[darnley]

Hi,
As somewhat of a beginner, I still have trouble getting all the little frizzies out of beards, whether they be on Santa's, wizards, elves, etc. After using a V-gouge and/or U-gouge to create the beard, I still end up with little frizzie splinters that I have a hard time cleaning up completely. Any suggestions?
Also any suggestons for a place to order a good strop?
darnley

[Mitchell]

You're on the right track.....use sharp tools. You have to practice a little to learn the way cutting with/against the grain will cause "frizzie splinters" and this will come with experience.

Try not to cut too deep or aggressively. Instead, use shallower cuts with the gouge and then go back in with a little deeper gouge (and less cuts). Finally, use a knife (or v tool) to add a few more accents.

Flexcut makes a handy little strop "flex slip" -or something like that - that can be used for knives, gouges, and v tools.

Otherwise, call Rick at Little Shavers - or better yet, check out his web site for sharpening tips.

[Kenny_S]

Mitchell had some good suggestion.
Another thing is, are you cleaning your carving after you are finish carving.
Cleaning with water, a toothbrush and some soap.
Also, use wadded up brown paper sack and use it like you are sanding the piece.

After I am finish carving, I use the wadded up brown paper bag and go over the whole think. The run the piece under wanter and use a tooth brush and soap, thin I rinse that off.

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by darnley

Hi,
As somewhat of a beginner, I still have trouble getting all the little frizzies out of beards, whether they be on Santa's, wizards, elves, etc. After using a V-gouge and/or U-gouge to create the beard, I still end up with little frizzie splinters that I have a hard time cleaning up completely. Any suggestions?
Also any suggestons for a place to order a good strop?
darnley

all great advise for the fuzzies, i use my pyrostation to detail carvings which dose remove lots of the fuzzies, as they get burned away.. its an optma one hot wire type. burner... as for a hone, you can make a hone out of scrap leather from walmarts or michels craft stores glue the leather to a wooden paint sturr stick or simular a ruler. or scrap, then use jewelers rouge or order the one from flexcut for your gouges if your not that handy,
you could use your gouges and verners to carve a grove into a ruler or paint stur then cover it with jewlers rouge available at most hardware stores most use tripoli red or white, pull your tools backwards over the rouge coated stick, and it will remove the burr.. and keep your tools sharp, wheather store bought or home made it makes no difference, the rouge coating is what makes the difference,
to much dont matter but to little will not strop properly////

thomas

[mdallensr]

Dremel makes a bristle wheel that cleans out fuzzies from carving or burning. You can also buy bristle wheels with abrasive on the bristles, but they can be pretty agressive. Some of us have made our own wheels out of Scotchbrite pads. Just cut out small disc and put it on a Dremel sanding arbor (the same arbor you use for their abrasive blades.

[Ashbys]

I usally have this problem with basswood over any other wood. Most woods that have a stronger bond seem to cut much cleaner.
All the suggestions here are excellent, and I will add one more. If your using basswood, it seems to me that dryer the wood becomes the more the fuzzys show up. If your doing a heavy detail area like the beard you might try using the 50/50 alc-water mix and mist the wood before you cut it. It seems to produce a lot less frizz than some of the very dry basswood.
Ash

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Go here

http://www.littleshavers.com/

and read everything in sight. Others have alread mention Rick's sight but I didn't see a link. Sorry if I missed it.

[darnley]

Thanks, everyone! I will try each of these solutions and see what works best for me. Thanks for all your help!
darnley

[Donna_T]

One other suggestion: When I first started carving, I did hair, beards, animal fur, etc. with v-tools. Then I switched to gouges and veiners. The flow was softer and I got less fuzzies or "hang nail" splinters. So, sharpen a good deep gouge, and try doing hair with it. I usually use three different sizes when doing a Santa's hair and beard--the biggest/deepest to set flow and variation, then progressively smaller to add detail.

Besides, gouges are easier to sharpen than v-tools! That's another benefit.

Donna T

[brent]

Whisk broom will also remove splinters and fizzies, probably burnish the wood somewhat also.