[Bandaid]

While I favor hand tools, I agree with squbrigg and BobD and use whatever works at the time including files which I find invaluable.

Reg

[mdallensr]

I carve with a group of 8-10. We started with edge tools, most as begginers, and we still use just edge tools. It's not good to put 10 carvers around a table, each making dust or hammering away with an Automach. I do some clean-up and de-fuzzing with a Dremel, and I have a Ryobi carver, but still prefer making chips by hand.

I agree about sharpening. Edge tools are no fun if they're not sharp, so you just need to learn how to sharpen or send your tools to Rick.

[Mitchell]

95% of the time it's hand tools (palm gouges and knives).... Every once in a while, I will use a Foredom or Proxxon - mostly to rough out a piece that has an unusual shape.

[Canopener]

Definately edge tools, I guess for me in some way, the tool comes before the wood. Also; similar to Ed, I like to do as much work as possible with just a knife, but still use chisels, gouges and such just to speed things along. I am already slow enough.
Of course I do have some power tools, but don't use them to actually carve.
Jim

[Alice in Wonderland]

I am a power carver, the same old story,
Pardon me, at one point somebody told me "you are not a carver BUT a grinder. So there you are folks ,some people just smirk at this , Jeee I wish I could turn out quantities.:-) :-)
Alice

[Paul_Guraedy]

The answer to this question must derive from the reason that an individual carves. I do not mean for profit or pleasure. If earning a living from something enjoyable is the goal, then power would seem to be a more logical answer. But, get down to the elemental level of .....why woodcarving?.

If it is to produce a woodcarving from handtools only, then you know why power is shunned. If sandpaper is disliked, then it should not be used. If paint covers up the wood, then natural finish is the alternative. If a carving should be from a single block of wood, then lamination is an abomination. If it is the final product that is important, then, it is fair to use whatever tool is available that serves the purpose.

I do appreciate the beauty of a rack of woodcarving tools, also enjoy the feel of a sharp tool sliding through wood, and the quiet of hand tool work is certainly more pleasant than the sound of a good filtration system in full mode; but, why should I limit myself to trying to do feathers with a "V" tool rather than with a ceramic burr? Should I do away with my burner because it uses power? If I were doing chainsaw carvings, would it be wrong to use gouges to shape eyes?

Is the process really more important than the product? When someone says to me that a particularly intricate piece was carved with/without/by/from .....insert any self-imposed limitation........ then my immediate question is .....why?.

I am not trying to be critical, facetious or sarcastic. I truly do not understand.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I am not trying to be critical, facetious or sarcastic. I truly do not understand.

I understand why I do what I do, You understand why you do what you do, and Alice understands why she does what she does. Is it really necessary that we lose sleep over trying to understand why somebody else does what they do? Heck I could care less if somebody carves with a rock or a chainsaw. Just let me whittle away and I'll let everybody else carve away. Ain't none of my business why anybody does what they do as long as it's legal.

[mik1947]

I mainly use edge tools and I just purchased a Dremel to use in some of the finishing stages of a work. A number of folks on this board provided some very interesting (and much appreciated!!) insight for me when I asked about the why's and how's of using power tools. I'm not as young as I once was and I've started having some tendonitis in the wrist that I use for holding my work. I'm trying the power tool as a means to reduce some of the pain and continue to enjoy carving as much as I can for as long as I can!
Mike

[Kenny_S]

I do what I do because I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......................
Huff, puff, I can, I can, I CAN!
Opsssss, Thought maybe this was about blowing a brick house with three pigs in it or maybe I am going up a mountain.
Mainly edge tools but will use whatever to achive what I want.

[rick-in-seattle]

Originally Posted by Paul_Guraedy

Is the process really more important than the product? When someone says to me that a particularly intricate piece was carved with/without/by/from .....insert any self-imposed limitation........ then my immediate question is .....why?.

I am not trying to be critical, facetious or sarcastic. I truly do not understand.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a debate over the right way to carve. I was simply interested in how others were completing their carvings.

Paul, you asked if the process is really more important than the product; for me the answer is yes.

It is a rare occasion that I finish a carving anymore, but I still enjoy sitting down and quietly making chips for a spell.