Cheap Carving Tools

**Arron** · 14th December 2016, 01:34 PM

Here's a couple of other things I should have pointed out when I mentioned buying a second-hand set of quality tools:

Firstly, if you buy a few good carving tools then find you don't like carving, then you probably wont want to sell them anyway. Its surprising how often, once you get a bit of familiarity with carving tools, you reach for them even when doing ordinary rectilinear woodworking - to accomplish things you might otherwise have done with a bench chisel or plane. They just shape timber in a more controlled and predictable way.

Secondly, if you make a prudent call when buying secondhand tools, then if you don't like carving and decide to ignore my first point, you will almost certainly be able to sell them for more then you paid.

When buying second hand tools, my experience is that any tool from the following makers is worth buying, unless it has rust on the blade:
Pfeil (also called Swiss Made), Addis, Henry Taylor, Flexcut, Ashley Isles and Dastra. Marples is a peg below but still worth buying.

And more as an interesting exercise for me, I gave some thought to what I would want as a basic set for ornamental (furniture) carving and this is what I came up with:
12/10 - also called a V tool. Actually size doesn't matter much so anywhere from 12/6 to 12/14 is fine
2/14 - 2's are useful for flattening backgrounds
3/6 - Obviously for detail work. Mary May (ornamental carving guru) says this is her most used tool.
5/12 - used largely for setting in
7/6 - 7's are 'quick' gouges for rapid timber removal and intuitive shaping
7/14 - this, or perhaps the 7/10, is probably my most used tool.

Then you need flat gouges - straight flat and skew. You can shape these from an old thin bladed chisel if you wish - carving flats just have a bevel on both sides.
And then any other size variation on the 3/5/7 sizes are useful to collect as time goes on.

I think the number of people interested in carving is declining rapidly so there are always lots of old tools around.

cheers
Arron

**Robson Valley** · 14th December 2016, 03:54 PM

Hi Arron:
1. Estate sales are a gold mine for tools of my generation. I do not know what to do with mine when I croak.

2. Pfeil: this is an Austrian(?) word for "arrow" and you can see the arrow logo on the tool shanks. Why they insisted on stamping
SWISS MADE in the handles is far beyond me. Not really much to do with the company.

3. Your selection of tools reflects the style of carving that you do. Much of what I have done in recent years uses
the adzes and the crooked knives so popular with Pacific Northwest carvers. I can't duplicate all the shapes with gouges.

4. I know of a very successful carver who never uses anything other than a box cutter, the sort with the break-away blades.
= = = =
The best bet is to find like-minded carvers and see what's common in their selections of tools.
Open stock, no sets, buy as you realize you have the need.

**Arron** · 14th December 2016, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

2. Pfeil: this is an Austrian(?) word for "arrow" and you can see the arrow logo on the tool shanks. Why they insisted on stamping
SWISS MADE in the handles is far beyond me. Not really much to do with the

I think selling something with a German name was pretty hard in the postwar period. Especially as one of the German warplanes was the Dorner Pfeil. Swiss Made sounded neutral.

**Mike the knife** · 15th December 2016, 01:46 AM

[QUOTE=Robson Valley;1995292]

2. Pfeil: this is an Austrian(?) word for "arrow" and you can see the arrow logo on the tool shanks. Why they insisted on stamping
SWISS MADE in the handles is far beyond me. Not really much to do with the company.

I'm confused , Pfiel tools are made in Switzerland , a county renowned for it's excellent steel , why wouldn't they stamp it proudly on the blade ?

**Robson Valley** · 15th December 2016, 03:18 AM

That's true. An Austrian guy told me that the name is an austrian word which means 'arrow' in English and the arrow logo is stamped into the steel.
Maybe stamping Swiss Made into the handle matters to them.

Then again, they didn't like the London Pattern Book/Sheffield List where a skew is a #2. Pfeil labels them as 1S.

**Arron** · 15th December 2016, 04:09 AM

[QUOTE=Mike the knife;1995389]

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

2. Pfeil: this is an Austrian(?) word for "arrow" and you can see the arrow logo on the tool shanks. Why they insisted on stamping
SWISS MADE in the handles is far beyond me. Not really much to do with the company.

I'm confused , Pfiel tools are made in Switzerland , a county renowned for it's excellent steel , why wouldn't they stamp it proudly on the blade ?

I think it's the absence of the name 'Pfeil' on the tools, not the presence of the words ' Swiss made' that baffles people.

For a high-end company to not name-brand their product is pretty unusual, or perhaps unique.

**Robson Valley** · 15th December 2016, 06:37 AM

That makes sense to me. They may be wanting the whole world to recognize their arrow logo
and their strategy is a puzzle to me. One more bit of trivia to learn about carving tools!

I don't know what most other brands do but Stubai puts their name on their tools,
at least on the 7/75 carver's adze and the 12" drawknife that I use.

**copeau** · 16th December 2016, 01:54 PM

I'd add Stubai (Austrian tools) and Herring Bros (also called Prize Medal).
Prize medal is no longer made but has been a reference for professional carvers for a long time.

**Xanthorrhoeas** · 18th December 2016, 09:05 PM

Hi Luke,

I know sfa about carving. That is because I purchased some very cheap tools and it made carving a pain. As others have said ... best find a way to get some decent chisels and some guidance.

Strange coincidence here - I have just purchased some Pfeil chisels so, maybe, I will know some more soon. I still have some Crows Ash boards to practice on - as well as a nice board of King Billy Pine I bought from you.

Good luck

David

**Arron** · 19th December 2016, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Strange coincidence here - I have just purchased some Pfeil chisels so, maybe, I will know some more soon. I still have some Crows Ash boards to practice on - as well as a nice board of King Billy Pine I bought from you.

My suggestion. Spare yourself the misery of trying to learn on crows ash. It's not a carving wood. Get yourself some easy carving timber like jelutong or white beech. Very soft timbers but still crisp enough to stand up to chisel work. You learn all the same skills of tool use and form modelling without being distracted by the need to battle your timber. There are plenty of timbers in the middle ground too - like Burmese teak, Ng rosewood and Fijian mahogany which are a bit harder but still compliant and a pleasure to carve.

Not sure about King Billy.

Cheers
Arron

**SPIRIT** · 23rd December 2016, 01:40 PM

buy a real good fishtail chisel to start with around 40$ and just get a new chisel when you need it for a job in no time you will have all the chisels you need

**wood spirit** · 24th December 2016, 10:28 AM

Can't comment on various brands however -industrial hacksaw blades if you can get some used ones are excellent steel for making small (flat) blades with minimal equipment as long as the length is say 30mm max beyond the handle. Hard but brittle and can take a good edge ,just try not to overheat when grinding.

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