Power carver for roughing a piece out

[Dan Wegiel]

Hi all,
I'm just a stubborn old man that never wanted to use any type of power doing my carvings but Doctor told me that I need to back off a little and that I was pushing it. My question to all you power carvers is which power carver would you buy just to take off the big wood, I almost always carve found hard wood. Don't need any of the fine tuning blades, I have plenty of tools for the detail work. Like everyone else, I want the best I can get for the smallest amount of money. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Dan

[ragiarn]

Dan, I am just a relative beginner, but it would seem that before anyone can give you specific advice you should tell us what size carvings you are making.

Obviously tools chosen will varing according to size from a simple dremel tool to a chain saw.

It will also depend on what you have on hand. A band saw is a great tool for roughing out however it could be expensive if you have to purchase one.

For small pieces a dremel tool with some relatively inexpensive bits could do the trick.

Finally I would be interested in knowing what ailment caused your Doctor to advise that you back off.

[Dan Wegiel]

First, thanks for the reply. I'm a 63 yo heart patient who gets "posessed" when I see something in a piece of wood and then hammer away until I get so exhausted that I have to sit and take a nap, can't help myself. I generally carve fairly large pieces of hard found wood. Not chain saw carving, but mallet chisels and gouges. Its not the detail that is wearing me out, its getting all the "sap-wood" and other unwanted larger pieces off. I've been using my mallet with a 1" fishtail to hammer off most of it, then go down to my gouges to finish. I'm guessing what I need is a power chisel, but would really appreciate the advise of you power carvers so I don't waste money buying something that won't help. Thanks, Dan

[Dan S]

Hey there,
There are a number of options to roughout large pieces of wood. You can use an angle grinder with an arbortech head or something similar. The grinder you could find at a yardsale if you scrounge well. A foredom would also work well for you. There are a number of power chisels on the market. I can't reccomend on though as I have never tried one. If the wood is large it may be too much for a dremel tool.
On another line of thought, have you considered that what you may really need is a new doctor?
Take care,
Dan

[Dan Wegiel]

Thanks Dan,
No, can't change docs, this one has brought me back 3 different times and because of him I'm blessed to be able to carve at all. I do have a grinder, just never thought of the arbortech. Dremel is out of the question, most of my carvings need way too much wood removed. The only saw that I own is a 20" chain saw, good for cutting fire wood but not for carving.
Dan

[Claude]

Dan:
Look through the ads in WCI - at least one of them has carbide disks, even a small "disk like a chain saw". Issue 46 has the ads on pages 9 and 19: King Arthur Tools Merlin. I don't know if these would fit your Arbortech, but maybe...

I did see that Woodcraft carries carbide disks for the arbortech...

Claude

[Alice in Wonderland]

Dan for health reasons too I am using only Power,using large pieces of hard woods, I have a small electric chainsaw then I use the large Arbortech pro carver ,then the smaller Arbortech minicarver with the Tungston blade and then the Wecheer prociperating handpiece and then the Dremels going down with the large burs to the smallest ones
I hope this helps
Alice

[Dan Wegiel]

Thanks for the info Claude, but I don't even have an arbortech. Up til now, all my carving has been done completely by hand power. I very much would like to keep doing it the same way but my body won't take it anymore. I'm going to make a trip to Woodcraft to get a hands on look. Thanks, Dan

[susieq]

Hi Dan,
So glad the doc brought you back.......... A Foredom shaft tool is hard to beat. For simple roughing out, you don't need reverse. Just a good "hogging" bit. Kutzals are good, typhoon bits are also good. It will probably take you longer to do it this way than with a mallet and large gouge but it will be less strenuous to you. Your doc would approve. I dont know anything about arbortech. I have always been afraid of those big grinders. Hogging with a Foredom will allow you more control when you get closer to where you want to be before using gouges.

Shaft tools have their disadvantages too though. Wear a mask. Just do it.
Also, work with the shaft so that it doesn't form a tight curve....or s curve. and when you put it away, do not curl the shaft up and stick the unit in a drawer. Let it hang with the shaft straight down. Curves in the shaft...bad, makes friction, heats up, breask shaft.

You can't sink the hogging bit into the wood too deep or it will buck and chatter til it shakes your teeth loose. We all want to get to the detail work fast and make the mistake of trying to take off too much wood in one pass.... You won't go as fast as you did with just gouges... Maybe a combination of abortech and shaft tool will accomplish that....grind down to a point, then use the Foredom until you are ready to detail...? I hope you find what works best for you and still get done what you need to do..
best wishes

[xsailer]

Susie, thanks for your comment on keeping the flexible shaft straight when not using. I never thought of that and have been storing mine with a "U' in it. Today it will be hanging straight.

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