Is There Such A Tool

Stippling, another way

John K Jordan

Doug,

For stippling, especially in controlled spaces, I prefer cutting the indentations rather than deforming with an impact. This method does take more time but it can result in a cleaner stippled look. Some woods and delicate pieces don't take impact well.

I usually use a small egg-shaped carbide bit in a Dremel rotary tool. I like to outline the edges of the area first then fill in the center. A few hundred or thousand little cuts later I'm done! After the carving I like to outline the stippled area with a groove or some cut to clean up the edges, easy to do on the lathe. Then I usually lightly sand with 600 or finder paper and/or a fine abrasive pad or steel wool. Sanding more will isolate the individual divots for a different look.

Here, a student is stippling a riding crop handle:

Here are some other examples:

JKJ

Yep, that works well...

John in NM

First time I tried it I did it that way. It was probably the slowest method for hand work, but did provide excellent results.

I used 2 or 3 ball cutters of varying size, smallest ones I had. IIRC, I did the largest first over the whole area, followed by a random spotting of fewer small size cuts. It was a bit hard to keep it all random looking, but the end result was very nice. Keeping with the look I was going for, I thinned out some black gel stain and made a darker wash to accentuate the stippling.

Many of the gunsmithing applications I've seen are done this way, probably because if one has a sophisticated enough CNC setup, it can do the work as the last step in carving a grip or stock.

Re: Stippling, another way

Clifton C

John, I like that look too. I think different techniques for different woods or even using different textures on the same piece. Still practicing with the Foredom, the problem I'm having with a single bit tool is my random pattern starts looking "not random", where as the scaler, being multi pointed, can't help but be random. Not sure why I have so much trouble being random, I feel random...

Any tips, tricks or techniques for randomness would be greatly appreciated...

cc

Re: Stippling, another way

John in NM

Using a variety of ball burrs helps a lot with keeping it looking random.

Since you have a Foredom I can lend you one of my stipplers if you'd like to try it out.

A new, nother way...

Clifton C

John, I like the idea of big, medium and small ball burrs, I'll play with that next. I'm intrigued by your Foredom stippler, I'd love to try it out, all costs on me...

cc

Send me an email

John in NM

jdowney-AT-plateautel.net

randomize

John K Jordan

I find "random" quite difficult. I start by outlining the borders, each one a little off from the next and some deeper/bigger, some smaller depressions. I find the varying the size by making some deeper sufficient for me. Then I work my way over the middle of the outlined space, sort of following jagged lines and trying to move my hand a quick, short distance in various directions, still varying the size of each cut. Then I go back over the spots that look too regular and add both small and larger depressions.

For me, the edges need to be the most varied or the straight line is too regular and then it's too easy to make the interior look too regular. As mentioned, as the last step I like to cut a groove to make clean borders since the carved border is so uneven.

JKJ