Thread: Little Octopus in Huon

..Lovely piece Featherwood

Originally Posted by underfoot

..Lovely piece Featherwood

Outstanding piece Featherwood, congratulations.
I can see your need for some micro chisels.

Thanks RV, Underfoot & Schaf
Yeh, thought I better put a pic of him in my hand to show his real size. I think a couple of good micro chisels would have helped enormously! Just not sure which one's!

What a beautiful piece!!

Thanks Artme.

Love your work Featherwood. I must try and get a hold of some huon pine, can't buy it local so would have to order it from Tasmania. I'm told by "The timber bloke" they have stopped milling it there so could be harder to get. I would have fought that occy for the scallop, I love them with a touch of garlic

Thanks Rob. Yeh I was told by the bloke at the WWWShow who I bought the huon off that he wasn't coming next year to the WWWShow so I bought as much as I could carry back to the car. Don't think he was pulling my leg!

Ah Featherwood..... you've done it again! Lovely piece. Really impressive. What further detail were you thinking of putting on him that required the use of micro chisels?

Thanks Whittling. It's not so much to put more detail on this little octopus...it was just a bit of a struggle getting into the nooks and crannys with the pfeil chisels I have. It was also a little awkward working on such a small carving with long handled chisels. I was holding them 2" from the end, on the steel which I've put tape on. I was thinking maybe a micro u shaped, and a micro v tool would have come in handy. I loved carving him so much that I would love to do more in this size of carving. I just enjoyed it so much.

A very nice carving 'Featherwood', well designed, carved and very well finished. It appears to have a an attractive tactile quality about it too.

On the issue of micro tools, a length or two of music wire (a few dollars worth) can supply you with some very useful micro chisels plus a whole lot of experimental ones that might also be useful. They are not hard to make, just a hammer and a piece of plate steel to hammer them on, some wet and dry or an oilstone for shaping and then your usual honing method. They are particularly useful for getting into hard to reach areas as the shaft, which remains unhardened by the hammering, can be bent to whatever requirements you have at the time.

I have written up making these wire micro tools, a post or two ago on my blog, If you want to see what I mean. I can understand though, your wanting the 'Dockyard' Micro Chisels, especially the gouges and vee tool. Making the wire tools has kept my desire at bay so far. 'The Wood Works' also sell palm carving chisels individually, if you intend to do a lot of miniature carving. Like you I found I was holding the regular carving tools way down on the shaft with the handle just waving around like an annoying counter balance.

Thanks David......yes he is very nice to hold and touch.
I did check out your great blog a few weeks ago and raced out and got my hands on some 1ml piano wire (all the guy had on hand). I did make a small chisel with a small dowel handle (I surprised myself) it was fun to make. It worked really well but could only make a flat chisel.....is it possible to make them into a gouge or v tool? If so...how would I do that?
Really appreciate the feedback

Grinding a round nose on a chisel will allow it to function in many ways like a gouge. It certainly makes it easier to make accurate and intricate stopping cuts by stabbing the rounded point incrementally along a line, even if it is a tight curve.

For a real gouge shape, you could try the ball end of the hammer but it's a bit hit-and-miss. I tried it but mostly missed. If you really need a real gouge the Dockyard micro gouge would be it, or more conveniently, shipping wise, one of the palm tools with the desired sweep and width from The Wood Works or Carbatec.

Thank you David...I still have a metre of the 1ml... I think I will make a few more tomorrow and fiddle with different shapes and angles. Just had another look at your blog to refresh my memory..I see what you mean now. I'll use the ball nose hammer and see how I go.
Thankyou so much for your great blog and advice. It's really appreciated.

Beatifull work