe,laughed and tossed it aside. And yes, how much lye do you need for the Lemon Lime Coconut Hair Bar on pg. 91, anyway? That's right, somehow the editor neglected to add it. Hopefully, once I become more experienced, I can use some of her recipes, but for now, I think I will stay with the Internet, so I can learn.Buyers beware, is all I have left to say about this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aromatherapy    2. Beauty & Grooming - General    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health/Fitness    6. Perfumes    7. Potpourri    8. Soap    9. Crafts & Hobbies / Potpourri    10. Handicrafts    11. Hobbies, Quizzes & Games    12. Personal appearance & beauty care   

Reviews (1)

10 stars
The concern of using SDS and EDTA on my daughter's skin made me look into making my own soaps. I browsed about a dozen of books and this is the only one I bought. It is a great book. It is concise and informative. It is practical, yet it's not "dry". It was written by someone who wants to TEACH you how to make soaps. It overviews base oils and their properties, botanicals and essential oils. It shows how to make cold-processed soap bars, liquid soap, clear soap, massage melts and bath bombs. Many recipes are listed, but most important it delivers a ground knowledge that you can use to design your own recipes, if you so chose. The chapter about resources shall direct you well, whether you want to buy in Europe, the U.S. or Australia. Lye calculator and all recipes are given in both metric and imperial. The pictures are magnificent. I recommend this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Folkcrafts    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Soap    7. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    8. Crafts & Hobbies / General    9. Handicrafts    10. STUDY NOTES - SparkNotes   

Reviews (17)

Worth having if you want to make whoke like soaps.
I was initailly intimidated by this book and I owned it for a while before I attempted her methods.But if you want to make soap with real milk (not powdered as an additive) this is a great resource.Making whole milk soap is not easy.This methods works.I admit I use a stick blender and keep it in one pot but my milk has never curdled due to her cold bath method.Her recipes produce gentle, silky soaps and are made with readily available ingredients.My main complaint with some of the other books is that you cannot get many of the ingredients unless you go online and pay shipping.I agree with another reviewer that she does not explain the why behind some of her methods.I think the glycerine and the sugar are for more lather but I'm not positive.I know the amount of honey is limited due to the risk of the soap overheating in the mold.My only other concern about her recipes is that they do not produce much lather and I like bubbles.However, now that I know the method and have had a lot of success I can experiment with the recipes to customize the soap.

Milk-Based Soaps
I had taken intrest in soap making and so I bought this book off of Amazon.com. It helped me a lot and had some awesome recipies in it.

The recipes were good but.......
I liked Caseys recipes but..it was almost tiring just reading her instructions,like...start with this pan,then put the mixture in that pan...then stir both pans at the same time.I make and mix my soap in one pan,it's really not that difficult.I agree with another reviewer who said it does'nt have to be a team effort.The best soapmaking book I have ever bought is "The Everything Soapmaking Book" by Alicia Grosso. This book has all the information you will ever need to make really beautiful handmade soap. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - Skin    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Engineering - Chemical & Biochemical    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Milk    8. Soap    9. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    10. Handicrafts   

Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - General    2. Beauty, Personal    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Engineering - Chemical & Biochemical    5. General    6. Health and hygiene    7. Herbal cosmetics    8. Hobbies/Crafts    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Women    11. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care   

Reviews (28)

soap: making it, enjoying it
good basic book for anyone wanting to see how soap is made and to get practical experience doing it.Has recipes to follow which would give you hands on experience.They are for small amounts, which is fine for making soaps for yourself or as gifts.Also if you mess up a batch of soap, its not so bad cause it's a small amount and would not cost that much.

