Tools Carvers Use

AA,
I took the plastic guard off with no problems and its a nice tool.It really makes a mess and it needs to be kept sharp to really work. Working with it in the verticle position takes a bit of getting used to. It's not like a flap sanding wheel on an angle grinder.

i bought mine at a discount price because it was missing some of the pieces to attach the plastic guard. i guess i never missed it. you can get really smooth cuts with it, but it can bind and kick back if you try to plunge too deep.

Loki is right, ditch the guard and keep it sharp. The other thing I will add is wear long sleeves and thick trousers, it fires out wood chips at an alarming speed that will bruise your legs and cut your arms otherwise!

Here's a pic of me 'not' wearing long sleeves whilst carving the sections of the "Mai Tai Canoe" for Trader Vics, it was the only tool that could really get into the tight spaces.

All good advice, thanks guys. I was pretty sure that some of you weren't using the shield, but then again it goes against the grain to ignore the Mfr. warnings on these tools. I guess they're just going overkill on this one as a C.Y.A. & to limit their liability.

I mounted the disc today & was surprised at just how "un-sharp" it is. It sounds like they sharpen up pretty easy with a round 1/4" file, though.

Ben, good idea on the speed control. I will have to browse back a few pages here & add it to the Xmas list.

Thanks!

I found a new link today to a place that has carving tools for wood or stone etc. They have a good selection of burrs too. Check it out:

http://www.pfingstco.com/index.htm

In response to Finky asking how I sand my small pendants and get them so smoothe. I Use all sorts of Power tools and sanders, here is the business end of some of those tools and the bits and burs and papers they use. I don't do hand sanding unless I Absolutely have to. I use a lot of the Walgreens "Nail Files" and emory boards,xxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzncaspygwqsdf;--Oopps, snoozed out ther a minute I will describe these toomorroesdkmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa







♦♦

myspace

[ Edited by: Benzart 2008-10-19 17:29 ]

I just saw this now. Thanks Ben! Sorry to make you so sleepy. :wink:

Thanks Finky, I don't know what you did, but Don't do it Again. I have slept for 5 days straight. Hopefully I can wake up and do some carving today!!!

So I discovered that my daughter is allergic to walnut. We knew she had a nut allergy - any nuts - including walnuts, but I never thought the dust would be a problem.

I had been sanding the pig for a while (see my thread), and the dust was going everywhere. In fact, my "shop" as it were, is really the "laundry" room. That dust was getting on the girl's clothes and making her itch.

I used a shop vac most of the time too... but often it just wasn't convenient to hold the vac and operate another power tool (sander) in the other hand. It was also VERY noisy. Also the shop vac isnt exactly hypo-allergenic. No hepa filter there for sure. Ony the guys from California need that stuff, right?

Anyway, I digress... So sorry for the cheap shot, Al baby, etc.

Well here are some picks of the PVC pipe I put in the shop ("Laundry room" dammit), to help mitigate the problem. And it works to a pretty good extent! The kid stopped itchin. I can get back to working on walnut.

from shop vac,

then goes up to pipe in rafters,

then across shop, and down to the device.

In this case a belt sander...

I forgot - it cost about $15USD.

[ Edited by: tikigap 2007-02-13 17:19 ]

What is the best way to use these radial disks? The white and gray one next to the sandpaper flap.

You spin 'em....fast.....

-G

Heres some of that space now. I just changed it around yesterday and today

I seem to be breaking these by the 10's on this club. Gone through 25 or more so far.

Ben, thanks for the tool pics and especially the tool organizers!! :)

Would love to see any instructions on using various polishing discs, buffers and so forth... my Dremel kit has a bunch of these but I just haven't found a use for them yet... lol.

Thanks BigT, next time I crank'em up I'll take some shots and post them for ya'

Bump

Ben,

After doing a few carvings now myself, I now know why you seem to have every tool imaginable set up for easy access on your workbench. I think on my last/latest tiki, I had every chisel, exacto knife, drill, dremel tool out on the bench trying to finish that sucker.

