carving methods and tools

[joyce e.]

Hi
I am a newbie to this list and also to carving. i find that the dust of power tools a drawback to the speed and efficiency of such tools and so i have opted to buy hand tools.

Can anyone discuss how they deal with dust using power tools? And if they have switched to hand tools because of the problems of dust.


thanks.

joyce e. :-)

[Lynn O. Doughty]

While lots of carvers build elaborate dust collecting boxes to catch the dust generated by power tools here's what I do.....

Over the years I have accumulated a number of extension tubes from old vaccums that have given up the ghost. I hook them all together then attach the long snake to my shopvac and drape the thing over my drill press with a cloth bag filled with rice (yes...rice) which holds it in place right next to where I stand with my power tool. Then I turn on the vaccum and have at it! While not elaborate it gets 90 percent of the dust and tube is right there handy to pick up that other 10 percent.

[Claude]

When I power carve, I sit in front of my workbench and hold the shop vac hose between my knees. The dremel burrs spit the chips and dust right into the hose (well, most of it, anyway). As Lynn says, when done carving, the hose is handy for cleaning up the rest of the dust.

Claude

[Kenny_S]

Tell me it ain't so Lynn, Power tools, You? The shame of it all!Wink

A 20 inch box fan with airconditioning filters taped front and back. Work pretty well, Now in the carving room, it is a Grizzly two fan bench dust filtering machine.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I am thinking seriously about one of those 1 horse hanging filters with the remote control? need something to get rid of the dust in the summer when the place is shut up and the air is on?

[Bartster]

joyce,

the only time i produce dust is when i use the bandsaw, for this problem i have a shop-vac attached to the bandsaw that i turn on when using the saw and it keeps it down.

bart

[whitecree]

Originally Posted by Kenny_S

A 210 inch box fan with airconditioning filters taped front and back. Work pretty well, Now in the carving room, it is a Grizzly two fan bench dust filtering machine.

A 210" fan? That's bigger than my entire shop!Bouncing S

Power tools = dust. About all you can do is use a shop-vac and wear a dust mask. There are times when a power tool is the smartest thing to use. Ever try carving a large, solid knot with hand tools?

[Mitchell]

I use the same method as Claude - shop vac hose between my knees.

However, I rarely use my my power tools as I have found that I can carve just as fast with hand tools. I only use power if my hands are tired, or if I need to get into some areas that are difficult with the hand tools.

[ElWoodTroll]

Originally Posted by Kenny_S

A 210 inch box fan with airconditioning filters taped front and back.

I use a similar method with a shroud attached (duct tape judiciously applied where needed) which doubles as a spraybooth.

[Doug Ridley]

Here's my setup. Not perfect but it gets probably 75% of the dust.