Palm Chisel

A palm chisel is a short-handled wood carving chisel that’s designed to be pushed with one hand (using your palm) rather than struck with a mallet. Essentially, it’s a smaller chisel that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, giving you fine control for delicate carving work. Palm chisels can have different blade profiles just like full-size chisels – you can get palm versions of flat chisels, gouges, V-tools, etc., but what they all share is the compact handle. Because you operate it just with hand pressure, a palm chisel is used for precision cuts and finishing details, not for heavy wood removal. For example, if you’re carving a small figurine or adding details to a relief carving, a palm chisel lets you carefully shave and refine those areas in a way that feels more like drawing than chopping. One description puts it simply: the palm chisel is “a sharp tool suitable for precision work and final details” on wood carvings.

Palm chisels are very beginner-friendly for a few reasons. First, they don’t require a mallet or lots of force – you use gentle hand pressure – so a newcomer can focus on control and technique without worrying about swinging a hammer. This makes them feel approachable, especially if the person started with only knives. In fact, many carvers discover that palm chisels can handle tasks they used to do with a knife, sometimes even better. For a beginner, that means you can broaden what you carve: instead of struggling to make a certain cut with a knife, you might pick up a small V-tool or gouge in palm handle form and achieve the result more easily. Palm tools excel at detailed carving – their size and control let you get into tight spots, outline patterns, or add texture with accuracy. They’re not meant for hacking out big chunks of wood quickly (and indeed, using only hand pressure is slower), but they shine in meticulous tasks and detail carving. Many beginners use palm chisels alongside their carving knife; for instance, after roughing out a shape with a knife, you might use a palm chisel to refine edges, flatten backgrounds, or enhance details. This combination can speed up learning and improve the quality of early projects because you’re using the optimal tool for each part of the job.

BeaverCraft produces a variety of palm chisels tailored for beginners and hobbyists. These tools come pre-sharpened and ready to carve, which means a new carver can use them immediately without fussing over the edge. Each BeaverCraft palm chisel features a high-carbon steel blade that holds its edge well, and a short, ergonomic handle (often ash wood) that fits nicely in the hand for controlled carving. They intentionally design these palm tools for “precise manual treatment only” (no mallet needed) – perfect for those practicing hand carving techniques. BeaverCraft offers palm chisels in different profiles (flat, various sweeps of gouge, V-profile, etc.), and they often include them in starter kits. For example, you can find a BeaverCraft kit that has a couple of palm chisels alongside knives, so a beginner can experiment with using chisels for detail work right away. With BeaverCraft palm chisels, you get the benefit of a comfortable, quality tool that makes learning detail carving easier and more enjoyable. The added control and assistance these tools provide can really boost a beginner’s confidence as they start doing more than just basic knife cuts in their wood carving journey.