The reason I bumped this up was to add these pictures later and Now IS Later.
These are sandingMops and gold stars from
Klingspoors sand paper company, Look for Double Sanding Mops http://www.woodworkingshop.com/001c/html/Catalog/Vol96PG_77-87.pdf These are expensive but worth 10 Times that when you start using them. They work so great you will wonder why I am sharing this time saving secret with you. Its because I want you to Quit all that hand sanding and get on to More Carving. I Know how it has saved Me tons of time! Besides I love you guys.
I have 5

bump

Dig those sanding mops. Are you using them on a drill press like the picture in the catalog, moving the piece around? Or can you attach it to a drill for the bigger pieces?

The sanding mops are GREAT!! You can attach them to any type of rotary tool. The Mop can be used in any way that you see fit. The downside is that they do take the sharp edges off your cuts - use care! I like the finer grits because you have more control and they don't take as much material off. I did find some at Woodcraft that were cheaper ($17/each and made "cheaper"), but could not be refilled - search their sight for Sanding Stars.

On 2008-06-03 11:57, AlohaStation wrote:
The sanding mops are GREAT!! You can attach them to any type of rotary tool. The Mop can be used in any way that you see fit. The downside is that they do take the sharp edges off your cuts - use care! I like the finer grits because you have more control and they don't take as much material off. I did find some at Woodcraft that were cheaper ($17/each and made "cheaper"), but could not be refilled - search their sight for Sanding Stars.

Those Woodcraft stars work great, I second his opinion. They also sell them in their storefronts.

I need a router. I searched, but couldn't find any specifics as to any recommended brands.
I saw that: Lowes had a Skil router with table & a Bosch. Home Depot had a Royobi brand....

Anyone have a preference, or suggestion?

I don't know about Ryobi routers , but I bought one of their bench grinders once , and found out that their spindle sizes are out of step with everyone else .
The only grinding wheels that fit are the ones that came with it.
It might be best to find out of the routers take standard sized bits , or if they too are a problem .

Thanks...will check into that in my quest for a router!

Most routers use the same bits, but it is always good to check out the sizes of the bits for sale to the chuck of the router you are buying. I am partial to Porter Cable and DeWalt tools for work, but if you are buying a router for around the house there are plenty of cheaper models you can get.
I have never had problems with Ryobi tools for tools like routers and grinders.

Most routers you can get now are plunge routers. It makes it easy to start and stop your work. I prefer the older style, but that was what my dad had in his garage when I was growing up.

Found some good source material on routers and other power tools.

http://tylertool.com

Speaking of routers - I'm thinking about getting some 1"x4" redwood or pine to create a crown molding in one of the rooms in my home. I want to cut a design (or designs) into the wood and was thinking about getting a dremel for the job, but I wonder if a dremel would be up to the task. Would this work or would a router be the better tool for the job?

Thanks!

I carve with my hands

I also use tiger claw to brush my hair in the morning.

[ Edited by: Monkeyman 2008-06-27 12:35 ]

A dremel should work, I did this using a dremel type tool with a router attachement and it worked ok.

Vinman- Tiki Noob

[ Edited by: Vinman 2008-06-27 13:07 ]

Cool! How did the dremel hold up? One concern that I have is burning up the motor.

For light work the Dremel type tools are fine. The trick is to make sure that you aren't forcing the tool through the wood and straining the motor. I had an Alltrade rotary tool that I bought at Costco when I first started this project and it didn't hold up too well. I switched to a Black and Decker version for the rest and it did fine.

I was initially using a chisel, and went over using a dremel and it seems okay for light work.

Aloha!

Thus far I've used these tools and tool combination:

• Various chisels: Straight between 1" and 1/4" and some various gouges(But the gouges aren't that useful other than edging and details)
• Rubber mallet
• Sandpaper (60, 100, 150) on a rubber doorstop wedge thing
• Pencil
  And of course the most important tool
• Imagination! Sparkle-sparkle

I'll put pictured up when I feel like it.

• Cheers :drink:

I'm really interested in this, but it seems almost all the images are broken. What a bummer!

I Just recieved the burs I need to finish ths maori/Moko and as you can see they are VEERY Small anywhere from .5mmwide to 2,6 mm wide, There are inverted cones, sawblade discs Pointes and barrels and they are all measured in .5 .7 MM to 2mm high ,All Very small compared to what I had that was sharpenough to cut butter. Tomorrow we'll see how steady my hands are and how well I chose the tools to complete this guy's Moko.

