Carving tools advice please.

[scubadoo]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy my wife some carving tools for her birthday. We have regular access to Ash and Sycamore and i think she wants to do some sculptures.

Can anyone recommend some good brands and what kind of sizes or shapes i need to get?

Cheers
Dave

 

[wizer]

Sizes and shapes is extremely hard to recommend because it's highly dependant on what you want to carve and what discipline you chose.

Pfiel is a very good brand, you won't go wrong with their tools. You can get them at ****.biz or CHT

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks Wizer,

I imagine she will want to do fairly large sculptures like green men and the like.

Cheers, checking out Pfiel now

 

[PAC1]

I would reccomend Pfiel. They are excellent. As for size it depends on what is being carved as gouges range from 1mm to 60mm and from semi circular to flat. For general relief carving Pfiel have some sets available at CHT. for Sculpture then currently you would need to look at Tilgear

 

[AndyT]

Hi Scubadoo

As you're in Bristol you have the option of going to Bristol Design in Perry Row (opposite Zero Degrees brewery). They have their own range of new carving tools in the complete span of sizes. Not sure what the steel is but the few that I have keep an edge very well. Prices are fair for the quality.

You need to go with time to spare and have a good look - the carving tools are not well displayed but are in the narrow 'corridor' to the side.

He also has adzes etc for green woodworking - as well as a wide selection of second-hand tools, though when I was last in the selection of old carving tools looked a bit depleted.

Andy

PS I think he has Pfiel too or something similar.

 

[scubadoo]

As you're in Bristol you have the option of going to Bristol Design in Perry Row.

Thanks Andy,

i was in there on Friday actually!

i'm just not sure what sizes to get, and flat or curved? as i said, she wants to do things like green men (bit of a hippy) and general large-ish sculpture.

I might pop in this afternoon as they had a 60 1/2 block plane that I fancied
cheers
Dave

 

[cerdeira]

Hi,

Check out this site:

http://www.willyvanhoutte.be

There's a big selection of carving tools there.

For larger sculptures and within Pfeil's price range I would go for Dastra tools since they are thicker. The "downside" is that they don't come honed and ready to use.

Regarding sizes and shapes, I would start with a v-tool and a veining tool (#11) These are used to define contours. Then add some wide #3 gouges for setting out and remove bulk material, and some random sweep gouges (I find #7 very useful).

For what it's worth, here's my carving tool list. For larger work you may want to get wider gouges.

#3 - 12 mm
#3 - 18 mm
#3 - 30 mm
#7 - 6 mm
#7 - 10 mm
#7 - 18 mm
#5 - 4 mm
#5 - 6 mm
#5 - 10 mm
#5 - 18 mm
#8 - 4 mm
#8 - 6 mm
#8 - 10 mm
#8 - 18 mm
#11 - 2 mm
#11 - 3 mm
#11 - 8 mm
#11 - 10 mm
V-tool 4 mm
V-tool 6 mm
V-tool 10 mm
Chisel 2 mm
Chisel 5 mm
Chisel 10 mm

 

[woodbloke]

Another vote here for Pheil tools. I've just finished scutinizing a number of tools :wink: and I can't rate their steel highly enough - Rob

 

[laird]

Or go the Canadian sculpting route, chainsaw and a Kats saw for the fine detail

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks for all the excellent advice so far, it's really helpful.

So do you think this 8-piece carving set is a good buy or would i be better to get a few specific ones.

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... _Sets.html

I've been looking in the Axminster catalogue at Kirschen and Henry Taylor tools; any good, and do they come ready to use?

Sorry for all the questions.
Cheers
Dave

 

[Richard T]

I've got three Henry Taylor shallow gouges- can't remember the exact sizes but somewhere between 1/2 inch up to 7 1/8 inch and I find that I reach for one of them far more often than any other gouge I have.
The steel is supurb. As far as I remember when I bought them they were sharp enough to use but careful stoning by yourself will bring them up better and better.

 

[Grinding One]

As I have not seen the young Girl who will be using the tools,my first recommendation would be palm chisels ...Phiel,which I use are great tools.They keep an edge well and hold their value well too.

 

[PAC1]

The set is a good starter and I still use mine regularly. However it really depends on what is being carved. The set is aimed at relief carving and small sculpture. If the plan is to go into large sculpture then large gouges will be needed as well. The set would still be useful for detailing large sculpture

 

[scubadoo]

If the plan is to go into large sculpture then large gouges will be needed as well. The set would still be useful for detailing large sculpture

Thanks, what #series and size gouges would you recommend for larger carving in the round?

 

[PAC1]

Scubadoo

This is not easy to say as it depends on how large. i carved a rocking horse and bought a variety of gouges in varying curves around 20mm and 35mm wide. you can get gouges up to 60mm wide and then there are adzes. It might be best to get the basic set then go on a course and see what the teacher recommends for the work to be done. You may find that the work to use a 60mm gouge is to much and prefer smaller gouges

 

[Grinding One]

If she starts swinging a mallet at a big gouge (unless shes a bodybuilder) she`ll be selling them faster then you can buy them....
I worked a mallet with a big gouge on a tree stump and after an hour of wacking at it I went for the power grinder :lol:

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks for all the advice.

I've been into Bristol Design to look at their own chisels. They seemed nice and the owner seemed knowledgable and very helpful; he spent a lot of time with me. Have any others used them? It was a bit confusing as his numbering system is different to the one that most other manufacturers used.

I'm wondering how the steel compares? He reckoned that Pfeil was a little brittle compared to his ones.

the forge that did them is stopping production and he's planning to replace them with Stubai, they looked nice as well.

Cheers
Dave

 

[TobyB]

I've not done a lot of carving ... but I bought some Ashley Isles carving chisels and, for every job I've used them for, they handle beatifully, cut fantastically ... and seem to sharpen easily ... well worth a look?

 

[scubadoo]

Just to finish this off; thanks everyone for all the help and advice.

In the end I went with Pfeil. I had to sell a few things to pay for them but I bought a:

1/10 (Kirschen)
3/25
5/12
7/14
7/25
9/10
11/5
12/6

Not a bad starter set :lol: and the wife is very happy 8) , although i don't like the way she's eyeinh up the dining table!

I'm really impressed with the Pfeil tools, they are beautiful, very sharp and cut really well.

Cheers
Dave

 

[bugbear]

Thanks for all the excellent advice so far, it's really helpful.

So do you think this 8-piece carving set is a good buy or would i be better to get a few specific ones.

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... _Sets.html

I've been looking in the Axminster catalogue at Kirschen and Henry Taylor tools; any good, and do they come ready to use?

Sorry for all the questions.
Cheers
Dave

Every informed advisor I've ever seen has recommended buying for purpose, and (specifically) not buying sets unless you've checked that a massive proportion of the set fits your purpose. The set discount needs to be VERY high to outweight useless (for your purpose) tools.

This means (sadly) you need a LOT more research on what your wife will be doing and (ergo) what tools are needed.

BugBear