Carving in Comfort

[Jim Arnold]

Been spending lots of time in the shop these past few weeks (months), one of the things I'm always looking for is how to carve with less physical stress on my hands, wrists, etc. I have a couple tips I'd like to share and if anybody else has some tips of their own, please add them here.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, so I apologize if it has....I made a bunch of walking sticks last year and I always stick one of those table or leg chair rubber caps on the end of the sticks. So I'm carving away using those small bench chisels with the wooden dowel handles that are 5/8ths, 3/4rs, some even 1" in diameter, for years I've had a very sore and brusied left palm from the end of those wooden dowels. A few weeks back, I dropped a chisel, bent over to pick it up and right next to it was one of those rubber caps...serendipity! I place the rubber cap in my palm and then the end of the chisel inside the rubber cap. The design of the cap is such that it really distributes the force evenly spreading it out across the palm, and the rubber also acts like a buffering mechanism. You can get different sizes of caps too. What a difference it has made all the way around.

The other thing I do is cross-train my fingers. After a long day of carving or when they're all stove up from the same, I'll play guitar and/or do some typing at the keyboard which really helps to stretch and move all those muscles around. It really helps!

What do you folks do to keep your hands in carving shape?

Cheers,
Jim

[oldbearx2]

Hey Jim one thing I will do is "stretch my finger" I learned this in a physical therapy class after nearly cutting a finger off. Simply spread your fingers apart as far as you can, hold for a few seconds. I do this several times during a carving session and find myself doing at other times too. Another thing they told me was to squeeze a palm sized soft rubber ball. I have seen them advertised as stress relievers but any soft rubber ball will work.

[Inadv]

Jim,

That is a great tip for the "tips". I have a few of those really small homemade "minni" "micro" tools that I rounded the ends on, but they can still get a little uncomfortable with a bit of hard pushing on them.

I also wrap the vetwrap tape around small and/or skinny handles to sorta build them up a bit for my big hands. It also make them a little "cushy soft" for gripping the tool. I've pretty much made most all of the tolls I use these days and ergonomics was my chief motivation for getting started with that, but now I'm kinda hooked on tool making and find it almost as much fun as carving. There isn't much that is sweeter than carving a piece with tools you have made to suit your own style and physical requirements.

L.P.

[cgm]

Sometimes I get so involved in my carving that I'm not moving anything but my hands. So I set a timer for 10 minutes. When it goes off I'll just stop and relax for a little bit. Then do it all over again. Chose an amount of time that suits you.
Having tools there sharpest takes less effort also.
Carl

[gtech]

Being also a guitarist, I had to learn how to relax my hands a long time ago, and there is an exercise that helps relieve the tension from holding a handle for too long.



The picture is from this site

Exercises RSI Tendonitis

Gilles

[GaryMc]

Hey Guys, thanks for all the tips, I have the same problems also!
GaryMc

[A_Swope]

I usually wear a wrist brace when I carve and sometimes I put pieces of cut up towels inside for padding.

Alex

[Curtscarving]

I used to think I had a stool growing out of my butt now I have nice office chair from Office Max

[Eddy-Smiles]

I just try to limit my carving time to 1-2 hours at a time. With my attention deficit brain it's about all I can sit still anyway. But I have noticed that if I try and push myself beyond that point I pay for it the next couple of days with sore wrists.

[CV3]

I have gone though many different chairs and ways to be more comfortable in the shop. I have and old office chair that will roll around the shop. I mostly use it when whittling or hand held detail work. Not long ago I found a really nice drafting chair at an estate sale. It adjusts in many different ways. And it has a good up and down range. It has been great for relief and in the round work. But I too have to make my self get up and move every 15 or 20 minutes. And as the arthritis creeps in I fine it helps to keep some liniment near by.