When you don't have a bandsaw...

[BeckyLil]

For my next project, I thought I'd try Gene's Halloween ghost. It looked pretty simple on the video. How cow though. I guess my knife work is still tentative because I don't want to cut myself up. The cuts are for the wood, right? Gene seems to take off a lot of wood really fast. I can't come close to matching him.

I also guess I must have pretty small hands too because even whittling away as I have been doing for the past two days, my holding hand is getting sore quickly. This project is twice the size of the wizard.

So, I don't have a band saw and I don't even have a workbench. So my question to all of you is what can I do to get rid of all that unwanted wood faster?

I went to the hardware store and told them I wanted a vise that didn't need to be attached to anything and I got a coping saw at the same time. Came home, opened the jaws of the vise and it fell over. Gotta take that back. It obviously needs to be mounted.

I read here in another forum that a coping saw is a real workout. Even if I used one I obviously need a different sort of vise. Is there some easier way to get close enough to the basic form you're going for? Or where do I get the right sort of vise? I want to do the actual caring by hand but spending two whole afternoons and getting close to nowhere is discouraging at best.

What should I do?

(I hope this thread doesn't appear half a dozen times. It *seems* to be not loading.)

[Ron T]

Hi BeckyLil,

I would suggest you find a carving club near you. There will be someone who will assist you. Another possibility is find a neighbor who has a bandsaw and is either willing to cut out your pattern or let you do it.

When I first began carving, I met a guy at the carving club and he invited me to go to his house to carve. He had all the power equipment and cut most of my stuff for me.

Last year I had to stop driving and it got more difficult to go to his place. I finally broke down and bought a tabletop bandsaw I found on craigslist.

You can look in your local paper for equipment for sale. With the economy the way it is, people are selling things they don't need.

I found a scroll saw for only $25, like new. It was too far away and gas would probably have cost me $40.

Good luck.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

[louis]

Greetings Beckylil,
The start is always tough but hang in ther you will eventually come right and wonder why things were so tough at the beginning. You have some sound advice follow it. I had to smile reminded me of my early days when I gave a bandsaw away cause I thought it was a useless machine. Louis

[doris]

hi beckylil, you are right, it is much more training to hold the carving in hand while carving. i started this way too, but now i fix everything i carve. it goes much easier, and your tools seem sharper, since you get the strength into the cut, and not into holding the piece... so, how to hold pieces. i have only clamps, and 2-sided tape, (i mean tape that glues on both sides). i use the tape to glue rather plat pieces to a small board, and clamp the board to my table (i dont have a workbench either). if i carve something not flat, where the tape not works, i plan before i do the first cut, to leave extra wood (usually in the base area, or where feet would go) so that i can grab the piece there with 2 clamps at least. you always need 2 clamps, otherwise the piece would rotate... hope this helps to get you a better start. ... (oh, i still dont have a bandsaw, a small handheld saw can get you quickly started (but again clamp the piece for sawing efficiently !)

[Sam]

Hi,

Your hands will toughen up in no time. Take some breaks while carving and try putting your hands in warm or cold running water - whatever makes them feel better.

You don't need to cut out your pattern - take a look at this site:
Projects

[Sam]

Sorry, I pushed the wrong key and posted too early!

There are several books out: Jack Price - "Carving Small Characters", and LeClair "Carving Caricature Figures from Scratch" that will also cover the carving of a block of wood. You still need to get your wood down to a manageable size, but that is a lot less intensive.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Take a look at the Panavise...it has several attachments and mounts, one you can just clamp to a table or board or whatever...don't worry about large cuts, just carve like you would eat an elephant, one little bite at a time lol

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

On your hands getting tired, I never understood that until I started to learn to carve with my off hand. Then I understood real quick. I never realized the strength that I had acquired in the hand I normally used. Just hang in there, the strength will come.

[Keoma]

Hello and Welcome When I don't feel like going to my bandsaw, I hog of with my Dremel. It works really well. But I second the idea of finding a cheapy for sale and or joining a club. There might not be any in your area, but I'll bet you find a saw in the paper. I found my new Craftsman at a Garage sale for cheap and it's like new.
The strength will come, just make sure you stretch your hands and give them time to rest.
Best of luck to you! You made me want to make a ghost too!

[Eddy-Smiles]

Becky... Here's a thought! Small bench power tools can be purchased pretty inexpensively. A low end band saw starts at around $99.00 but can get a little heavy and cumbersome to use and store if your problem is space and storage. However, if you think that for the time being you're going to restrict your carving and whittling to wood less than 2" square then what I'd recommend for you is a scrollsaw. They too are inexpensive. I'm not making any recommendations but just to give you an idea, Sears has a small low end scrollsaw for $79.00, a middle end at $99.00, and a fancier model at $149.00 or at least they did a couple of weeks ago when I was last there. I would imagine that prices will vary depending on where you go. I have both a new Black and Decker and an old antique Sears Scroll Saw and I generally don't carve anything larger than 2-3/8" square. This is the maximum width that the old Sears can handle. The B&D has only slightly less range. However, they are not terribly heavy and you could even set them up on a kitchen table, cut all your blanks, vaccum up the saw dust, and then put them back away in storage if that was the only option that you had. I can really understand your frustration at not having a method to remove the majority of the wood prior to starting the actual carving. I have a condition on my right hand which causes pain after a prolonged period of carving and I don't like to waste anymore time than needed roughing out with my knife.

As for Gene seemingly cutting away a great deal more wood at a time than perhaps you are doing.... it might be because unlike myself and many other folks new to carving, he has mastered the art of sharpening and that knife of his slices through that basswood like a hot iron through butter. Sharpening skills comes with time and practice.