Correction
I enjoyed this book and found it very useful for learning how to make soap. It contains useful recipes and information on how to make specialty soaps. However, I found one very serious error in the book. I e-mailed Workman publishing company to notify them of this error, so hopefully they will be making corrections to the book soon.
The Grandmama of all Soap Making Books
This is the book that got me started on my own soap-and-toiletries making business, too. It is very inspirational! Ann Bramson even managed to get me to boil down many, many pounds of utterly disgusting beef fat to make my own tallow (I do NOT recommend this -- it will make your entire house smell like a meat-packing plant), but I'm glad I can say now, as a veteran soapmaker, that I did try it a couple of times. I quickly moved on from the beef tallow and lard-based soaps to the vegetable based soaps, though. Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts / Hobbies    2. Hobbies/Crafts    3. Papercrafts    4. Soap    5. Decorative arts & crafts    6. Industrial chemistry   

Reviews (20)

For me, an excellent book for beginners.
I am a beginner with soapmaking and purchased several soapmaking books prior to starting the craft.Of all the books read, this one was the simplest for me to follow.It was straight forward and provided one of the easiest and quickest methods for calculating sodium hydroxide and water. For the new soapmaker, I believe this is definitely one soapmaking book that you should read.

Not For Old-Time Soapmaking
This book is good for those who prefer to use the "modern" way to make soap, which is cold-processing.Why make soap in the first place if you are going to do it the simple way?
I'm so disappoint .
Not a soap maker book.
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Subjects:  1. Aromatherapy    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Soap    7. Crafts & Hobbies / General   

Reviews (24)

Good Source of Information but Caution on Recipes
I like the way the book is organized and written, and the photos are inspiring.The writer does a good job of organizing the topics.I found the lists of additives, essential oils, and fillers especially interesting and informative, and I return to this section often.However, after plugging in a few of her recipes in a lye calculator, I was disappointed in the lye heavy recipes.I felt this was very lazy editing and a potential danger to new soap makers who do not know how to design their own recipes.I checked some of her sap values and they are correct, but, out of a sampling of 5 recipes, 2 recipes are lye heavy:"Grapefruit Slice" is -1.6% lye heavy; "Fresh as a Cucumber" is also -8%lye heavy.However, "Blackberry Smoothy", "Peach Melba", and "Strawberry Soap" are all okay.If you already know how to design your own recipes, this is a good book for inspiration.

Good for inspiration, but...
I am a beginner soap maker, and found the recipes and pictures good for inspiration. Also, the sequence of pictures for a basic recipe from heating stage to the trace stage are useful. However, the book is not useful for creating your own recipes. While the book has a saponification table and a description of how to calculate amount of lye to use, it does not tell you how much liquid to use in a new recipe.

maybe for beginner, but not so great for experienced soapmak
I returned this book.As an experienced soapmaker, I found that this book just repeated a lot of the same information from other books I have read.There are better books out here and this one is pretty mediocre.I would recommend "Essentially Soap" over this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts And Crafts    2. Beauty & Grooming - General    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. General    5. Health & Fitness    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Soap    8. Crafts & Hobbies / General    9. Handicrafts   

Reviews (3)

It's ok
I'm a brand new whittler and this guy is a tad dry for me.Or perhaps a little intimidating.All the wood carving stuff is beside my point.Good stuff; I just don't love this book.

Very helpful
This book is great for a beginner to learn all the basics of whittling. i was making a wooden chain in no time at all and im ready to go on to the more challenging projects.

The Great American Whittling Book!
Written in the thirties this is the whittler's magnum opus. Classic whittling tricks and projects, soap carving, etc. Get this book, a pocket knife and a chunck of white pine. Find a shady tree or a park bench andwhittle away. Want to make a pair of operational box jointed woodenpliers?, a ball in a cage?, a wooden chain? Tangerman will walk you throughthe process step by step. It is easier than it looks. I have a wooden chainwith a ball in a cage hanging in the shop for people to casually discover.When they do my stock goes up three or four points right away. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Carving    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Sculpture    6. Soap sculpture    7. Technique    8. Wood carving    9. Wood-carving    10. Woodwork - General    11. Carving & carvings    12. Crafts & Hobbies / Woodwork   

Editorial Review

Making your own fragrant, softly tinted soaps--as well as bath salts, massage oils, and facial scrubs--is not only much less costly than buying them ready-made, it's also remarkably easy with the recipes in this book. The secret behind these simple but satisfying hand-milled soaps is to begin with purchased bars of plain white soap, rather than cooking up your ownsoap base from scratch. (This is not cheating, the author points out, but more like how you can consider soup homemade even if you didn't make the stock yourself.) The basic process is extremely straightforward; adding various oils, fragrances, colorants, and botanicals yields dozens of interestingvariations. Also appealing are the extensive ideas for labeling and packaging your products and combining them in themed gift presentations.But you may have a hard time giving some of these away, since you'll be tempted to draw a relaxing bath and enjoy them yourself. Read more

