where to get good tools?

[ZBH carver]

hello all i would appreiate any advice on where to get good tools for anyone on a kinda tight budget and i would not mind used ones. right now im using cheapo tools so any used or new would probaly be better right now:P again any help would be appreiated

[TreeWizard]

You might look at "Little Shavers", or Warren Cutlery, I started out using replaceable blades from Warren that fit into a handle and several gouges that fit into the same handle. They worked quite well and since the cost was not high, I wasn't afraid to learn how to sharpen them.

[Mitchell]

Knives or gouges - or both?

There are MANY suppliers and their prices are generally close to each other. You can find deals on used tools on web sites such as e-bay. You can even find some on here occasionally as members will sometimes offer their excess tools to make room for new ones.

[ZBH carver]

both knives and gouges and also which brands do you prefer? and also is it better to get your tools seperate or in a set

[BobT]

Little Shavers put their beginners kits (there are 2 of them now) together with a selection of tools that will let someone get started in anything. If you have a specific focus then some of those tools may not be needed. They are good tools, well sharpened. The price cannot be beat by buying bits and pieces. Those are the only sets that I think anyone should buy.
Sets of carving tools from manufacturers invariably have tools that you will rarely if ever use. Better to buy individually in this case.
What brand of tools to buy? I ain't going there!
Bob

[CuttinUp]

I have a couple of different brands and types...

Knives; a couple of good knives...one for detail, one for "bulk removal".
Tools: I have a few flexcut, Swiss Made, Henry Taylor, stubai and some home made.

As for which are best...really depends on the person holding them...I like both palm and full size, depending on the situation...

Before you buy...put your hands on them and feel them...possibly at a show or carving supply shop.

[MichelleOH]

Bob, I noticed Little Shavers has two kits now, as well. Any thoughts on the differences for beginners?

[Butch_Speer]

Got to agree with BobT. I got a friend into carving & I recommended a starter set from Little Shavers. Sharpened tools, glove, strop & compound. Tools that were useful. All packed in a wooden box. Free sharpening for life. All at a very good price. Rick's a good guy to do business with. You can't ask for more.

[chuckt]

Hey ZBH. I went into this a little on your carving eyes thread. But I'll expand a little more here.

You're asking a difficult question to answer because there are so many variables. (Similar to asking - what's the best car to get?) "Best" is very dependent upon your specific situation - What do you carve/want to carve? What sizes? What kind of budget do you have? You're not really giving us enough information to give anything more than very general advice. In addition, understand that you will get so many opinions and recommendations about:

- Full Sized vs Palm gouges
- Knives vs gouges
- brands (Swiss Made vs Stubai, vs Dastra, vs Henry Taylor, vs, Two Cherries, vs Ashley Isles etc.)
- sizes & sweeps

that you might well be overwhelmed with options and fall into the "analysis paralysis" trap. I DID and still do fall into that - such that I researched tools for almost two years without doing much actual carving. The same holds true btw when you approach the topic of sharpening those tools.

This is probably one of the THE most confusing and overwhelming topics out there for any new carver - IF - you let it be. The problem comes in with the relative term "the best". The reality is that you have carvers all over the spectrum - from those who carve using nothing but a box cutter to those who have collections of 300+ full sized and palm gouges, across all brands to their own custom made tools.

You might want to Search the TOOLS & SHARPENING topic for threads where there are several of these types of questions asked to begin learning the terminology for different types of tools and how they are used for different types of carving.

In general - good tools don't come cheap. So if you're trying to save money you'd be better off buying fewer tools of a better quality.

This means focusing on the specific tools you'd need for what you want to carve. i.e. - if you're interested in Chip Carving it doesn't make sense to look at gouges; if you're mainly interested in caricature carving you'd probably want to get a good bench knife, detail knife, and maybe a small assortment of gouges; if you're interested in relief landscape carving you'd want a selection of full sized gouges, etc. If you're interested in ALL of it - pick someplace to start and build slowly from there.

In general - sets from tool manufacturers are NOT the way to go because they will include some shapes and sizes you will NOT be likely to use. Rick's kits from Little Shavers as others have mentioned - get very positive reviews. They make sense for a rank beginner who isn't really sure what they are getting into with carving and whether they'll stick with it or not.

One of the BEST things you can do as a new carver before you invest a lot of money into tools, is get thee to a carving club or a roundup event (like Northeast Woodcarver's Roundup, or the one in Michigan, etc), where you can talk to folks, ask questions, observe, try things out.

But to just start getting your feet wet - Rick's kits are probably one of the better ways to go. Though my friend Mark Yundt will tell you that Full Sized gouges are the only way to go and that there is nothing you can carve with a palm gouge or knife that you can't carve with full sized gouges, but that isn't true the other way around. The problem is that full sized gouges require a slightly larger investment ($20 to $40 per tool and a bench or stand to secure your carving).

If you want to give us some more information about what kinds of things you want to carve, what sizes of carvings, and how much you can budget roughly for tools & equipment; you might get some better and more specific answers.

ChuckT

[ZBH carver]

my budget for a set would be like 100 dollers about and im a begginer carver and i kinda like to do wood spirits and little animals and statues, and if im going to buy single tools i would think that i would spend maybe like 20 dollers per tool MAYBE im not sure on how much im willing to spend on seperate tools and also my original post was where could i get good tools from like an online store and which brands were trusted to be durable and long lasting if taken care of. So does that answer all your questions? if not just tell me and il try to answer those ok. ZBH carving