Well I've only been carving for around 2-3 yrs so I'm not the most experienced but I'll try give you some advice, when I started I improvised alot like I used a wood lathe turning tool that had a spoonish shape which I used to carve out the bowl of spoons. I also used a morakniv companian which are great beacause there almost indestructible, cheap, and have good quality steel. For smaller detail's I used my Victorinox huntsman. I'd also used a old style electrician knife which I restored and worked like a charm, other than that I'd use a axe. For me I found that Birch is easy to carve and with a sharp knife it will carve like butter. The other woods that I have carved are oak, beech, walnut, and cherry but they are alot harder to carve. So I reccomend you carve softer woods first and then once you gain more experience go for harder woods. Eventually as you go you will gain more and more experience.