Power carving advice

[Alex Zeller]

I'm looking for ways to do simple scroll work to decorate bowls and vessels. Nothing to advanced, maybe something like Celtic patterns. I have a Dremel and have used a rotary burr but was wondering about something that uses the flexcut type blades. I would think it's quite a bit different than using a rotary type tool (and away from the effect that a rotating bit has on trying to control it). Bowls are kind of unique because of the transition between face and end grain. I've seen a few videos of people making things like decoys out of wood so I'm assuming that it can be done. Not having a tool nor ever even trying it I'm not even sure where to start. Is there an inexpensive tool available that isn't just throwing money away. I don't mind spending money on a nice unit if I find it's something I like but would like to try first.

Do you use the lathe and lock the spindle to hold the bowl or do you use a stand mounted on a work table? It wouldn't be too hard to get a large bolt the same threads as my chuck and modify it so it can be angled as needed. Have you ever used a projector to display the pattern on the work? I have looked into projectors like the Artograph. I'm thinking that it would be limited on how useful it would be but for the top of vessel or a lid for a box it might work.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have a Foredom router and bought the reciprocating handpiece that uses the Flexcut blades. It works. Noisy and far from cheap.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Alex - quite a while back I bought an inexpensive rotary tool at Woodcraft. It was a good buy and came with a flex shaft and a reciprocating carver handpiece. Didn’t think too much about the reciprocal carver at the time since I had no need for it, but after a long time sitting on the shelf I decided to give it a try. Long story short, I haven’t taken it off since. Its a great tool for freehand embellishing. Takes flexcut and other knives, gouges and works surprising well. Easy switch between handpieces.
This one is a chinese brand - Weecher and has worked flawlessly for several years. They also make a foredom style knockoff motor that I’ve been considering upgrading to just in case this one dies.
As for workholding I’ve got a Woodcut pro-cut carving stand that takes all my chucks and is setup for vacuum chucks as well, but most of the time I have a comfortable extra-high office chair (like the ones we used to use at drafting tables in the old days) and put my feet up and just hold the workpiece in my lap.
Works for me.

[tom lucas]

have you considered a micromotor tool?

[John K Jordan]

Alex,

I have Dremels but for carving I use Foredoms, an AutoMach reciprocal carver, and knives and chisels by hand. The Dremel is difficult to hold and control since it's so fat - by comparison the Foredom with the smallest handpiece is a joy to use for rotary carving - I use it for almost every thing I carve. I have three so I can put a different rotary bit in each. You shouldn't have much trouble with the end/side grain transitions with the right bit in a Foredom. I like the solid carbide bits for small things. I use them for carving in soft metals too.

This bowl is partially turned then attacked (very gently!) with a fine coping saw, Foredom, hand chisels, a variety of knives, rifflers, files, sanding sticks, and plain ol' sandpaper:

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These spoons are cut out on the bandsaw and shaped mostly with the Foredom and finished up with riflers and sanding. I realize this is not carving on woodturnings but might illustrate some possibilities.

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The AutoMach reciprocal carver is fantastic in some situations and on certain wood. As a chisel, it can follow the grain if you don't pay attention but in general I love how easy it is to make very smooth cuts even in hard wood - try it with Cocobolo! Oh boy - cuts like butter! It is fatter to hold - the reciprocal head for the Foredom would be easier to hold and control but I've never tried one. Noisy little beast.

The hand gouges give a lot of control but are more work with hard woods. They are a joy to hold in the hand. Perfect for soft woods like walnut, cherry, soft maple, madrone, and mahogany. I like to use the hand gouges when carving letters in wood harder than basswood.

For decorating woodturnings, have you considered chip carving? I found it easy to learn and simple to do with a bit of practice. I've posted pictures of some chip carvings before but here are a couple again. In both cases I'm carving in a layer of basswood since chip carving is possible but difficult in harder woods. In the goblet the grain is vertical so all carving is in side grain. The grain orientation does change from side to end grain in the Beads of Courage box but I carve the letters in the part with the side grain. (I find chip carving in end grain difficult.) The only tool needed is a single chip-carving knife.

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For more "normal" carving I can't work without a good selection of rifflers, both coarse and fine, and some flat files in a variety of cross sections. I also make sanding sticks by gluing sandpaper onto fine strips of wood. But even more useful for small areas are the spring-loaded plastic sanding strips that use a band of sandpaper kind of like a very narrow belt on a belt sander. They have a chisel point on one end to get into tight spots. When one section of sandpaper is worn out you simply compress the spring a bit and rotate the band around to a fresh spot. And for a lot of smoothing small flat and curved hand scrapers can save a lot of sanding.

One thing about the gouges for reciprocal carving (and hand carving and chip carving) - you HAVE to keep them razor sharp. Fortunately you rarely have to grind them unless you damage an edge. They are usually sharpened (touched up) on wood or leather with an extremely fine abrasive honing compound. If not kept extremely sharp they are about useless.

JKJ

[Kyle Iwamoto]

By the way, there's a woodcarvers' forum here too...… Lots of info there… Them guys over there is the reason I have a Foredom.

[Alex Zeller]

I have read in that forum too. The main reason for posting it here was that I only plan, at least for now, to do projects I've turned on the lathe. Clearly there's some overlap.

I could see myself with a Foredom down the road but only if it's not too loud. I often turn during the evening when everyone else is asleep (just seams like less distractions). I rarely do anything other than hand sanding because of the noise. I hadn't really thought about the noise until now.

Right now to use the Dremel I'm using two hands so it has to be held down. I get the impression that with a smaller diameter hand piece maybe that would change. I was thinking that a power cord (vs flex cable) would be easier to work with. I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable doing it in my lap, at least not until I got a much better touch.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

The Foredom is a well made unit. It's quiet. It's NOT a high speed unit like the Dremel, it barely makes any noise. The recip handpiece though is really noisy, that's the way it works. The rotary bits, no one else should hear you use them.

[Alex Zeller]

Unfortunately this might need to wait a few months. I've been dragging my feet on getting a bandsaw. Yesterday Grizzly sent out a 10% off coupon. The way I cut up my blanks is with my large chainsaw with a 32" bar. I cut one end of the log and then place the log on another one to get it up off the ground and then cut on each side of the pith. Finally I cut the blanks off of the log. Doing it this way I can do the Noodling step in one pass and usually get a flatter surface. Right now I cut the black in half with the chainsaw ending up with 2 pieces approx 15" to 16" long. I don't always have the time to round the blanks up so I end seal them. Instead of cutting the blank in half with the chainsaw I would rather do it with the bandsaw. That means two less surfaces to seal/ check. I think the 17" Grizzly would be fine but the 19" would clearly have plenty of extra throat. From everything I've read the G0514X2 with the rack and pinion setup for tilting the table makes it rock solid which should be good for large heavy blanks. With the 10% off it still is a little over my $1500 budget which is going to eat into the funds I was going to spend on this.

I did see Highland has an attachment for a Dremel that takes the Flexcut blades for around $50. I'm sure it's not going to be a long term solution but maybe it would give me a taste of what it's like. Since it takes the Flexcut blades any blades I buy for it will fit anything I upgrade to.