I am in the process of helping a friend who wants to take up woodcarving. Looking for some advice regarding books & tooling to get him started.
Here’s the scenario ….
He is a complete novice with a very artistic eye. Budget is not an issue.
First projects will be spoons & various cooking utensils ( Cooking is his first hobby).
Future projects ? I intend to make it my hobby to invent challenges to get even for all the crazy stuff he throws at me ! He is my most important client. A woodturning setup is part of the agenda.
I have been a professional designer / cabinetmaker for 25 years & have a complete cabinet shop to support this project. I should add that I have limited carving experience
We just built him a 500 SQ. Ft. Heated shop CW Beer Fridge, washroom, woodstove & beautiful natural light. Murphy bed is on the drawing board.
So what does the shopping list look like ?
Note: Lee Valley tools will be the supplier of record.
What is the best book to start with ?
I will post more specific questions as this project evolves.
Replies
Would your friend be interested in adopting any of us?
Kell
or how about my daughter?
Cheers,
G
...another "How dare you!?" moment with saucyg.
He has his hands full just adopting meOn a hill by the harbour
NOVY,
Seriously what a great shop! The possibilities are endless in this instance. For a carver's shop, and money being no object, I think I'd want:
A huge bandsaw for preparing stock.
Very solid bench for carving with an ergonomic stool
One of every carving chisel and various mallets
A carving station that included a Tormek with all the attachments, a buffing wheel
an area for stock storage
separate finishing area
Outstanding electric light when working late.
A good audio system for music to inspire me.
That's all that comes to mind the first time around.
Kell
Thanks for the reply Kell,
A huge bandsaw for preparing stock.
Allready there in my shop
Very solid bench for carving with an ergonomic stool
Thinking about the Lee Valley cast iron base carvers bench
One of every carving chisel and various mallets
I think the mallets should be turned/hand made ( Mine are )
A carving station that included a Tormek with all the attachments, a buffing wheel
Not sure about sharpening ? I kinda favour elbow grease & Japanese water stones.
an area for stock storage
It can't be perfect ! Some #### has to just be messed around
separate finishing area
I don't see that as neccessary in a hobby shop. IE Clean & finish as req'd
Outstanding electric light when working late.
Custom Rab fixtures
A good audio system for music to inspire me.
Building is wired cat 5 for all media
That's all that comes to mind the first time around.
KellOn a hill by the harbour
Novy,
There are quite a few good basic carving books but the best I have ever seen is, "Woodcarving Tools, Materials & Equipment", by Chris Pye. I can't even imagine a question about carving that's not dealt with in this book. GP
GP,
Thanks for the reply. What is the singlemost important thing to learn when carving wood ?
On a hill by the harbour
What is the singlemost important thing to learn when carving wood ?
Buy plenty of Bandaids.
How about a dust collecting system? Maybe not too big and fairly quiet. With a sanding table as well as a dust chute he can use while sitting in a comfortable chair. My friend made one by connecting a jointer dust hood to a length of flexible hose. He put a piece of 1/4" hardware cloth over the opening. It sits in his lap or on a box in front of him.
A leather apron
Fred,
Thanks for your reply. Bandaids are a must and I have a good first aid kit on his list.
Dust collection....... Hmmmmm ? There is a new ss 16 gallon shopvac ( Quiet model ) in the shop
The leather apron is definatly on the list now. Not only a safe idea but a way of feeling in the mode........
On a hill by the harbour
P.S. What is your opinion on the best starter book ?
Edited 1/24/2004 9:12:06 PM ET by NOVY_7
What is your opinion on the best starter book ?
Sorry I'm not a carver - just advise my friend on machine set-up in his carving shop. (then sit around and swap lies) So no idea on books. But I do know if he does any amount of work he'll need the dust collection and probably will want an air filtering system as well. The vac you mentioned will be a good start till he gets underway and finds what works for him.
Oldfred
Fred,
Sounds a bit like my friend.
