power tools

[want2carve]

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the help so far.

Is there any advantage to using power tools to carve, or are hand tools better.

[Spooker]

I havn't been carving very long but I imagine that's one of those questions where you'll recieve as many opinions as there are carvers here. Personally I have no desire to power carve as I started carving as a productive pass time and use power tools all day for work. It's nice to put the power away and simply carve wood.

Spooker

[Donsexton]

You are correct we will have many opinions on this one my friend. I am down the middle I just spent a year living in a hotel in Bombay India. I was away from my beautiful well equipped shop all I had to carve with my cool little Carvin-Jack. It was nice to sit after work and carve in quite only the sound of the knife. I had plans when I got back home to do most of my carving with my extensive collection of Henry Taylor tools. I did start out that way but I have gone back to mostly chainsaw and grinders they are much faster. I will add this I can remove a huge ammount of waste wood with my 32oz mallet and #6 2" fish tail gouge.

[Mitchell]

Really depends on what you want to carve.

[Agoodknife]

I find power and hand tools work well together. I love to use rotary tools w/ lil' mean burrs to get rid of unwanted wood or to create certain effects. I must say I love hand tools the most, as they produce nothing that can be inhaled or make noise and no moving parts to wear out or tear up.

I have learned one tool requires another tool,if you get a rotary tool in your shop-you got to have a dust collector,more burrs etc.. I look at it like this,If I can afford the tool and it makes my job easier,I'm buying it. If I could control dynamite,I would definately rough out w/ it ! lol. To sum the babble up, I will definately use whatever tool is the safest,fastest or most comfortable and fits the job at hand and my wallet.

[Donna_T]

Well, my opinion is, it depends: what your situation is, what the project is, where you have your work, etc. I don't have a dust catcher in the garage where my workbench is, so if I can rough out a carving outdoors with power and it saves my hands from hurting all night, then I'd use power. If I want to sit in my recliner and share the tv with hubby, then I'm going to use hand tools. If I'm doing birds, I'll use power.

With a Kutzall or typhoon bit, I can really move a lot of wood and get a carving roughed in quickly with minimal effort--especially minimal hand pain. (I have arthritis in both hands and Aleve is my friend!)

There are different considerations so there is no right or wrong--just what works for you, where you're doing it, and what you're doing.

Donna T

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

For me I mostly only use hand tools, but like the others said, every so often I will use power to get rid of alot of wood fast.

Dave

[bigEd_H]

I have only used hand tools and prefer them over power. I have several rotory power tools so if the need or desire ever came up, I could use them.

I look at carvings done by other using power and am just a awed as work from those who used only hand tools. The art is not in the means by which you get to the end result, but by how the eye guides the tool at hand. Unless, of course, the means is a computer controlled tool.

[Bill102M]

I am constantly amazed at the quality of carvings I see on this web site. Whether they are done with hand tools or power is really personal preference. As so many have said so far it is really personal preference. I have a couple of ratary tools and grinders at my disposal. I do tend to do most of my carvings with hand tools. I love getting home from work and spending a few hours with a mallet and gouge, that is where I get my greatest satisfaction. I carve mainly large projects 3 ft tall and up, from logs. I have used chain saws and and large grinders to rough out projects. I find for me, when I use power tools and make a mistake, it happens very quickly and is very large. I tend to make fewer and smaller errors with a gouge and mallet. But again it is personal choice. What ever floats your boat.

[Paul_Guraedy]

All of us woodcarvers (including scroll saw and intarsia) enjoy wood and the shaping of it. I suspect the artist in us is what moves us to woodcarving rather than wood working (although that too can be artistic it is a little more restrictive). I believe that several more factors enter in to determine power vs. hand tools. Part of it is, as Donna noted, the size, timing and location of the carving. Another is the carver’s mental attitude (some feel power is cheating) and health issues (noise/dust problems). I think there is also a process vs. product factor. As Allen said, “If I could control dynamite,I would definately rough out w/ it.” I think that those who enjoy the process more lean toward hand tools and those of us who are more product oriented (be it speed or the individual carved piece) feel more comfortable with power……….or more likely are very comfortable with using either.

The one thing I think I would eliminate is cost. When I look at the hand tools owned by many of us………………….!