maple

[parkwayman]

here is a simple question,since i am not the most experimented wood carver.is it possible to carve maple with only chisels and knive without a mallet .thank you!!

[AlArchie]

Yes, you can. Larger carvings may require mallet tools, but walking sticks, small carvings, bowls and the likes can be done with simple hand tools. Maple is quite hard so make sure your tools are SHARP, and avoid trying to "pry" any chips loose....that can chip your tools.

Al

[starvincarvin]

Hi Archie
Sure can. I do all my caving's with scalpels and chisels and an just started doing about 10 % using a dremmel for roughing out at the start. Just keep stropping my tool after about every 20 minutes to save sharpening all the time.

[CarverFromNoWhere]

Yes it can be done but your hands and elbows will be sore afterwards, using a mallet makes the work quite a bit safer especially if it's some really hard maple. With the mallet you don't have the exert so much force to carve where by hand you have to apply all the force by pushing.
I have hand carved a lot of different maples green and dry and i know a number of other people who carve in maple as well.
Carl

[Claude]

Another advantage when using a mallet with gouge on maple: you have much greater control over how deep your chisel goes. Specificially, a gentle tap on the gouge with a mallet will make it cut just a little bit. Trying to cut just a little bit when using your arm/shoulder muscles is very difficult.

If the price of a decent mallet in one of the stores is keeping you from getting one, take an old piece of 2 X 4 about 10 inches long, carve a rough handle on one end, and use that to hit the gouge.

Don't have full-sized gouges, but only palm gouges? No problem - I will often grab my mallet to make a couple of taps on the palm gouge when I want good control. Hasn't hurt them a bit.

Claude

[jimmy joe]

Good info. given above . I agree the mallet would help . Also sharp tools is a must for all carving but especially for harder wood such as maple . Good luck .

[A_Swope]

you can easily turn a mallet on a lathe if you have one available.
thats where i got mine
Mine is made from poplar i probably could have used a harder wood but it works just fine
and like claude said you can use your palm tools with your mallet

[Old Scout]

Get a oak, or hickory limb about12-14" long, 4-5" dia. then use a saw to go around the log [let the head be about 4"], leave about 1.5 " in the center, for the handle, then split down to the handle, clean up handle, & you have a mallet that will last a life time!! Hope these instructions are clearer than they sound!!

[Dicky]

I made my small mallet out of ironwood (hop hornbeam) , turned it to shape on a lathe, drilled a hole in the top,. filled the hole with lead shot (can't hunt with it anymore) and epoxy, glued a lid on it and wrapped the striking surface with suede leather. I now have a 200 gram mallet that has never harmed a palm tool. And it was fun to make.

[happyhal]

I carved a rattle for my grandaughter out of maple. Very hard. Kept my tools very sharp. Used mostly knives. Don't try to cut too deeply. If you just slice thin slices you will be surprised how quikly it will carve. I expected it to about kill my hands, but it wasn't too bad. I kept my carving time to an hour or so. Couldn't keep it up much longer than that. Maple is such beautiful wood though it sure was worth it. Hal