Would you mind asking your buddy what his favourite carving book is next time you see him ?
I will address dust & filtration when he starts to bitch. On a hill by the harbour
Will do that.
Oldfred
It's either how to sharpen your tools, how to work with either hand, or how to see negative space, i.e. how to see the shape of the parts that need to be cut away.
Hey Unc,
The sharpening thing ? Hmmmmmmmm.........
I have started him with the scary sharp method ( Kitchen Knives . BTW his current book is knife sharpening ) but he wants to go to waterstones. ( Opposite of my progression ) I think a power sharpening center is too far down the road at this point. A good benchtop magnifier would be more illuminating IE: understanding sharp.
The negative space thing ...... I think that is progressive, some exercises with stock removal & a few used bandaids ......
What is your opinion on the starter book ?
On a hill by the harbour
I've done a little bit of carving. One of the things that I did, and liked, was to build a bench/workstation that was tall enough to work at while standing.
Sometimes I'd stand and carve, sometimes I'd sit on a tall stool. For those cuts that required a lot of strength and less finesse, the standing position was far superior. Sometimes sitting was better.
But I had the choice. I think that mine was somewhere around 46" tall -- just about elbow height.
As for the lighting, he'll need the ability to have low-angle lighting from various directions. The low angle highlights the smallest of imperfections -- but only when the direction is just right for that particular imperfection. Some carvers have a setup where a single switch controls low angle lights from the left, the right, or both off.
Your shop sounds wonderfull. I install two dust collector units. If he goes power caving , sanding dust will fill the shop. He should also have a bench mounted, but portable dust and chip collector. I disagree with a fininish room,but he will be putting some type of finish on his carvings. I use a lot of spray to stand up the wood and then sand it down. I also have a portable drawing board to sketch my drawings before carving. ie relief carvings. Iam sure that I have left off many things. Ohh a seperate place for the excess wood, as everybody knows, you will fill up the shop with tools you need and the only things you can move out is the wood for future projects. I have a 14 by 35 and all the cornors were round because I kept stacking wood in them. I moved all of it to the attached garage, built a rack and am ok for now.
Good Luck and happy carvings.
Rex
Rex,
Thanks for your reply.
A drawing space has been added to the scene.....On a hill by the harbour
With all this bad weather this week you will recieve a lot of information. Here in Charlotte we have ice and snow. My shop is warm, good music, and fresh coffee. Well the pot is cooking while I respond again.
Have your friend just go at it. Learn the tools, control them, not letting them control him. I find I reach a level and can't seem to get any better. I then take a class from the many professionals that offer them. I find after a class I am recharged again.
I also switch types of carving, birds for competition, reliefs, etc. I am now carving reproductions of antique decoys. I am aware that by switching around I will never become a "master carver" but I really don't care. Carving can be stressfull trying to create the "prefect" but remember why most of us started this, because if is fun. And you get to sneak a lot of neat tools into the shop without you know who finding out too late to take them back.
Good Luck,
Rex
Yes Ma'am,
Thanks for your thoughts.
The bench ?
I personally like the look of this one.....
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=31153&category=1,41637&ccurrency=1&SID=
This bench would actually relate to surfaces from 30" to 46" AFF .
In my shop I have a custom made stool that has about 12 " of adjustment in height. It could be duplicated by my metal shop quite cheaply. ( Simple screw mechanism )
Lighting might be the next most important component to good work after sharpening. That being said there are ( Will be soon) directional Rab ceiling fixtures IE: Exterior type incandescent. Directional incandescent spots ( Drafting table/desk lamps) are the best way after natural light. There are no florescent in the building.
This guy has been a photographer for a looooong time. He knows how to light his work !
What is your vote for the best starting book ?
On a hill by the harbour
Forget the Tormek, it's of no use for nearly all carving tools.
What sort of carving is your friend going to do?
