Carving tool recommendations - Page 2

Carving tool recommendations · 06-17-2009, 11:14 PM

I will be participating in a TWA workshop this weekend on decorative carving for furniture. Paul Rolfe will be instructing, and I am looking forward to learning about yet another slippery slope.

My question is which carving tools would you recommend acquiring as a "basic" set. There are so many different chisels for carving, and each type has numerous sizing options. Like most quality tools, they aint cheap. So how do you narrow the selection down? Are there 6 to 8 tools that allow you to tackle the majority of projects one would be looking at while learning? I was told that the packaged beginner sets usually include things that may be critical. I've seen this before with other woodworking related kits.

Also, for the carvers here, have you seen any recent deals out there for individual tools?

Thanks,
Mike

CarvedTones · 06-22-2009, 08:51 AM

Interesting selection; my guess is that 9-8 will become a general "go to" tool for you for tight work and a 3-10 is the tool I wish I had when I use a 1/2" chisel on something that didn't to be perfectly square and then have it do a little collateral damage. Did you get a mallet?

CohibaCris · 06-22-2009, 10:50 AM

First off - Mike, it was great meeting you and I enjoyed the class as well - there never is a bad time to carve IMO.
On the gouges, the only thoughts I can offer beyond what's been said are to make the attempt to purchase/acquire tools with the greatest variety of profiles in the beginning. The spread you picked up (#3 - almost flat,slight curvature; #9 - very deep,highly curved gouge; and the #6 {56} that's in between the first two) is very wise. By getting the variety, you can accomplish a great deal before you 'have to' invest in more tools...
Because quality tools are expensive, most of us can't lay down $3-4K for a moderately complete set of tools in one shot. We can however chip away (pun intended) at the needs our projects present and end up with what we need over time.

MikeL · 06-22-2009, 11:53 AM

Andy, I did get a 12oz urethane mallet. If I end up needing a heavier mallet, I will make one. Paul said that this was the mallet that he used for the majority of his work. That was a good enough endorsement for me.

Cris, I'm glad that you found this post. The selection of tools was chosen by Paul (cannot take any credit for that one). I thought that it was really helpful having you there with us. This man has a serious box o' tools for carving. I also love that MC Escher carving.

CarvedTones · 06-22-2009, 12:26 PM

Mike,

Of course you realize that none of this ever happened unless you get pics up.

I want a urethane mallet. Most of the time I use an undersized hard maple one I turned . I made it to teach the kids with and found that I rarely if ever need more power and my larger mallet is a block head.

CohibaCris · 06-22-2009, 12:27 PM

Quick add on - external links/resources
Here is a catalog from Stubai (available at Klingspors in Raleigh) that are very well made carving tools.
http://stubai.com/pdfs/stubai-de-schnitz-poliert-55.pdf

You can also look at the Woodcraft imported brand Pfiel (swiss made) gouges and chisels here:
http://www.woodcraft.com/articles.aspx?articleid=39

Either article should show the profiles adequately to confuse the heck out of you and send your head spinning (or give you an idea of what you'd need to look at the next time you're buying carving tools).

MikeL · 06-22-2009, 01:24 PM

Andy, the 20% off sale is still going on at Klingspor's.

Chris, thanks for those links. I found the Stubai website last night and got thoroughly confused. I couldn't even find 2 of the tools in their catalog that I had purchased???

CarvedTones · 06-22-2009, 02:02 PM

The tool budget is low right now. My Father's Day hint was for carving tools, but of another sort. The few Pfiel gouges I have are my favorites and I dearly love my Stubai small sculpting adze. That reminds me - do you have a honing cone? Pfiels come sharp and I have a hard time getting my edges quite as good as they come so I hone religously. My Stubai adze was not sharpened well and I spent serious time getting it sharpened to my satisfaction so I hone it a lot as well. I also have a bunch of cheap imports that need resharpening a lot; softer steel needs more than just honing.

