Power Carving..Advice Needed

[woodbloke66]

The current project(s) which I've just started is a variation on Oscar Pipson's bar stool which has a deeply dished seat and the underside is heavily sculpted into the legs as well. I thought that power carving would be the obvious route to take as there's a lot of material to remove and sand, but....this is a completely new departure for me as I've never done anything like this before.
Abortech do a good range of gear and cutters, but I've already got a decent industrial rated Makita angle grinder and all the PPA gear so the initial thought was to buy the £65 Ax cutterand a sanding disc which ought to get me to somewhere near to the final shape quite quickly (at the expense of a lot of mess :lol: )
If anyone has any experience or alternative solutions, products or carving methods I'm happy to hear them as I'm 'humming & hawing' as to the best way forward. TIA - Rob

 

[Trevanion]

I haven’t used them but apparently the saburrtooth discs are very good as they don’t take too much of a bite like the older styles could, having used one of the older chainsaw style discs I can imagine it’s a great improvement :lol:

 

[Trainee neophyte]

The current project(s) which I've just started is a variation on Oscar Pipson's bar stool which has a deeply dished seat and the underside is heavily sculpted into the legs as well. I thought that power carving would be the obvious route to take as there's a lot of material to remove and sand, but....this is a completely new departure for me as I've never done anything like this before.
Abortech do a good range of gear and cutters, but I've already got a decent industrial rated Makita angle grinder and all the PPA gear so the initial thought was to buy the £65 Ax cutterand a sanding disc which ought to get me to somewhere near to the final shape quite quickly (at the expense of a lot of mess :lol: )
If anyone has any experience or alternative solutions, products or carving methods I'm happy to hear them as I'm 'humming & hawing' as to the best way forward. TIA - Rob

I've only done it with a (very) small chainsaw, and didn't enjoy it. However, the reason for replying is that I have read somewhere that gloves are a bad idea, as if you are mad enough to put your hand into the blade, it will snag the cloth and eat your entire hand, as opposed to just whatever touched the cutter. I haven't actually tried either way of dismembering myself, so I can't give you a definitive answer as to which is preferable - YMMV, as they say on the internet.

Would some sort of hemispherical jig for a router be an option? X and Y axis travel, slightly curved - I'm thinking out loud - no one has done it, so probably not viable. A piec of tough plastic bowl with a hole for the bit? You probably want those lozenge shaped buttock relief shapes - I expect they have a name . Sigh - "I'm not helping much, am I?" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBKcr1lM3rQ

Don't mind me - I'll get my coat.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

https://vimeo.com/52774678

It will take longer to build the jig than build the stool, but it was what I had in mind. Actually, I quite fancy one.

Edit: a poor man's version would be to work out the radius you want, and hang your router from a bit of string of the appropriate length. May want to pass it along to the health and safety people for a quick once over.

I really will leave now, I promise.

 

[Sideways]

I bought the arbortech Industrial original that the Axminster disc you linked to is a derivative of.
The plastic guard that comes with it is quite thick stuff but a bit of a chocolate teapot. The alignment isn't centred on my Metabo grinder and it only clamps with one bolt anyway, so it's really a get out of jail item for the manufacturer rather than a serious contribution to safety.
The blade is impressive - very aggressive but fairly controllable. It absolutely eats wood.
The TC cutting inserts screw on using tiny torx screws. These tend to gum up in a few seconds use so you're recommended to clean and loosen them regularly so that they don't become impossible to shift.
I found CMT orange resin remover worked pretty well but left to soak overnight it stripped the paint off the disc too
Verdict -
Very good if you need one.
Not for the timid as you'll probably put the plastic guard back in the packet and use it with the grinder's metal guard only.
The arbortech's are overpriced. Axminster have their pricing closer to what I think one of these is worth.

 

[woodbloke66]

I haven’t used them but apparently the saburrtooth discs are very good as they don’t take too much of a bite like the older styles could, having used one of the older chainsaw style discs I can imagine it’s a great improvement :lol:

Ta, yep, I looked at that as an alternative that wasn't quite so brutal as the 5 tooth carbide tipped Ax cutter, so it's a doable possiblilty with a selection of sanding discs to follow.