Lee
Spoons for a start ............ I would have to guess organic shapes will be a focus next IE: what is in that piece of wood
Re: Tormek .. Have looked at alot of different systems. I mostly use a beltsander & then sandpaper for working edges. A bit of green honing compound on a leather strop makes an edge look pretty though !
On a hill by the harbour
Allright, the perfect woodcarving shop, at least for me and I don't do spoons.
Well lit, at least a thousand square feet, profects for carvers can get large, high ceilings and a good sound system with satellite radio, several benches at different heights.
As to tools...a hundred carving tools including several big gouges, a Foredom with a complete selection of bits, an electric chainsaw.
At least three identical routers and at least two small ones of the same type, a cheap grinder with medium and coarse wheels, a Norton Multi-stone, a couple of ceramic stones for dry honing and a few good slips. A complete set of rifflers, a handfull of new toothbrushes, a stiff bristle scrub brush and a good quality shoe brush.
A pantagraph, a set of french curves, an overhead projector and a large blackboard.
I could go on but that's enough for now.
Lee
Thank for the reply Lee,
Care to reccomend your favourite brands for hand carving tools ?On a hill by the harbour
You won't like it...
I blast Pfeils because they eliminated the ferrule.
Here's what I say about carving tools,
http://furniturecarver.com/carving.html
I have several brands, until one of them is willing to pay me big bucks I'll not endorse one in particular. I will, however, say a tool is junk if I think it is. They aren't junk but a buyer can do better than Pfeil or Stubai. Pfeil because they don't use a ferrule and Stubai because the steel is too soft, I rolled an edge testing one.
Leehttp://www.furniturecarver.com
My 8yr old twins like to carve (relief carving on things like doorstops) and we have worked out an approach that lets them understand sharp.
I do the sharpening on stones and I keep a piece of leather with buffing compound next to their elbow. They learnt very quickly that sharp is easier and safer.
The only time I have required a wheel on these tools since I learnt how not to do it was when the daughter dropped a #8 on the floor an chipped the point (value of tool + time to fix worth lots less than the pleasure of her in the shop)
Point being, IMHO, sharp is probably the first lesson for any hand tool activity after safety.
David
David, sharpening is the first topic I teach during instruction and it's the most requested bit of information asked of me. I'd love to get a webpage up on how to sharpen the various tools but it's a difficult topic to address in written form and so very easy in a live teaching format, perhaps someday.
Eight years old, huh? It sounds like stiff competition is on the way, Hah, hah, ha... I'm glad you're teaching your kids to work with their hands, good for you!
Lee
Stay Away From Walnut?????
RJT, I've gotta disagree with you there...walnut is one of the sweetest woods for carving there is!
Lee
Have your friend attend one of the carving sessions at Peter Korn's Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine, come September. Chris Pye is a fabulous instructor. You can reach the school at [email protected] or call 207-594-5611
Wow, did this thread ever die suddenly! Twas it me who murdered it?
Hey RJT, keep your logs although I appreciate the offer. Hey, if you deliver them I'll do it! I'm in no position to deal with them but I'd scare a beer or two out of the fridge for your trouble. I'd rather pay $5.00 a foot for primo stuff...I've changed, my clients got richer.
Lee
You do awesome work Lee. Great website too. Curious to know how long one of your projects takes? The headboards look like they had out to take a year apiece. Good to have your expertise here.
Regards,Steve
I allow three months for the headboards.
Yeah, about my expertise...I find I lack the energy to contribute as much as I used to in useful threads. Once in a while I'll jump in if a thread like this one catches my eye or if I feel like a bit of banter but I find myself contributing far less than years past.
Thanks Dirt Stirrer, I'm perpetually about and still very willing to help out.
Lee
Edited 1/29/2004 8:43:41 AM ET by Lee_Grindinger
Prime firewood?? Well, now you're talking! Around here we have pine and cottonwood, both pretty crummy woods for the woodstoves.
Walnut gets to you...it doesn't bother me a bit but genuine mahogany puts me on steroids for my sinuses. It's strange, isn't it?
Lee
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