Hello everyone. I just recently begam carving and ordered the ever present beginner's kit which included a knife, dog, boot and natiivity blank, strop and book. Having decided that I absolutley love carving since receiving my kit and completing the dog and boot I am ready to invest in a few tools.

My question is this, There is a Klingspor's Woodworking shop located close to me. They seem to have a nice selection of woodworking accessories with some Flexcut tools as well as there own brand of carving tools. Has anyone in here had any experience with the Klingspor brand (it's a string of 4 or 5 stores native to NC I believe).

I am only interested in purchasing quality tools and am willing to pay for it so I would appreciate any input. I have also been looking at Woodcraft.com if the Klingspor thing doesn't pan out with tools. Thank you in advance.

[Captain_Bandaid]

Marvin, A lot of carving supply stores have tools 'custom' made for them. Funny, they all look alike. Skip the store brands and go for the Flex-Cuts if you want to buy locally. If you got to Woodcraft, check out the pfeil (Swiss Made). Plan to spend some serious $$$ at Woodcraft. Those 100 page full color catalogs don't come cheap and somebody has to pay for them. There is a business in Canada that will save you $$$ if you can buy over the 'net. Forgot the name. Buy the best quality tools you can afford and you will NEVER regret it! By the way, welcome to the WCI Message Board!

Hi Carvin' Marvin,
I have purchased form Woodcarft but not the other store. They especially
have a good selection of the larger tools used with a mallet. They are Swiss
made and of excellent quality.
It sounds like you are headed for carving in the round. The issue to decide
is the size projects you wish to tackle. Maybe you want to do large ones
or hand held sized objects. The answer to that question will also narrrow
down what the tools will be.
If you go for the hand held size, there are several different styles of handles
of the palm size tools and I would see how they feel in your hand before
purchasing any. Many different people sell these in a large assortment of sizes.

Now for the meat and potatoes. In general I would stay away from the
kits. You will be better served by getting what it is that you exactly want
and need. As you gain experience you will know what it is that you need.
A broad selection of V tools and veiners eventually will be necessary. One of my
most favorite and useful tools ( I primarily carve hand held figures ) is a 1'
No. 3 gouge. I can carve for hours with this tool. Always use the largest tool
that you can to get a job done. You will get what you pay for. Buy excellent
quality tools and they will give you many years of service. I would rather have
1 quality tool than 3 mediocre ones. Buy the best that you can afford. You will need to set some money aside for sharpening. That is a whole topic again. Power (wheels) or manual (diamond or ceramic) are options.

Remember many novice carvers buy too many tools reasoning that the quality
of their carving is directly related to the number of tools they have.
While it is true that the right tool can make life easy, it is much more important who is using the tool.
Good luck.

Thank you both for your input. I believe I'll have to buy over the net as the local stock of flexcut is limited compared to the selection I've seen online. I've also seen a brand called 'PowerGrip' at Woodcraft... I believe Captain Bandaid had mentioned them in another thread. I like the design but am worried about quality although I think Cpt. said they were OK, anyone else know anything about them?

I have seen the Pfeil brand and have heard many good things about their reliability/quality and will most likely go with them if the PowerGrip is questionable.

Thank you for the welcome to the forums, I look forward to many hours here.

(by the way, I apologize for my atrocious spelling in the initial post... it was late and I was dog-tired )

[Captain_Bandaid]

Carvin Marvin, the Power Grip tools are made in Japan and are laminated steel. They are very good tools for someone on a very limited budge. They do not begin to compare to pfeil. I bought the pfeil beginner set: a 1/4' square chisel, a #5 gouge, and a 1/4' vee tool. Also had a funny looking knife that it took me several months to identify. I was hooked from that time on. Over the past 3 years, I have acquired about 16 of the intermediate tools and all of the palm tools. Keep them stropped and they will never need a stone. I do mostly relief carving and find that the more sweeps you have, the better you can match the lines and curves when you are cutting in a pattern. I don't think you need a lot of tools to do carving in the round. As was already mentioned, a few poor tools in the hands of a master carver will always out perform a lot of expensive tools in the hands of a poor carver. But the master will prefer the best tools he can get!

Thank you again for your input, information like that is invaluable for a beginner.

[mdallensr]

The company in Canada is KMS Tools, and their web site is www.kmstools.com.

A little late with this but just to reinforce the bit about not buying too many tools to start with. I made a trip to China awhile back and watched some carvers at work there. Their only tool was a straight chisel about 1' wide and they made some of the most intricate carving I have aver seen. Made a beliver out of me. Patience and skill over tools every time. Extra tools will make it faster but not necesarily better.