Arbortech carving

[marbles1]

G'day to all you Woodies out there !
After a quick scan of the lists I can find little or no mention of Rotary carving . Someone must be using them !
I have been carving with an ARBORTECH for about 6-7 yrs now & find it gives me a freedom to produce from nearly any lump of wood ! From fence-posts , burls & slabs.
I would like to hear from like minded woodies with either problems or ideas to share & help each other.
Marbs:D

[Garry1953]

Hi
Iv'e just started using the Mini Grinder........
Love it.....

[Rowan]

Marbs, your a freak, who would want to use powered rotary carving when you can take 10 times as long doing it by hand but only work on softish woods!!!! Joking of course:D

I started using the arbotech about 18months ago and am hooked. However after finding some rather large stress cracks in my blade I have since swapped to the rotary chisel's. As I am a newbie I am still finding out all the traps and pitfalls and am having a ball spoiling nices pieces with poor finishing!!!! I work mainly with burls and am busy getting orgainsed for my first public apperance at a local market in a few weeks. Would love to exchange knowledge but I warn u it may be one way with u doing most of the giving.

[Alex]

I use Arbortech mini - grinder for some time and so far had no troubles. At the begining I had some problemes finding good grinder that "talks" with "mini" atachment but problem was solved and as I said - no dramas. Little thing works prfectly. Attached some jarrah(fence post pieces) to the silky oak slab (just to make a bit of contrast between this two nice sort of timber) spent some time finishing and had a big discusion between first neighbour and cousin who's got more right to get finished bowl (irregulare shape)

[marbles1]

G'day to all "Woodies "
Alex, Gary & Rowan pleased to hear you are enjoying your new found toys .
The only limits on them are your own imagaination !
Rowan did you send your cracked wheel back ?
I know Alistair would be most interested in seeing & or knowing about your problem. They need feedback on their products so they can improve & fix any flaws !
I have never had any trouble , (other than my own making )with their wheels touch wood .If you have anything I may be able to help with I will only too glad to try & help.
Marbs

[Rowan]

I didnt actually sent the wheel back but did return it to the place of purchase and got an instant exchange. No problems with the new wheel but just seem to use the rotary more (think its all in the mind).

Would however luv to know your process for finishing, from sanding to what u actually use as a finish. I use a sanding disc on the grinder to get the final shape, flexible sanding pads in the drill to go to 1800grit then either oil and wax or shellack and wax. (Am currently looking into the mirratone products)

[marbles1]

G'day Rowan ,
sounds like you have a handle on finishing & you do much the same as I do. I will sand 'til the piece starts to give off a soft glow ! This generally tells me all the scratches are gone . Wot grade of paper seems to vary with the type of wood being used .
From there, depending on the finish I am after, I only use Cabbotts Danish Oil.
One coat brushed on freely then wipe off access , in many cases you will lift the grain & make it stand out ! If you want a gloss finish apply more coats with a very light sand when dry.
I have found a down side to using Danish Oil is if you don't use it soon enough it tends to go off in the tin !!
One way to stop this is to empty tin into jars ( Small ) if you do not plan to be using a lot . Having said that I haven't had any go off on me in quite a while, so maybe they have sorted the problem or I am using it much quicker than I used to !
You mention using Burls , one thing I always suggest to people when working with Burls aways , always , always start on the outside !

[alf t]

Interesting to read the comments by the users. I carve burls of all descriptions with my Industrial wheel. When I have got the major part of the insides carved I then change to a Bosch Wheel that is the same size of the arbotech but is slightly rounded and has tunsten chips imbedded. This gets rid of any deep cuts and leaves a great suface to start sanding. The Bosch wheels were available from Carbatec a couple of years ago. If you cannot get them from them, Timbacon has their equivalent in their latest catalogue for about $16. The Bosch one was about twice that price and well worth it. If you finish them with about 3 coats of Rustins Danish oil and then use a clear wax you will get the ultimate finish.
Dont destroy the outside of the burls. Just blast the bark off with a water spray of 3000lbs.
and coat with miratone. Put the burl flat on your sander to give it a base.
If anyone has any interesting burls I would consider swapping a WA goldfields burl.

Alf