WhoooHooo! this means updates on the carvings right???

Bump

Sweet display of dremel tools Benz! I'm desparately in need of making some tool organizers/holders for my chisels and various bits. Those plastic ones you have look store bought though. I haven't seen any of those.

Yes, those little white dremel organizers do look handy. I have a variety of dremel bits, but came in a big organized set. I have been purchasing a few bits separately lately so that organizer would be great.

Oh, and getting back to routers, I ended up purchasing a Bosch Colt Palm Router. It's not a plunge type, only 1 HP, but it only weights 3 lbs.! Perfect for my use.

Great tool, Bosch is hard to beat
Looking for Bur organizers? It's Easy to cut a block of wood and drill a bunch of holes in it and stuff your burs in in Right? NOT. It is doable but unless you use a jig to get perfectly spaced holes you end up with a messy looking block of firewood, SO here are some of my favorite links:
OttoFrei
I really love THIS One from Florida jewelers tools because there is room to add holes ans STUFF!
More fromFDJ
And HERE from another Favorite of mine where I've spent lots of money.(they have the great "China" flexshaft machine for around $70{I've had one for a few years and it's still going strong})

Anybody have this?

I bought it because the head is a 2" triangle, thinking it would be good getting into small places. But, I've had no luck with it. In fact, it did nothing to the wood I was working on. Wondering if I got a lemon or if this tool is destined to become a $40.00 paperweight.

On 2008-08-05 06:01, blindy the pirate wrote:
Anybody have this?

I bought it because the head is a 2" triangle, thinking it would be good getting into small places. But, I've had no luck with it. In fact, it did nothing to the wood I was working on. Wondering if I got a lemon or if this tool is destined to become a $40.00 paperweight.

We bought this to help with refinishing some cabinets and we had the exact same experience. A whole lot of noise, but not a bit of sanding. I should have taken it back.

I've been carving some of my tikis way too deep and I have a had a terrible time cleaning up the wood in those crevices and have tried all sorts of things with not much success. My dad was cleaning up a piece of metal with a simple bit that held sand paper in his die grinder. I've seen and used these before in 3/32 and 1/8" bit sizes, but what he was using was a homemade 1/4" bit just long enough spin heavy duty sand paper close to the collet. The lightbulb went off. I bought some 1/4 cold rolled steel rod and cut a length long enough to reach the bottom of a crevice on a carving.

Use strips of sandpaper torn off of old beltsanding belts because the cloth is both flexible and heavy enough to handle the abuse. Run this slow in your Foredom and you can really sand deep into those pockets. Since it is only 1/4" diameter it can reach into some really confined areas. I plan on making several different lengths of these.

If anybody has other solutions to sand and clean up saw marks in those deep crevices please post them.

Well,"DUH", I've been using the 3/32 and 1/8 versions of that too but it Never dawned on me to go bigger. Johnny gets the Tool Tip of the Month Award. :P

Friggin' genius Johnny!!

On 2008-08-06 11:08, Benzart wrote:
Well,"DUH", I've been using the 3/32 and 1/8 versions of that too but it Never dawned on me to go bigger. Johnny gets the Tool Tip of the Month Award. :P

Where do you get those fancy things Benz? I dont think I have the equipment to make one - I definately have a couple of broken burrs that I could use if I could cut the slit lol.

KS

On 2008-08-06 13:17, kiwishaman wrote:

On 2008-08-06 11:08, Benzart wrote:
Well,"DUH", I've been using the 3/32 and 1/8 versions of that too but it Never dawned on me to go bigger. Johnny gets the Tool Tip of the Month Award. :P

Where do you get those fancy things Benz? I dont think I have the equipment to make one - I definately have a couple of broken burrs that I could use if I could cut the slit lol.

KS

I just used a hack saw. Nothing fancy. But I bet you can make some 1/8" ones using a Dremel type cut off wheel to cut a slot in an old bit. "did we mention it cuts?"

you can find them all over online, too. just google marsh sander or split mandrel.