Post #477513 by TheBigT on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 10:37 AM

On 2009-08-15 10:41, PutiTiki wrote:
Two questions looking for some advice on:

1. Want to get a urethane mallet because my bargain $4.99 ACE hardware one is going to break any day. Any recommendations on size. I've seen 12, 18, 20, and 30 oz.
2. Want some larger chisels for taking out a lot of mass in my next piece. On the fence about whether to invest in the FlexCut MC175 set of four mallet chisels. Compared to my Flexcut starter set, they look too large to be of any practical use. I don't plan on carving 10 foot pieces but something 4-6 feet requires a substantial tool. Anyone have this set and use it on a regular basis?

Thanks for the help.

I'm currently using a rubber mallet, 16oz. Works pretty good. I'm sure the urethane mallet is better but haven't gotten yet.

As for the chisels I have one small wood carving set, palm sized, that I bought a long time ago. I basically just use the gauge and straight chisel from that set. The rest of my chisels are straight chisels of good quality bought from the local hardware store. Then I'm using a variety of dremel bits in addition to that.

Your tiki is coming along great! You could continue the headdress around the back or carve out the flat part currently in the back to make the two lines of the headress currently shown stand out better. Then you can make a dividing line between the head and back. Might be a compromise between doing a full headdress if you don't want to go there.