Carving Tools?

Re: Carving Tools?

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>The numbers vs. radii are not standardized in either hollows and rounds or in carving tools.

Woodcraft and other catalogs show the profiles of some brands of carving tools in their catalogs, but like H&Rs, for a given sweep, the radius decreases as the width decreases. Joel shows full size sweeps of all of his Ashley Iles gouges in his Tools for Working Wood catalog. I've seen full size sweeps elsewhere online as well, but getting them to print accurately and to scale puts you at the mercy of your computer's software.

I like Pfeil (Swiss Made) gouges, except for the handles. Woodcraft, and others, carry them. I haven't tried the Ashley Iles, but they have an excellent reputation as well.

The best way I have found to choose gouges is to take a full size drawing of what I want to carve to the nearest Woodcraft, and match the Swiss Made gouges in the store to the curves drawn on the paper. If you already have some of the gouges you need, use them to cut your pattern, so you will know which profiles you are missing when you get to the store. (If I get there without such a well prepared plan, I tend to act like a kid in a candy store.)

The following is a purely speculative suggestion: If you decide you want the Ashley Iles, you might try asking Joel if he would pick out a set of tools for you based on your drawing. I don't know if he performs such a service, but he should be much more proficient at making a selection than your average Woodcraft sales clerk, as he is a very knowledgeable woodworker.

Re: Carving Tools?

Rob in Kansas

>Thanks William,

This weekend I'm finishing up a dozen or so toys for the toy's for tots and I'll get those out of the way. My birthday is in December so I'll treat myself to a birthday present and see what I can find. I have a big wish list...I'll have to control myself and not go too far!

Rob

Re: Carving Tools?

Tony - Memphis

>I can't add to what Mr. D said, except that I'm about a half step ahead of you and thousands behind him! What I did was buy tools to fit the project. I took a couple of classes and bought what was needed. Followed a couple of article projects, etc. After a few of those, you'll have most everything you'll ever need. Mike Davies has a good book with many projects that only use a set of around 5 tools. I have posted Phil Lowe's Ball and Claw tool list. His video is a fantastic reference and his class is even better! Mack Headley's shell video is good (there was an article in FWW many years ago too).

I originally bought the carving tools that Lee Valley sells (Henry Taylor). I had a heck of a time with those. Even Mack Headley couldn't get them to sharpen and stay sharpened. There were other folks in the class that had the same brand tools but had no problems with them. Lee Valley acted as usual and took back the whole set (even though I had used them) and refunded me. Mr. Lee wrote me a nice letter explainign what he found, etc. I ended up buying the Pfeil tools. I've stayed with those just cause. They are very nice. Watch for the Woodcraft 10% cards and get a little bit of a deal, or check witht he CA distributors for better prices.

One of the things that most of the things I've referenced point out is just what Mr. D said, and that's to match your tools to your design. Makes life much easier. Took me a while to realize that most of the shapes in carving represent the shape of the tool that cut it. Seems obvious...now!

I've got a set of B&C legs for a stool on my bench waiting to be finished right now. Maybe after the holidays.

Tony

Woodcraft 10%

Ernie Miller Topeka

>I smell an offer we can't refuse. I get my birthday 10% in janurary and you get yours in December we might want to shop together? two trips is better than one.

Re: Carving Tools?

Rob in Kansas

>Thanks Tony,

I�ll watch for the Mike Davies book. I have some old articles from the 60�s but they are somewhat vague as to what chisels they are using.

Sounds like you got a lemon set of the Henry Taylor's. I'm trying to get an idea of what brands people like and why (although I might get as many opinions as there are readers!) as well as the traditional sizes used for projects. People talk that the old ones are best, so I was watching ebay and most don't list the sweep or even size. So I'm kind of hesitant to go that direction.

William,

What about the Pfeil handles don�t you like? The fact that they are multi-faceted? Somewhere I saw somebody comment about the Pfeil�s downside is not having ferrules. Any comments?

Ernie,

Sure if you want to team up to go to KC let me know. I did just get my Woodcraft 10% the other day.

Re: Carving Tools?

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>No, in general, faceting is good, but one or two wider facets would bet better at keeping them from rolling around and off the workbench top, still provide tactile indexing, and be more comfortable. What I don't like is that the butt ends are sharp and small diameter, not smooth and rounded, and that there is no neck for your finger and thumb tips to push forward against, which further increases the pressure on the palm of the hand, where it can do you serious damage. Also, the wood is coarse and opened grained, but that is not a serious problem. The Pfeil arises are easily smoothed with scraper or sandpaper. It is also easy to put a flat or two on round chisel handles, with a plane or even a belt sander, but adding wood is a lot more difficult than removing, and Pfeils don't come with enough wood to recarve them into an acceptable shape. Oh well, they have great steel, are usually properly shaped, and I use them anyway.

Re: Woodcraft 10%

Skip in Falls Church

>Ummmmmmm, that reminds me - I get two 10% shots at Woodcraft. My wife has bought a few things there and is on their birthday list so she lets me have her 10% coupon. Getting your wife signed up for one is a practice I highly recommend. :)

Skip

Re: Carving Tools?

Jeff Mackay

>I've started using quite a few of the Ashley Iles gouges, and I really like them. They cost less than the Pfeil gouges from Woodcraft, but they appear even sturdier. They take and hold an edge very well.

Jeff

Re: Carving Tools?

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>One other way to look at the selection problem: AFTER you've put together a fair collection of gouges, you can start using the gouges themselves to define your own patterns. Of course, this may not be feasible if you have to build a very close reproduction of an old work. To be done right it makes sense to try to match the patterns used by the original carver. Like most of the rest of us, he or she probably couldn't afford to go out and buy or make the full repertoire.

Ball & Claw Tools *LINK*

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Memphis Tony answered a similar query back in April. He had taken a class on making B&C's with Phil Lowe. Here is the link:


Ball and Claw Tools

Re: Ball & Claw Tools

Rob in Kansas

>Thanks Don,

I remembered seeing that but when I did a search for ball & claw there were way too many for me to find it.

William

That's a good thought. I had my ultimate goal was a bombe chest and when I saw Paul in NJ post his in 1/2 scale last year that inspired me to go with half size first. So after I see what sizes are traditonal I'll see if any work for the 1/2 size as well. Do any of you have any thoughts on if a full size will be easier to learn on compared to a 1/2 size?

Thanks guys

Rob

Re: Ball & Claw Tools

Paul In NJ

>Rob,

I do not think doing a full size ball and claw would be easier than half scale. The half scale has the advantage of using less material and you have less wood to remove. While it would have been nice to have the perfect tools to carve my feet I wound up using the few carving chisels I acquired over the years. I used a small riffler and sandpaper a little more than if I had the perfect sweeps for the job. I have not done much carving so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think like anything else it is good to start with a few basic tools and become proficient with them. Sharpening carving tools is another learning curve and very essential just as with other hand tools.

Paul Dzioba

P.S. Don't forget! Files and rasps are your friends:)

Re: Ball & Claw Tools

Rob in Kansas

>Thanks Paul,

I agree with what you're saying. That's why I'm trying to find the sizes that will give me the most capability of what I know I want to do reducing the inital investment. The flies and rasps is good. I hadn't thought about that.

I'll plan on having something to show after Christmas.

Rob