MikeL · 06-22-2009, 02:22 PM

I do not have a honing cone. Are you referring to one of the diamond cones?

Keeping these carving tools sharp is something that I hope to get more guidance from on Thursday.

CarvedTones · 06-22-2009, 03:05 PM

Yes, diamond cones. I think there are ceramic ones also. I consider honing and sharpening as distinctly different activities. Honing is keeping a really keen edge on a properly beveled blade with no nicks. Sharpeing is what you do after your wife opens a can of paint.

dkeller_nc · 06-23-2009, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by MikeL

I do not have a honing cone. Are you referring to one of the diamond cones?

Keeping these carving tools sharp is something that I hope to get more guidance from on Thursday.

Mike - One of the first thing Paul teaches anyone that's new to the apprenticeship class is sharpening, so you may wish to hold off until then. Most of us in the class developed slightly different techniques and media for the purpose, with Paul's guidance on the correct way to hold the tools and the motion necessary to get a good and accurate edge.

One thing that most of us do at some point is to make a strop - generally a piece of leather glued to a flat piece of wood with some stropping compound on it. Generally speaking, that's enough to keep a carving tool well beyond razor sharp unless you nick the edge on something, which will require re-grinding (either one a powered grinder or by hand on a coarse stone).

MikeL · 06-23-2009, 12:12 PM

I am lucky that my wife would... dare I say it... never use one of my nice tools to open a paint can lid. She can be pretty handy around the house herself, and as the CFO, she knows how much I have paid for some of my tools!

David, I was hoping that knowledge would be available to me. I feel pretty comfortable sharpening my turning tools, but this is a different animal. I am going to have to put something down to cover my concrete shop floor where I do plan to carve. I am all too familiar with Murphy's Law.

I can see that Stubai doing a face dive out of my hand.

I hope that others are able to benefit from this thread. I'll have to update it with some photos after Thursday's class. Thanks again to all who have responded. Now which one of you members decided that carving aint your thing after you went out and bought some tools?

CarvedTones · 06-23-2009, 02:41 PM

Use Murphy's Law to your advantage - to keep the gouges from hitting the floor when you drop them, just carve barefooted.

So you're looking for deals from members who gave it up? What about ~~useless imported junk~~ underutilized tools of exotic origin? I have some of those...

I must confess that I have not come close to mastering the strop when it comes to gouges. When I hone, I hold the gouge across a corner of the bench in my left hand and then I lean over really close with my reading glasses on and hold the hone on the surface of the bevel near me and pull slowly moving the hone away from me as I go so that I work the whole bevel surface while keeping the hone at the proper angle. With a strop, you do pretty much the same thing but you move the blade and the strop stays still. Why I can't do as good a job that way I am not sure. Maybe you will get some tips to share (or others may share some

).

dkeller_nc · 06-23-2009, 02:47 PM

"I feel pretty comfortable sharpening my turning tools, but this is a different animal. I am going to have to put something down to cover my concrete shop floor where I do plan to carve. I am all too familiar with Murphy's Law."

You're quite right - usually direct from the grinder's good enough for turning tools, and at most a quick honing session with a diamond stone's necessary for the finish pass with a skew. Carving tools are way different - you can generally feel the difference between the edge finish left behind by a 4000 grit waterstone and an 8000 grit. One other comment that I think Paul and the rest of the crew at the apprenticeship class may point out is that unlike a plane blade or a flat general cabinetry chisel, a hollow grind on the bevel of a carving tool is not recommended. The geometry will make the tool want to dive into the cut, making it go deeper than you intended, and also makes exiting the cut more difficult. This is, I think, one reason that Paul teaches shaping the edges of these tools manually on a flat stone.

Regarding what to put on the floor, I'd recommend a sheet of elcheapo 1/4" outdoor plywood. The carving tools can't cut through it, unlike anti-fatigue mats. And, one other comment - never attempt to catch one of these on the way to the floor. A really serious cut is likely to result DAMHIKT