First time power carving

[Pudding Boy]

Was at a camping trip in northern Indiana several years ago. Noticed what we were given to burn was nice split straight grained Maple. Rescued 2 of the better pieces and slipped them in my pack and carried them home. Decided it was long enough and seasoning was done so started carving it into a big kitchen ladle. Man is that stuff hard!

By the time I had it roughed out and was wrestling with a gouge to hollow it out I broke down and used a burr in my dremel. My first power carving. The burr made fast work of what seemed like an endless task to hollow out the bowl. I now know why turners make bowls from green wood.

I no longer think of powercarving as cheating and understand its place.

[Duffer2]

I used to carve with traditional tools but it would take me so long I would get bored and leave the project to do something else. As a result very little got done and I would stop carving for long periods; sometimes years at a time. Once I started power carving I fit the time in again and after learning some techniques from other carvers found a new passion for carving. I have met a number of people who turn their backs when they hear I am a power carver but it has opened up my enjoyment of carving. I have nothing but praise for traditional carvers but power carving fits my personality best.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I started out with power moved to hand tools and ended up with a mixture. Year's ago I was at an Arts Festival and talked to a guy who had a mixture of paintings and woodcarvings for sale. I asked him quite a few questions, told him that I did some carving (did not even call myself a carver at that time) and mentioned power. He must have been subjected to some of the negative comments about power carvers as he summed up his carving with, "To me, what I have in mind is the objective, hand carving is the most fun, but I would chew the wood out like a beaver if it got me where I wanted to go."

Made sense to me and I don't think I have finished a carving all by hand or all by power since then.

[Inadv]

Paul,

Here here, folks after my own heart!!! I'll use whatever works to get what is in my head onto whatever media I'm working with. The results are what I'm after, and hang that purist cock and bull crap by the neck till it's dead and gone. Yeah I love the sound of a good sharp blade going across the grain on a piece of wood, but if I need to rub it with a rock to get the look I'm after then I'll rub it with a rock!!

L.P.

[susieq]

AMEN! I also love the sound of a sharp gouge slicing through the wood....it's a comforting sound, sort of like a horse munching on oats....but the end result is what counts.

Power is still carving by hand...unless you are using one of those computerized gizmos that does a relief carving with the pressing of a button....

I hold the handpiece for sometimes 8 hours a day. I guide it, make the same decisions about what to remove and what to keep, as I make with a gouge in my hand. I always say that if you can't carve, power isn't going to make you a carver. Either you can carve or you can't. Talent, knowledge and persistence is still the key here......

[Josef]

I wouldn't have started carving if I hadn't purchased my first chainsaw. To heck with removing a lot of wood with only a mallet and chisel. I use everything I can to make a carving as quickly as possible, especially now that I have so few hours to spare in between bursts of sunshine this dismal winter. Now that I have discovered a joy and a small amount of talent for carving, I am increasing my power tools exponentially as I sell the pieces. I buy a tool of some sort with each sale. Joe.

[Claude]

Carving is carving. I suppose if you're an extreme purist, you'd only use hand-knapped obsidian flakes...after all, steel is a new and modern invention. It's all a bunch of horse apples. Carving means taking an object and removing chips from it with another object. A definition such as this works for wood, stone, even yams. The only difference between using a rotating burr and a knife is that the rotating burr has smaller edges and many more of them.

Don't get me wrong about this: I see nothing wrong with using power, chainsaws, mallet and gouge, knife, or even just plain sandpaper. If someone wants to be able to say that they carved the complete thing using only a left-handed scorp, that's just fine, and they should be proud of their efforts. If someone else wants to roughout a log with a chainsaw, bring it near-final shape with an arbortech, then finish with a power sander, that's also just fine. There is no "right" or "wrong" tool to use to carve, and anyone who says differently is merely showing his/her prejudices and ignorance.

So...Pudding Boy, be happy with your carving, no matter what tool you use. If you get a chance to post one, I'd love to see a photo of your carving.

Claude