I'll pass on the chainsaw option thanks as I have an innate, inbuilt dread of the things and the router jig thingie which seems to me overly complex for a fairly simple sort of shaping job. The Abortech stuff does appear to be a bit spendy for what it does and the Ax cutter seems about the right sort of price. I'm coming round to a coarse Sabur tooth disc but if anyone has further ideas or suggestions, please keep them coming. Thanks for all input thus far.

Currently working on the pine prototype, attempting to sort out the compound angles for the front/rear legs, which is a completely different kettle of worms - Rob

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I haven’t used them but apparently the saburrtooth discs are very good as they don’t take too much of a bite like the older styles could, having used one of the older chainsaw style discs I can imagine it’s a great improvement :lol:

Ta, yep, I looked at that as an alternative that wasn't quite so brutal as the 5 tooth carbide tipped Ax cutter, so it's a doable possiblilty with a selection of sanding discs to follow.

I'll pass on the chainsaw option thanks as I have an innate, inbuilt dread of the things and the router jig thingie which seems to me overly complex for a fairly simple sort of shaping job. The Abortech stuff does appear to be a bit spendy for what it does and the Ax cutter seems about the right sort of price. I'm coming round to a coarse Sabur tooth disc but if anyone has further ideas or suggestions, please keep them coming. Thanks for all input thus far.

Currently working on the pine prototype, attempting to sort out the compound angles for the front/rear legs, which is a completely different kettle of worms - Rob

I should point out that my chainsaw really is astonishingly small - https://www.frjonesandson.co.uk/product ... aw-23-6cc/

It's still not the right tool for the job though. Are you sure hanging a router from a rope, like some kind of Indiana Jones death trap contraption wouldn't be fun? You could stand at the corner of the room and swing it in circles - what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Trevanion]

Turns out you can still get the chainsaw type for about £10 a blade :lol:

Whoever thought it would be a good idea should have his brain examined! It's essentially like trying to cut using the tip of the bar of your chainsaw, except that the whole disk is technically the tip of the bar. And we all know you really shouldn't cut with the tip to avoid premature head-splitting :shock: I remember doing a job where we made some "rustic" effect oak faux timber frames and we used these to roughen them up prior to assembling and then were going to use them to blend in the joints after assembly. When I went to pull out the grinder and put the blade in the big boss of the site came walking along on whilst on the phone and he looked at what I was putting together and he just mouthed at me with no words "What the expletive is that?". I reckon the guy on the other end of the phone must've been going "Are you still there Ian?" as he just went silent and cold as he watched me do the job. I still get funny looks years later! :lol:

Also on the note of gloves, it's one of the VERY few jobs I recommend wearing at least a single glove on the handle end as the chips coming off it can really cause a horrible and unpleasant rash if you leave them shoot against your hand. It feels a little like being sand blasted. Your hands should come nowhere near to the blade especially with guarding and the additional handle attached so you should be completely fine, I do prefer a slim fit mechanics type glove like a Maxiflex though rather than a big bulky leathery type one which can flop about.

 

[woodbloke66]

Thanks for that, perhaps another one to steer clear off :lol: - Rob

 

[woodbloke66]

It's still not the right tool for the job though. Are you sure hanging a router from a rope, like some kind of Indiana Jones death trap contraption wouldn't be fun? You could stand at the corner of the room and swing it in circles - what could possibly go wrong?

With my track record for monumental **** ups, quite a lot! :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[Morag Jones]

Duck decoys

I need to make a life size blank for a project and I want to try some form of composite.
Has anyone got any suggestions for something I could try building up rather than carving away?
Please.

 

[akirk]

I thought those chainsaw chains on an angle grinder disk are now illegal to sell?

All I will add is be very safe - my hand surgeon wife has seen a lot of injuries from these types of tools they are completely banned in this household - angle grinders are inherently dangerous and some of these cutting disks make the injuries even worse…