Power carver for roughing a piece out

[Dan Wegiel]

Susieq, thanks for all the info. I have plenty of time, just not the energy and this sounds like it will help me a bunch. I love carving hard found wood but there's always so much "bad" wood to remove and as you said, we're in a hurry to get to the best part. All the tips on how to use & store the tool are very helpful too, I'll let you know how things go. Thanks again, Dan

[susieq]

Oops, sorry I forgot to mention that one in your thread.... A few years ago, a friend of mine took up power and kept breaking shafts. I couldn't figure out what the problem was until he told me what he did with his unit when not in use....he coiled it up and stuck it in a drawer. That rubber sleeve on the shaft develops a memory of curves and causes problems. He wound up having to buy a whole new shaft and cover for his unit because we couldn't get it to completely straighten out again. We tried soaking the sleeve in hot water, then pulling straight, hanging it up with a weight on the end...no dice. Those curves were in there for good. Must have been a pretty small drawer....LOL.

[Dull Knife]

Originally Posted by susieq

Oops, sorry I forgot to mention that one in your thread.... A few years ago, a friend of mine took up power and kept breaking shafts. I couldn't figure out what the problem was until he told me what he did with his unit when not in use....he coiled it up and stuck it in a drawer. That rubber sleeve on the shaft develops a memory of curves and causes problems. He wound up having to buy a whole new shaft and cover for his unit because we couldn't get it to completely straighten out again. We tried soaking the sleeve in hot water, then pulling straight, hanging it up with a weight on the end...no dice. Those curves were in there for good. Must have been a pretty small drawer....LOL.

Don't forget to re-lube the shaft once in awhile, as the heat generated when the unit is in operation will dry up the lubrication.

[Joy]

Dan, I suspect that the first thing you will have to do is learn patience. Learning to use a new tool when you are used to getting in there and hammering away.....will take some time. I will be very interested in what you decide to get and how you like it.

[Dan Wegiel]

Hi Joy,
The brute in me has won this battle so far. I'm still hammering away and decided, at least for now, to keep doing things as usual. There are so many different options in power carving that I couldn't decide which way to go. I'm not sure if the word "patience" is in my vocabulary. Thanks for the thoughts.
Dan

[Dileon]

Dan hi...I have severe bone to bone arthritis plus a few more bone disease in all major joints of my body including upper and lower back. I have to use a long list of power tools and chisels to do the job as I have to keep changing tools and methods due to the chronic 24/7 pain. I go from power to chisel back to power and switch to chisel...all the way down the line...using my knives for last without killing myself. My fingers are a twisted mess but I use a reciprocating carver by Proxxon, it is good for basswood but not for hard wood... for hardwoods then I use my good chisels. I have an angle grinder which I got tungsten carbide grinding wheels and sanding disc ,...which I have yet to use...but the grinder is great on cement carving I figure it will do me good...smile. If you get a power carver I was looking at the good ones but they start about $500. ouch. I have a whole assortment of flex shaft Grinders...I found out the hard way...for hard wood and difficult wood you have to use the 1/3 HP. I love both of my Foredoms...which I use Wood pulverizers and blasters burrs which are in the forty dollar range...they are expensive but better then rest of major burrs I have.. again I have some extremely hard wood...those burrs hog the wood out smoothly without to much jumping around and I like the almost non cleaning type of burr. Once you start with the power carver, you find that it major helps especially when our bodies are beating us up and also doctors....smile (I got five on my rear end!) And of coarse I have a band saw for the smaller works which I need a new one. Hope this help a little Di

[Donsexton]

I am a mallet and fishtail gouge man as well. I think for us a high quality die grinder like a 1/4" shaft makita and some aggressive kutzall bits will get you there.

[Bill102M]

Hey Dan:
I know this posting is quite old, but I just came accross it and I have a similar situation. I carve subjects up to 8' tall and 30" in diameter. I have tried the chain saws, Arbortech's, and Fordoms. I still come back to the mallet and gouge. I get tired out even more using a chainsaw, very tiring. I got a set of Sculptor's Carving Gouges from Lee Valley Tools, made by Henry Taylor. They are huge tools. Them and a 16oz urethane mallet, moves a ton of wood in a hurry. I find that I make more mistakes with power tools, than hand tools. Speaking for myself, I can't carve the big stuff like I used to, but I still do pretty good. I can move more wood using my tools than a friend of mine does with an Arbortech, and I make fewer and smaller critical mistakes. Good Luck, Good Carving.
Bill

[Rustic Rick]

Have you thought of a reciprocating hand piece for the flex shaft? You can get gouges and v-tools for it. That should hog off the wood for ya.

[chipmunk]

i don;t know if this will help but in some cases i have used a saw-zaw to cut down into the wood on both sides then chip out with a cheisel watching the grain so it don;t go bad u may beable to use a coping saw cut down and around then chip out i have used a drill-bit to hog away some waste