New to Powercarving , Looking for Good instruction

I have a Foredom power carver , but really have not got comfortable with it. It seems like there should be a few small projects with step by step instrutions to guide a begginner power carver .What I mean is a project that says to use this bit in this way to get this result.It seems like every time I give it a try I get a face full of dust . Still useing my chisels but wanting to learn more.
thanks

[AlArchie]

Don't know if you are a subscribe to WCI, but if not, they have several Powercarving Publications that I got free with my subscription. they had quite a few good tips and projects in there.

Al

Schiffer Books has published several power carving books by Frank Russell,
Tom Wolfe and others covering most forms of carving such as in-the-round
animals, caricatures, Santas, etc. Go to www.schifferbooks.com and search
for either power carving or individual authors. You can also find the books at
any of the large bookstores or carving shops. Good luck.

Viejo

FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...
Get a good dust mask and use it every time. Wood dust is deadly and spalty wood is worse. Then, use your carving glove on your 'holding' hand. Power bits will remove skin, too, really quickly! Eye protection is a good idea, too.

Frank Russell's books on power carving are about the best I've found. Ditto on the subscription to WCI offer of a free power carving publication with your subscription.

Start out just using your power for removing bulk wood--I like carbide Kutsalls bits or the blue ones. Then I use some of the diamond bits to clean up nooks and crannies that are hard to get to with knives and gouges. Then,for details, I like the white stones. I really like using ScotchBrite (that synthetic filament stuff that takes the place of steel wool) on the Dremel or Foredom to run over carvings lightly to clean up fuzz and crud without losing the carving detail.

Don't forget the mask!

Donna T

??? How do you use scotchbrite on a dremel or foredom?

[mdallensr]

Cut out a disk about 1 1/2' in diameter, poke a hole in the center, and mount it on the mandrel you use for the circular saw blades. It works great for getting the fuzzies out of deep recesses and even for cleaning carvings. Beware of cheap imitations (as they like to say). Some off-brand, colored pads will leave the color on your carving, and that's a bad thing. Dremel also has some bristle wheels with abrasive embedded on the bristles, and they are good for final clean-up as well. We use the regular Dremel bristle wheels to remove the char from wood burning, and they're about as good as the Scotch Brite pads.

ok I will try that, only other choice is to burn the fuzzies off.
thanks

[Bandaid]

You can make a mandrel for the scotchbrite disks using a 3/32' bolt, a couple of small washers, and a nut to hold everything in place. I have a few of them around so I can have different grits(?) and/or 1, 2, or 3 layers. I found they work pretty good and are cheaper then buying a whole swack of store bought mandrels. It goes without saying they are used at a fairly low speed. 8)

[Bandaid]

In addition to the above, I should have added to make sure to wear eye protection as there is always little particles breaking away from the pad.

Hey, great advice here. I would like to ask something in this
catagory. I bought a Foredom 1/8 hp set, not sure of the no.
anyway I also got a handpiece that holds a 1/4 inch burr I
think it was a #44. After useing it for just a little while it
started to get extremely hot. I tried all the usual stuff you
know adjusting the length of the cable out of the cover and
anything else I could think of. I finally decided the bearings in
it must be bad so I sent it to the Foredom Co. and had it
rebuilt. They put in all new bearings and seals (for a price)
and sent it back. Of coarse I was excited to get it back I
had bought some of those new typhoon burrs and was ready
to go. I'm sure you have guess by now but it did the very
same thing. It got so hot I couldn't even hold it with a leather
glove. My question is, Is this normal for that handpiece or
has it ever happened to anyone else.