Seeking instruction

[Kuhnny]

I am new to wood carving and I have recently decided to carve and engrave my own set of pistol grips for my 1911. Making the grips is not a problem, engraving is another matter.

I am using a Dremel tool with a carbide tip but I do not know the proper technique and all I am doing is wasting time and wood. Any suggestions or resource links???? PLEASE????

[Whittled Thumb]

Why would you take on such a complicated project being new to carving. You should try simple stuff and not waste your time and wood on complicated projects that will just frustrate you untill you give up carving.

[jfixit]

If you can make one set you can make two so if the first isn't to your liking you're only out a little wood. Maybe someone can suggest a book to start with or do a search for gun stocks or pistol grips. I may suggest making more than one set to begin with, it will be faster than doing the set up twice and may give you two sets you like.

[susieq]

You didn't say what kind of wood you are using for the grips..... Are you carving them or just doing a light design like checking? Have you done any carving before? Does your Dremel have a flex shaft on it?

If you are carving a raised design...a deeper carving project than simple surface engraving....you need to rough out your pattern on the wood first, (using diamond and ruby bits or even a kutzal) then smooth it with carbides. If you are just doing a light, shallow design, various carbides will work. If it's a very hard wood, you will have to be patient and go a bit slower as trying to force the bit to take off more than it can handle on hard wood, will cause burning on the wood and ruin the bit.

And if you don't have a flex shaft on your Dremel, then you should get one. I believe they are about $30. and it gives you so much more control than trying to hold the whole Dremel in your hand.... just put the shaft on per the directions....hang the actual machine beside your work area, at a height that allows you to work without putting too much of a curve into the shaft. If you have a foot pedal, hook the Dremel into that and you will have hands free carving.

If you give a little more info someone on here can offer more specific help and if you finish filling out your profile and say what part of the country/world you are in, there may be a member in your area that would offer some hands on tutoring.....

[Steve Reed]

Check out gunstock checkering on google or youtube. Since you didn't specifiy what you are "engraving", you don't give us much to go on.
Steve

[Kuhnny]

I have no idea what Whittled Thumb is talking about but making the grips themselves was quite easy and in fact I have made about six sets of what I call "practice grips" out of white pine to get the technique down.





Now I want to use the sets of grips I have made to practice putting raised patterns, initials into the grips. My ultimate goal is to make a set or two of personalized grips out of Micarta or a hardwood. All I need to do is learn the technique for raised pattern carving. I have been on the internet and have not come up with much, that's why I am here.

[chipmunk]

real good for a newbe get a pattern thats don't have a lot of detail try it on scrap wood see it u like it see how it goes like a deer. squirrel what u trying to put on it work w/ slow cutters work like chip carvin,relief,, a can also burn it in that looks nice use a small tip put detail in then sand to clean up try on scrap find something u like that u want on the grips if u get it good enough then put it on the grips trail-error practice-practice thats the only way to get better try something simple on scrap then try something harder when u get what u like thats all matters
keep carvin have fun be safe u will get it

[sashadoc]

There is a section,here,on power carving but unfortunately little is offered on technique. The discussions seem to gravitate mostly to purchasing tools. I can feel your pain because I'm in the process of learning power tool techniques myself. There is one thread you might want to look at:
Getting started with a Dremel

Good luck and good carving.
Tim

[cut up]

Kuhnny,
Since your question is not specific, probably the best advise I could give would be to pencil in a simple design on some scrap wood and see what you can do with it with your tools. Start with making light cuts and don't get in a hurry. With power tools its very easy to ruin a good piece, and it can happen in a heart beat. When you gain some confidence in your work, then make the drawing a little more complex. (You learn to walk by taking one step at a time.)
Good luck and have fun with it.
Michael

[susieq]

to make a raised design, you need to start with material that is thicker than you want the finished piece to be. You make the design you want, take a bit and work away all the material around it, down to the thickness you desire the finished piece to be. Then you begin rounding over the edges of your design and working the high and low parts of the design to your satisfaction. You are basically talking about a relief carving on your grips.

If you are going to be doing a lot of this type of work, it might be in your best interest to purchase a micro motor. You cannot do heavy work with it but you can do beautiful finish work and detail with it. The level of control you have with one of these machines is hard to beat. You are not limited in movement like a flex shaft tool....

practicing on scrap for the first few attempts, is your best bet. A variety of tiny bits, such as diamonds, rubies and carbides will serve you best.... and maybe a couple of small, aggressive, fine tipped kutzalls.

For anyone who does not have access to a club or experienced power carvers to show you stuff, I highly recommend the DVDs by Frank Russell. He is a well known, long time power carver, author of books and now the DVDs and even though you might not be interested in his subject matter, (birds, fish, animals) you will learn power carving techniques that you can apply to anything you want to carve. It's the learning how to use the tools/bits that really matters....

Trying to learn it on your own is very time consuming. Watching someone actually do it, speeds up your learning time to warp speed.