6 - Backcutting

Turning the carving about and cleaning up the top edge on the back.

I'm using a 'sloyd' knife here, which is a short-bladed, single-edged knife used by craftsmen and woodworkers. 'Sloyd' is a word derived from the Swedish word Slöjd meaning 'craft'. The one I'm using here is made by Mora (Frost) and has a 79mm blade. These and similar sloyd knives are readily available online.

To be clear: a sloyd is just a simple, generally useful knife to have around the workshop and not a special carving knife as such. I like it because, as with all my carving knives, the short blade gives me a lot of control. If you don't have a knife, or prefer not to use one, just use carving tools instead.