[santagibbs]

As most of you know, I use a lot of roughouts. The one problem I have with them over cutouts is they are a mess of rough wood when I get them, which means a lot of cleaning before you can get down to the nitty gritty of carving... There are waves of wood all over them.. What I would like to know if you can tell me , is ... what is the best way to save time on cleaning up all those waves and fuzzies etc.. ??? I thought would my belt sander do it but then I was afraid I would take out too much, or not be able to get the right angle and dig out too much..Please let me know if you have some good ideas that I can handle..Thanks Charlotte

[wood-whittler]

miss charlotte,


unfortunatly that is one of the down falls of roughouts, the best way i have found is to just sit and cut it down like pealing a tater, just taking about an1/8 of an inch off also a 5/8 # 9 gouge helps get in the creases. hope this helps.


bart

[Blake Lunsford]

Those creases seem to be the hardest spots for me to clean out also. I was once told to get all the saw marks off before getting down to the nitty gritty, but I have also found that if you are going to set in any of your details with a v-tool, you may want to do that first, then you have a stop cut to carve to as you are cleaning it up. I do it both ways, but I have found that going ahead and laying in some deep v cuts where you know they are going to be will help with the clean up.....

now, where are those taters bart! I'm gettin' hungry!

Blake

[santagibbs]

Thank's Blake and Bart. Everything helps..I was afraid there was no easy way... I am always looking for the easy way out....Charlotte

[whittleguy]

Hi Charlotte,

I don't have a lot of experience with roughouts but I have had them made of a couple of my Santa's when I had quite a few orders.

I guess I never thought of going over the whole roughout first to smooth out the rough spots. I just mark it up with a pencil and go right to the V tool. Then I smooth it out as I go. Maybe I'll have to try the other way next time.

[Eddy Smiles]

Charlotte... Have you tried using 3-M abrasive material in a large mandrel. I buy the large squares, cut them into small squares and mount them in multiples in a couple of large mandrels that I've picked up along the way. The courser the material the more wood is removed but unlike sandpaper it's a slower process and more controllable.

[B. Williams]

Charlotte: I have a duplicator machine and for me this is what I do. First mark with a pencil the most important features. Like bottom of coat, between legs, around arms both front and back, any feature you know you want to leave on your carving. Second I use a power chisel with a large V-tool and go over the pencil marks where you can get too. You may not be able to reach all the pencil marks just get what you can for now. Then with a cutzall cylender bit on a Fordom go over the carving all over to smooth out the largest bumps and ridges. Be careful not to carve the details out you will want them later. Then just continue carving with what ever you carve with.
Hope this helps.
Bob W.

[santagibbs]

That's the way I have been doing Dick . Just smoothing out as I go.. I just thought there might be an easier way.. Charlotte

[santagibbs]

Eddie, to show you how dumb I am, I don't know what a mandrel is! I have just jumped into this carving without much knowlege of tools .. I do have a Proxxon Drill and a Proxxon sander with the adaptor that it plugs into.. It's small and fits my hand well.. Thanks for tryig to help this lack of knowledge person!! Charlotte

[santagibbs]

Bob I do have a power chisel and that would surely help, if I can control it and not take too much off .. I appreciate all the suggestions that all of you have given me and this does offer help that I can use..Thank's a lot. Charlotte