Reviews (28)

Great Reference for Beginners!
Even though this book is entitled "Natural Soapmaking" it really refers using items such as herbs, etc in your soaps and not to the cold process you would doing when making soaps with lye (which can take a month to cure). These are easy receipes for someone just starting out and want to learn creative ways make soaps which gives you immediate results. It gives good instructions and information about aromatherapy, what different colors mean and what certain herbs to enhance your soaps. Although, she recommends putting Vaseline in the molds to assist with the releasing of the mold - you really do not need to do that! As long as you wait for the soap to harden completely that step is unnecessary! And for the cold process/lye makers you may want to pass on this one because you may be disappointed! It is a great addition to your Melt and Pour Soapmaking by the same author!
Great for beginners!!!
I absolutely loved this book. I've looked at many soapmaking books and this was the easiest to understand.I made soaps for my friends for Christmas last year. I didn't have to have a degree in chemistry to make my own soap!!!

Great Book for the Experienced Soap Maker
This book is great for people that already make their own soap.She has wonderful recipes for hand-milled soap, bath salts, bath oils and massage oils.There are also some very descriptive and beautiful packaging ideas.If you do make your own soap, make a batch of unscented cold processed soap and grate it - then this book will really be helpful to you.Unscented vegetable soap is sometimes difficult to find. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. General    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Soap    6. Decorative arts & crafts    7. Industrial chemistry   

Reviews (8)

not as hard as you think...
I always wanted to know how to make my own soap. At first I thought this is gona be the hardest thing. when in reality it's the easiest. This book takes you through a step by step process. and in the end you will end up having the most beautiful looking soap. so nice you'll be tempted to sell it.

Please Use Extreme Caution
I bought this book for myself.I read it over several times and became very familiar with the process before attempting anything.The book is extremely informative and well-written.Very easy to understand.The description of ingredients and the purpose of each one was very useful.Beautiful pictures.Nice sections on coloring, fragrancing & moulding.Great info. on where ingredients can be purchased.However, even though I followed the directions for the alcohol/lye method to the letter, I still had a disastrous first experience.My mixture, simmering on lowest possible heat, boiled up and oozed out the sides, despite the tightly cinched bungee holding the sheets of plastic in place.My inner pot ended up floating on boiling soap foam.I managed to save the remainder that was left in the pot and finished the simmering proccess directly on the burner (after cleaning the outside of the pot thoroughly). I estimated the amount of sugar/water solution and glycerin to add to it.Although I can't vouch for the amounts of any of the ingredients at this point, the stuff that I did save managed to come out very well.Looks pretty, smells great and lathers beautifully.I'm just lucky my stove top didn't burst into flames considering the flamable alcohol that oozed over the sides of the pot.I believe next time I try this (soon) I will ajust the method to what I consider safe and hope that it works well. If you plan on making this soap, please be sure to have an extinguisher close by. I'm not sure why I had such a horrible time with this method, but I'd hate for it to be worse for anyone else.

great gift idea
I recieved this book for a Christmas present from my brother-in-law. He knows I enjoy 'crafting' as he calls it. I personally wouldn't have thought of making soaps as my next crafting project, but now that I've read this book I'm slowing compiling all the items I need(I'm on a tight budget currently), I can't wait until I can start making my very own soaps. I've thanked my brother-in-law several times for his wonderful present, even though my husband is cringing at the thought of havnig piles of soap curing in our small apt. Everything is explained so well, I'm sure if my husband wanted to he could even make soaps too.This year everyone I know will be getting soap that I made, thanks to this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aromatherapy    2. Beauty & Grooming - Skin    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Crafts / Hobbies    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Soap    8. Cosmetics, make-up & skin care    9. Crafts & Hobbies / General    10. Handicrafts   

Reviews (10)

Great for new soap makers
This book is an excellent choice for those who want to create soap using the melt and pour technique.Therecipies are awsome and the results are exact.Beautiful pictures to compliment every recipie and the directions are easy to follow.

