Roughing out your carving

[mwilleson]

Hi all,

Curious of the methods everyone uses for roughing out their carvings. I typically cut some type of a profile and then start whacking away with a knife or palm gouge, but most of my carvings are hand held carvings less than 10" high. I primarily carve figures and caricatures.

I'm thinking about some mallet tools and then clamping the carving in a vice, but am wondering how beneficial that will be on carvings in the 6" - 10" range?

I'm also thinking about getting a few palm tools that are better for roughing out such as Denny's Ortel V-gouge. I hear that is good for rough work.

I'd like to hear your suggestions for roughing out carvings in the size range that I do.

Thanks,
Mike

[Kenny_S]

I use several methods, one is band sawing out the outline, then gouges and knife for the rest. Take a block of wood and draw out what I think I want and start "wacking wood till something resonable appears. Most of my(99 %) carvings are the 6 to 10" type and hand held.

Have several vises but manage to damage tools. Guess skin is softer than steel.
Not much help eh?

[Thor]

I have a Ryobi band saw that I use occassionally, to shape things. I also use my DeWalt jig saw to shape wood pretty often.
Thor

[Kenny_S]

Thor, is that a DeWalt 788?

Heard rumors that dewalt was made by Black and Decker, which has some good stuff also or maybe they both are made bu another company. Anyway, I don't have a 788 but know several who do and they love theirs.

[Just Carving]

I usually rough out with a combination of a coping saw to cut board to length and remove large chunks, and then a roughout knife and/or push chisels/gouges for the rest. I too plan on doing 8-10 inch tall projects, and plan on using the above roughing out technique. So far, it has worked out on smaller projects--3-4 tall inch projects--and I think it will continue to work for me.

[Blake Lunsford]

Anyone completed a tutorial on how to use a band saw to rough out a piece that you have designed? I would be interested in seeing how it is done step by step.


Blake

[Just Carving]

Kaiserb had posted this link under a previous post:
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/t6823.html

Originally Posted by kaiserb

This example is for a duck decoy but the principle is the same:

http://theduckblind.com/cyberclassro...ngarticle1.htm

It might help some.

[Thor]

[QUOTE=Kenny_S]Thor, is that a DeWalt 788?

I think mine is a DW318. I've had a couple of Black and Decker tools, and there is no comparison to me, however I don't know whether the same companies produce both or not. This has been a wonderful tool. I burned up two Makita jig saws before I got this one, and it's been 3 years running for me. I go through some blades on it, but that's understandable.

Oh, and I do use a coping saw occassionally.
Thor

[brian-bailey]

DeWalt is B&D's industrial line of tools.

I read recently that B&D had bought the Pentair Group, which includes Delta and Porter Cable.

It will be interesting to see if any changes are made to those lines of tools. Time will tell.

[Mitchell]

I carve the same size carvings (generally) and I use the bandsaw and palm tool "method" also. I do sometimes use a reciprocating tool to relieve stress on my wrists - but only for roughing out. I can actually carve faster with hand tools.

I also use a foredom on occasion. Again not because it's faster, but easier on me physically.

Thanks for the link Bob (originally by kaiserb).