[Irish]

I had a customer call yesterday. She asked if I did power carving or used a dremel tool ...That is a common enough question here in the studio. But then she said, "or do you think that's cheating?"

Cheating???

Now I am a hand tool carver because I love to be able to work here in the studio or in my living room at night. I would not do that with power tools because of the noise and dust. So hand tools are my preference.

For me anything that gets the job done is fair game and in legal play

But is there such a thing as Cheating in wood carving ?????

Susan

[whitecree]

I hear this all the time. In particular, I used to hear it a lot when I helped an 80 year old clan chief build a 42 foot dugout canoe a few years back. A tourist type asked how come we were 'cheating' by using chain saws. The master carver - Samson Ross - just laughed and said "Lady, if my grandfather and his grandfather and his before him had had chain saws, they would have used them. What matters is results."

IMO, cheating refers to claiming somebody else's work as your own.

[BobD]

It's an interesting subject; I've talked with several chainsaw carvers who talk about xx carving is 90% chainsaw or 100% chainsaw...it's a badge of honor for them to carve the wonderful things with a chainsaw.

It comes down to, in my opinion, whether the completed project is the most important or if the process is the most important!

Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I think its a non issue.....they are ALL tools, whether its a sharp rock , a knife or a chainsaw, without the hands of the artist, the tool just lays there!

[Anthony Filetti]

AHHHH, the power of a single WORD...

...it implies you are doing something wrong, but only in the eyes of the beholder...

...I prefer to use hand tools and do not sand my work...I guess my way could be considered less refined then others...

...cheating...using power tools is not cheating...that would be a strong word used in the wrong context...

...its amazing what a reckless person can do with the english language...

[arbarnhart]

IMO, the potential for problems (or at least the perception of them in the minds of some folks) rises when you use handy terms like "hand made", "hand carved" or "hand crafted". It's reasonable to infer that only hand tools were used. Personally, I am not too concerned about what was used to remove the wood that is no longer there.

[Just Carving]

Sheesh! Next thing, it'll be cheating if you buy your knives, chisels and gouges instead of making them yourself!

[whitecree]

That's what this touristy type was trying to imply. According to her, the canoe we made was not 'authentic' becasue we used modern tools. She really thought we were supposed to use stone and bone tools that we had made ourselves. According to this twit, even steel tools was cheating.

[BasketballJones]

There is an easy and quick way to settle that debate.

A friend of mines Dad said powercarving was cheating when I first got the carving bug a few years ago. My friend had bought a Foredom. His Dad is old school and had been in and out of the carving groove over the years. Well he simply couldn't work his magic with the Powercarver as he could with a knife and gouge.

I'm sure they said that about driving when automatic transmissions came out.

[Irish]

Originally Posted by whitecree

That's what this touristy type was trying to imply. According to her, the canoe we made was not 'authentic' becasue we used modern tools. She really thought we were supposed to use stone and bone tools that we had made ourselves. According to this twit, even steel tools was cheating.

Stone knives , what are you talking about, man! Teeth were the first carving tools. And I am NOT knawling on the wood with my teeth to please any purist! Besides if we had to do it as our earliest ancestors I wouldn't have a full set of tools to work with at my age ...

I so agree Whtiecree, if my grandfather had owned a band saw he would have used the band saw!!!!!

Susan