300 Melt and Pourprojects
Greatreference book.Fullof a good variety of recipes. Beautiful packaging ideas.Masterpiecetypesoap creationsthat anyone cancreate with patienceand practice. Lovely addition to soap reference books.

Great Ideas
This book is really great for new ideas, I found it very creative, recipes are simple, good directions, the recipes are for small amounts. You can always increase the amounts for more results. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. General    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. BG-REFERENCE - BG-REFERENCE    6. Crafts & Hobbies / General    7. Handicrafts   

Reviews (1)

An improvement over the previous one
Although I had serious problems with the first book in the series, this one presents Ben as more ... mature. Four stars may be slightly generous here, but I found the book okay, when I wasn't really expecting to get through it easily. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Mystery And Suspense Fiction    5. Mystery/Suspense    6. Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General   

Reviews (2)

Wonderful Soap Making Book
This book is my favorite soap recipe book.I purchased this book when I was beginning to make soap.The instructions are very clear.The recipes provided are wonderful.These are my favorite soap recipes so far.I would recommend this soap book to anyone interested in making soap.The authors also know a great deal about essential oils and healing properties.This book provides some of that information with the soap recipes as well.Happy soap making!

Surprisingly good!!
I didn't really expect much when I read that it includes M&P recipes, but I was pleasantly surprised at how useful it looks!Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts And Crafts    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Folkcrafts    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Reference    8. BG-JUVENILE PROP - BG-JUVY ACTIVITY    9. Crafts & Hobbies / General    10. Sale Books   

Reviews (26)

Disapointing experience making the goats milk soap
Im a novice soap maker, but very good at following directions.However, when I attempted the goats milk soap (basic recipe 5) it was a disaster! The directions caution you about adding the lye to the goats milk...first it will be cloudy, then tan and you need to watch it carefully so you add to the oils before it turns orange.Well, my milk was tepid as the directions state but as I slowly added the lye, the mixture turned orange immediately...no cloudy stage and no tan stage!I poured it into the oils anyway following their instruction all the way..and the whole mess seperated as soon as it was poured into the mold...a complete waste. Disapointing experience making the goats milk soap
Im a novice soap maker, but very good at following directions.However, when I attempted the goats milk soap (basic recipe 5) it was a disaster! The directions caution you about adding the lye to the goats milk...first it will be cloudy, then tan and you need to watch it carefully so you add to the oils before it turns orange.Well, my milk was tepid as the directions state but as I slowly added the lye, the mixture turned orange immediately...no cloudy stage and no tan stage!I poured it into the oils anyway following their instruction all the way..and the whole mess seperated as soon as it was poured into the mold...a complete waste. These soaps are extraordinary!
Out of all the "popular" soap books, this was one of the first I bought and the one I use the most! I have made most of the recipes in this book and haven't had a failed batch yet, either hand stirred or with a stick blender. I was a beginner and now everyone wants my soaps because they are mild & natural, smell so "real" and are simply wonderful. Over the years I have become more sensitive to chemicals and "fake" smells. I have solved that problem by making and using these natural soaps for myself and my family.Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Engineering - Chemical & Biochemical    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Soap    7. Crafts & Hobbies / General    8. Handicrafts    9. Hobbies, Quizzes & Games    10. MILITARY HISTORY - WEAPONS OF WAR TRDPB    11. Sale Books   

Reviews (1)

Great!Clever popsicle stick carving tools!
This book is a gem in the rough.It is not slick or up-to-date looking, but it contains excellent instructions on carving soap as a prelude to carving wood.The author, an engineer, shows you how to create carving tools out of popsicle sticks.This is the one of the coolest craft ideas I have ever seen and it worked very well with a group of children from my church.Not only does he describe how to make a basic carving tool (by cutting a diagonal and then sharpening the "blade" on sandpaper) but he shows how to make a gouge and other tools too.
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Subjects:  1. Carving    2. Carving (Decorative arts)    3. Cooking    4. Crafts & Hobbies    5. Crafts / Hobbies    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Soap sculpture    8. Art techniques & materials    9. Carving & carvings