Ok, first I would like to humbly thank Kirbert for his very detailed descriptions on how to procure needles for carving. I had tried twice before to get some at a pharmacy and was obviously not communicating my needs. BUT today I walked into the local feedstore, straight to the "Equine" section... and found perfect needles in sizes 16, 18, and 20 (they also had 22 I believe). Of course, they only came in 5 packs, but 1.79 for 5 isn't too bad! So, again, Thank you for getting me this far!

NOW, I'm home, I have needles... I sit at my mag lamp ready to practice... and I totally slaughtered that poor piece of scrap rubber! I can totally see how these will be perfect for detail work once I get the hang of it... IF I get the hang of it...

I remember reading somewhere NOT to use them like the v-blades, scooping away from the body... is that correct? Should the longest side of the needle be on top or bottom? Do I need to hold it upright (like a pencil), or parallel to the rubber (or near so)?

HP~anxiously awaiting step 2...

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... and I totally slaughtered that poor piece of scrap rubber!

You do have a pin vise to hold them, right?

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I can totally see how these will be perfect for detail work once I get the hang of it... IF I get the hang of it...

I hear ya! They definitely call for some getting used to. So far, mostly what I've been doing is carving the same old way I always have, and only break out the carving needles when faced with something that I'd normally screw up -- like the tiny little dot in the middle of an eye or something like that.

I'm not convinced that's the best way to get to know your carving needles, though. It'd probably be better to try to carve an entire stamp with them. Probably best to avoid any images with long straight lines or gentle curves; choose something with a zillion tiny cuts. And plan on slaughtering a few pieces of scrap rubber!

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I remember reading somewhere NOT to use them like the v-blades, scooping away from the body... is that correct?

Correct. You're slicing with one of the two edges, not gouging. Use them very much like an X-Acto.

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Should the longest side of the needle be on top or bottom?

Good question! I think it may be a matter of personal preference. I initially expected that the long side would be on the bottom (opening facing up), but I've since decided that opening facing down works at least as well and possibly better.

The cutting edge is not parallel to the centerline of your pin vise. So, if you hold the needle with the opening facing up, the slice you make will be at a steeper angle than you're holding the tool. If you hold it with the opening facing down, it'll slice at a shallower angle. Which is better? That may depend on what angle you feel comfortable holding the tool!

It's possible that the biggest difference between opening-up and opening-down is one of visibility, which way do you best see exactly where you are cutting? The actual cutting edge is not as obvious on a tiny needle as it is on an X-Acto blade.

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Do I need to hold it upright (like a pencil), or parallel to the rubber (or near so)?

Upright like a pencil.

That is, until you get to a later stage of carving, after you've already "scored" all the outlines of the image and you're just trying to remove chunks of rubber. Then holding it nearer to parallel to the rubber is a good way to slice underneath the chunks to get them to fall out.

-- Kirbert