[mdallensr]

I have the punches as well, and use them when they're the right shape and size. I've been using a #7 or #9, making 2 facing and connecting stop cuts, kind of like '()'. You have to be careful not to rock the gouges, or you'll pop the eye out. If you have a really shallow grind on your gouge, and it's sharp, you make the 2 cuts, pop out the corner triangles, shape the eyeball with a knife, and Bingo, you've got a couple of matching eyes.

thanks all
I think I will pass on the eye punches
Think I will go for the diamond burrs for my power tools and maybe some more books and patterns and maybe even a new tool or 2
Now just deciding on what brand I want
So many good brands to choose from

[Donna_T]

Big Wayne,
I've got a set of 3 or 4 eye punches. Got them after I'd been carving for 4-5 years---you know...looking for something to make particular carving tasks easier. I now use them mainly for small animal eyes to set the general roundness in the same size. I seldom use them on carvings of people unless it's to make buttons.

So I agree... there are lots of other things out there in our carving catalogues that would be used more. Sounds like you talked yourself through that quandry.

Donna T

Now if I could just find some cheap
Henry Taylor
Ashley Isles
Stubi
or other good tools

cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap

Thanks Donna
I do mostly wood spirits on sticks
so using them to carve buttons would not help me
So far on the wood spirits, I have just done the face
some of them look strange
Guess i need to do a full body wood spirit
have never seen a full body wood spirit though

Big Wayne - If your looking for good tools that are inexensive you might look the Ramelson's over. I've got many varieties of tools and the Ramelson's are as good as the Pfiels, Stubais, etc, etc, and better than some. Think people steer clear of them because they are inexpensive (notice I did not say cheap). This only applies to their palm and 'long handled' tools as I only have one of their full size mallet tools and it's a 3/16' #5 so can't really speak to the full sized tools. The one I have is excellent, but it's only one and a rather narrow tool so hard to tell. Also, the warren's are good, not pretty, but pretty don't feed the bull dog. They are just not available in many sweeps and sizes.

[Donna_T]

Big Wayne,
As a follow up, the round cuts that come from eye punches create a perfectly round eyeball. If you don't take it a step farther and add the little v corners to make a 'football' shaped eye, the round look makes it a strange looking eye. I think the secret is just to use the punches lightly to create two similarly sized eyes, but then go on and do the rest of the detail to make them lifelike.

You find cheap Taylor and Stubi tools, let us know and we'll all add them to our Christmas wish list!

Donna T

Thanks Ed and Donna

I have been looking at the Ramelson
Wish I bought them whem I bought the Flexcut
Unfortunately when i was buying my first tools
Only store I could fimd was Woodcraft and they did not carry the Ramelson and the salesman recomended the the Flexcut
Since that time I have discovered this site and others
and found the web sites and catalogs of some great suppliers
like:
little shavers
The woodcraft shop
Smokey mountain
little mountaim
mountain heratige
woodcarvers supply
beaverdam
lee valey
sugar pine
chipping away
old texas woodcarvers
woodcraft
treeline
hgighland hardware
along with some great suppliers of basswood and blanks
and sites that sell tons of patterns and sites to buy roughouts


Have compiled a lot of info since July 2003
have learned a lot from talking with the great people here on this site and have tried some new things

Even though i have had good success with the Flexcut tools,
I feel I would have been better server if I had started pff with the ramelson and then moved up to the higher priced brands. My problem is I like to hold them and see how they feel in my hand and see the actual shape and size before i buy and that is difficult to do when ordering from a catalog or off the internet

But once again Thanks to all that have helped me the last year and a half and Merry Christmas

I always used eye punches, the oval variety, until I took a class with Dave Stetson and once I learned his technique for carving eyes, I found that I get much more expressive and realistic eyes if I use my knife. It certainly takes longer, and a sharp knife is essential but it is less frightening after a few tries on a sample stick. The problem with a punch is that you can never get the transition from the eyelid to the eyeball fine enough so that you can have anything other than wide open eyes.

[al.rudd]

You will have much better looking carvings if you take the time to get good at hand carving your eyes. It's really not that hard to do. You just need to learn the basic cuts and practice. The eye punches make good buttons and snowmen eyes.
al.rudd