arbortec mini carver

[redmond]

this story starts about 3 months ago when i found whati think is a jarrah burl on the farm. well it was rotting on the underside so i took it back to perth with me and let it dry out till i figured out what to do with it. i finaly got an angle grinder form a police auction and got an arbortec carver, now i just put it all together tonight to have a play :) .
well tomorow im going to have to go get some proper eye and ear protection mabe even a full face sheild those chips spray out like little bullets, a dust mask might also be in order because im getting some verry jarrah coloured boogas.
ive put a couple of pics up to show my progress, ive tryed to hollow out the magority of the rot and havnt realy started on the underside yet, i think ill make it into a bowl.
im really writing to see if there are any tips/tricks/ absolute no-nos i should be aware of because tomorow theres no uni :D and i can see my self in the shed for quite a while.

thanks
tom

ps the second pic is of the back of the wood to show the spikes in the burl

[Sir Stinkalot]

It might be too late but go full protection including gloves. :)

[redmond]

well for better or worse i havnt realy got stuck in because the triton dust mask needs 15 hours of charging before i can use it :mad: .
any sort of gloves in particular stinky? surgical? riggers?

cheers
tom

[Sir Stinkalot]

Tom,

The Triton is a good start and well worth waiting for it to finish charging. You will feel so much safer with the full face protection and the hearing protection given you are using an angle grinder.

I have the larger model fitted to a 100mm grinder .... never really got into it much myself ... might give it a go again tomorrow :) .... but from what I recall there were large quantities of chips that bounced off the side of the bowl and would hit the fingers holding the grinder.

As for the gloves .... I like a nice fur lined black or brown leather, depending on the slacks that I am wearing .... but you may be better off with a garden or rigger style to offer some protection.

By all means take your time, dont rush and make sure that you concentrate 100%. I would even lock the garage to prevent that horrible feeling when you look up and find somebody standing there watching. This is a routhless machine and will do plenty of damage if it gets away from you. Other than that .... good luck.

Sir Stinkalot

[Rowan]

Redmond,

firstly welcome to the club, most mere mortals would have wacked it on the lathe and killed the piece by making it all nice and symetrical :D .

I carve lots or burl bowls and have progressed through the arbotech to the heavier rotary chisel but thats for later on when the bug has truly bitten.

I have found that, specially for the 100mm discs that welding gloves are the best protection for the hands because there are lots of flying particles. U do lose a lot of touch but for the roughing out stage they save a lot of pain. later on I go down to riggers gloves for better touch. I also wear a full face mask, a respirator, ear muffs and have even faound that the woodies smock with the valcroe neck is handy to stop pieces under the shirt.

This may be overkill for the mini carver but worth considering!!

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

I also lean toward the heavier rotary chisel for this sort of work.

Face mask on.(including breathing gear)
Ear muffs on.
Do up the top button on your shirt.
Do up the buttons on your shirt pockets & sleeves.
Eye on the whirling bit & don't take your eye off it til it stops.
Right elbow out.
Left elbow in.
Left hand slightly lower than your right to tilt it over some more &
drag it sideways rather than try to push or pull till you get the feel of it.

Once you have it roughed out, change to sanding disks.

Once you've finish on the 120 grit, if you have a piece with lots of holes,
try a wire brush in the grinder, gently at first & keep it moving or you'll burn it.

I do my carving like this on top of a drum out behind the shed 'cos it
makes a god awful mess.

I use a penetrating oil finish.

If you start with a slab of burl about 40mm thick & keep the natural edge,
just brush it, you can make an outstanding fruit platter this way.

[ptc]

Cliff [cats aside]
would my wife be able to use the Carver,[ have plenty of Burls]
You should see the fire in her eyes when she gets her hands on the hedge trimmer.

[Sprog]

The Arbortech "Learn to use the Mini Grinder" video is worth a look at and gives some good info on using the grinder, also some design ideas.

If you are also a woodturner then the "Woodturning with Arbortech" video is also very good.

Arbortech Videos (http://www.arbortech.com.au/productinfo/videos.html)

[Cliff Rogers]

Cliff [cats aside]
would my wife be able to use the Carver,[ have plenty of Burls]
You should see the fire in her eyes when she gets her hands on the hedge trimmer.

G'day.

Arhhh the hedge trimmer.... that would be like the lawn mower. :D

If she can mantain concentration on what's she is doing & keep both hands on the grinder til the tool stops spinning, yes.
The important thing about this tool is not the power of the body to control it, it's the power of the mind to control the body 'cos this is a power tool that can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time.

