[anne5440]

I am new, new, new to carving. I have been learning some hand carving at my club meetings since Jan. I joined to learn to carve. Then I started seeing power carving mentioned from time to time. So I am trying to figure our how to use my dremel to speed up some steps of the process. My husband also just replaced my cheapy scroll saw with a nice dewalt. I am in heaven with it and finally getting to do the scrolling I had dreamed of.

Today I found a scrap of walnut (I think black walnut) in the bits of wood I have gathered over the years. It is the right size for the anniversary spoon I want to carve for our anniversary this month. I drew the lines of the pattern onto it and roughed it out with the scroll saw. My husband says I have left too much wood and need to cut right on the outside pattern lines. I left about a quarter inch outside the lines. Where should I be cutting the rough out?

I found this board in my attempts to locate instructions on how to start power carving. Since my club doesn't meet until the 12th and I have to drive an hour too the meetings I thought I would ask here for guidance.
Anne in CO

[susieq]

Welcome Anne,
I know there are some spoon carvers that frequent this forum. I might be able to help you with power carving in general but I have no experience with spoons.

Is your spoon pattern something from a book or magazine? Or did you draw the pattern? If it is from a publication, it should show the actual spoon outline and then the pattern outline which is usually slightly larger than the carving will be. This allows for rounding over the wood. You can always take off wood but you can't put it back on, especially in this case.

Dremels are very nice tools to begin power carving with.... Dremel was my first power carving tool. If this is a Dremel that you already had before you started carving, you probably don't have a flexible shaft attachment for it. This is a great accessory. It allows you to hang the tool itself, up out of your way. The tool turns the shaft and your carving bit in the handpiece at the end of the shaft. The hand piece is much the size of a pencil and you have wonderful control over what you are doing without having to hold and manuver the whole tool. Even better if you have the tool plugged into a foot pedal. You can turn the tool on and off without using your hands.

A word of caution though, power carving makes wood dust. Wood dust is dangerous and you must wear a decent dust mask. Do not breath wood dust. Especially walnut. There are a lot of woods out there that are extremely toxic but even ordinary basswood or pine, though not especially toxic, will cause you to have bad lung problems if you breath the dust.
I am sure you will get a lot of replies from other forum members.
Good luck with your spoon.
susieq

[anne5440]

Thanks for the pointers!

I do have a flex shaft because this wasn't my first dremel. Way back years ago I inherited from my father a complete dremel woodshop, including a mini tablesaw that I loved. He built fishing rods. Well to make a long story short my first ex SIL managed to loose that entire set up. All that was left from it was one box of bits and goodies to them. So last year before last when I got my dremel set for myself for c'mas I made sure to get a flex shaft.

Yes i have been bad about the face mask lately cause they are so uncomfortable for me, but I must get back to using them as I have 3/4 lung copacity as well as asthma, thanks to my fathers smoking habit.

I am thinking I will be using both hand and power on this spoon.
Anne

[susieq]

Hi Anne,
You might want to check into the dust begone masks. I have had one for years. They run about $40 now but you wash and re use them. They are very light weight, you can breath through them and they won't fog your glasses. They also make custom sizes to fit you if need be. Paula Nicks is the lady who developed them. Very nice. I called and said that the mask pulled down on the end of my nose a bit so she is developing a mask with a "nose pocket"...a pleat in the material on each side of the nose. She sent me one to try and it is great. She is working on a bunch of different models to accomodate different facial features. My old one was every bit of 7 years old or more and it is still in great shape. But I really like the nose pleated model. It is a mask you won't mind wearing, I promise.

If you use both power and gouge on your spoon, remember that any bit that leaves a grit in the wood, (like a sanding mandrel, etc) will dull your gouge if you use the gouge after using the bit. Sanding, and I suspect some of the diamonds and rubies are all guilty of that. Be sure to post a picture for us when you get the spoon finished....black walnut sounds beautiful.
susieq

[anne5440]

Thank you, I will look into those masks. I wonder if they are the ones I saw at a woodworking show a few years back and didn't get. Then I haven't been able to find them since.

Thanks also for the pointer about grit and hand tools. I will keep that in mind as I work.
Anne

[mark yundt]

Hi Anne,
I remember my first cut outs using a band or scroll saw. They too were like yours,,'bout 1/4 inch away.My friend called them "chicken cuts". I was too afraid I wouldn't have enough wood to actually carve,,I'll leave a cushion just in case.
Since the pattern looks just like the piece you want to end up with,,cut right up to the line.As your skills develop and you become used to the machine,,you'll be able to have the kerf lay right next to the line and leave it there,,split the line,,or cut right on it.
Initially ,if you leave maybe the width of the saw cut between the blade and the line,,you will have a comfort zone and not end up with 1/4 inch of wood to carve away.Also most new carvers tend to leave too much wood,,'cause all your references are gone(the line) and the piece will end up looking heavy instead of delicate.
So,,if the design looks right to you,,cut right to the line,,,there is plenty of wood there to complete it.

[anne5440]

I got to thinking in the middle of the night that maybe I should just go for and cut too the line! Yeah, chicken cuts would discribe me!

I needed a break to let muscles rest today so didn't do much. Tomorrow I want to make some more sawdust. First I simply must do something in this dirty house. LOL I am having trouble getting the maid to stop playing. I need a wife!

[mark yundt]

Well that's O.K.,,we all make them. I was thinking though. Depending on your saw,,and the blades and how they are tensioned,some of them tend to wander,,or seem to cut better in certain directions and what side the line is on relative to the blade.I've run into this myself. These are some conditions where you might want to have a bit of a fudge factor.Just watch how accurately your saw and blades cut and you can then determine just how close you can go.Or if they leave a very coarse cut you might leave extra just to clean up without leaving any marks.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Welcome to the group Anne. Power tools are great! I have several Dremels and Fordoms in my inventory. However, they are not the answer to all carving problems and they don't always speed up the process. Certain projects are great for power tools but others would be hampered by them. Carving spoons is one of those that the power tools really don't come into play except for cutting out the blank.

I've attached a couple of websites that might help you out in your spoon projects. One tool that will really make the job easy is the Hook Knife. These are used to scoop out the interior of the spoon and using them across the grain of the wood makes the job really an easy one. You'll need two of these....a right sided one and a left so you can come at the job from both directions. A regular carving knife is plenty for the rest of the job of the handle and the back of the spoon but those hook knives are the secret to spoon carving.

http://www.pinewoodforge.com/index.html
http://www.spoonlady.com/hothow.htm

[anne5440]

Thanks, I am taking all these hints, pointers, tips, etc. into consideration. My new dewalt scroll saw is wonderful on tension, my old one was a nightmare. My skill level is beginner so I will keep fudge factor in mind. I am looking over the spoon info sites this morning. I don't know how many spoons I will want to make. This spoon is a side track from the learning to carve fish that are my current desire. Oh heck i just wnat to learn. LOL