I know 2 blokes that have had major stitch up jobs from Arbotech wounds.
One guy nearly cut his thumb off 'cos he got it in front of the tool, the other nearly cut his leg off 'cos he took the tool off the work to inspect the finish & forgot about where he was waving the still rotating tool, bango, gash in leg.
Both of them where using the original chainsaw tooth style wheel with out a gaurd.

I prefer the professional (industrial) power chisel tool & highly recommend the clear plastic guard. You can set it up like a dept stop with only a small portion of the blade sticking out.

I'm not sure if you can get a guard for the mini carver & I've tried going to the Arbotech site to check but it seems to be not speaking to me, possibly managed by a cat lover. ;)

[redmond]

cheers for the help guys its geting close to exams so ill have to put the carver down for now :(

cliff the mini grinder does have a small guard built into the attachmet but i still get alot of chips that spray up at your face( one of the main reasons i got a full face sheild)

thanks
tom

[ptc]

Cliff. thanks for the info,
going to the wood show in tass [october]
arbotec may be there.
if so might let her have a go.

[Little Festo]

PTC,

Re the wife using the mini carver. My wife was wanting to do a bit of carving on one on my bowls and wanted to use the mini carver to do a bit of "roughing out". I voiced my concerns and she told me that the kitchen is full of potentially dangerous items too and she'd survived there without any accidents. I quickly did most of the roughing out and left some for her to do. She actually used the tool very well, doing a better job than what I did and safely too. I must admit I did hover close by to keep a eye on her. She has a respect for the potential dangers and was very carfull with the tool. I did explain the possible dangers that are involved with using such a tool and I'm glad she used it and did as well as she did.

Peter.

[ptc]

Little Festo.
Thank you for info,
ptc

[journeyman Mick]

If you don't have a turner's smock or the like then there's something very simple you can do to keep the cr@p out of your shirt. When I was working in a boatbuilding yard all the fabricators used to use masking tape over openings on the front of their shirts to keep all the metal swarf and the UV rays out, should work a treat for all the woodchips and sawdust.

Mick

[backpack]

Hi guys,

I am a woman and I am also an arbortech user. I recommend it to anyone. I purchased the mini carver at the woodworking show in Sydney and just last week moved onto the Industrial Pro.

I would say that the mini carver is much easier to handle and great for finishing off. I have been carving the bulk of a burl with the industrial pro and then moving onto the mini carver.

My husband is also very concerned about my safety. I wear a full face mask and dust mask. I have not yet purchased a woodworking jacket with the velcro neck but I will. It is really annoying and itchy to find woodchips right down your top. I am not wearing gloves at present as I tried it and found it restricted my movements. However, I will look into trying some different styles of glove.

I think that it is very important to make sure that you are in the right frame of mind to be carving. You need to be focused and alert. If I feel tired or not in the right frame of mind - I do some hand sanding or finishing instead.

Anyway, good luck to all with the carving and stay safe!

[schaf]

Hi all,
I have been reading this thread with much interest and think that all advice given has been very good.
One point not mentioned so far ,which I would like to put forward is that any Arbortec tool should be used with two hands. If your angle grinder has no handle fitted,then find one and attache it to your grinder. allways saftey first.
1 gloves
2 long sleeves
3 full face mask
4 two hands on angle grinder

Regards Terry

[nadcarves]

Last thread, was Nov of 2005, this jan 07, a bit of time between..Have a new cutting head, much like the Tungsten Tornado sold by Rod Naylor in the UK with the rotating little carbide cutters..I am waiting on my angle grinder, have cutter, attachment , and no place to hook it to. The character that made the first two is a bowl carver, does about a thousand a year..Uses the Arbortec,3 chiseles angle grinder tool, the six tooth Vortex, the Tornado, and the Tempest, and I just sent him a chain saw wheel...His comment on the mini head, that there is nothing that compares to the Mini grinder with this new cutting head available for power carving in speed , control, and smoothness.So, here I am waiting for the e bay site to come in so I can punch in a hundred and win the dirty, used, probably gonna burn out as soon as turned on angle grinder..It had better work like Igor on skates, I've committed to ordering five to be built.. expensive little thinggies,, I would wish you all a good day, but apparently don't have the right inflection/accent, or enough beer to make passable,cordially Nad

[Bleedin Thumb]

Don't know about the right inflection or lack of beer, but I suggest you stay away from those stimulants buddy........slow down a little.:U