Thread: Record carving chisels

Chook save the Huon for a bit later. Dry Camphor, especially the dull stuff is good practice material.

No comment on the record chisels.

Go with the Robert sorby 6 pcs set http://www.cwsonline.com.au/shop/category/carvingBest best starter set on the market in that price rangeI maybe up your way soon I'm happy to make time to show you how to carver mate

chook: there seems to be an active group of wood carvers in the Brisbane area.
Uncertain how you would go about finding them.

Fun? You got that right. Any sort of gymnosperm/conifer wood needs some learning as they all tend to split when you least expect it. I have read many times that Campfor is a good wood to use. "Good" as in holding detail without being extraordinarily hard. I'd like to try it but my chances are zip.

Hard? No, I don't think so. Takes a little experimentation to learn the marks the gouges make, how deep a cut you can make and the strategy to plan which part of the carving to do first. I have painted myself into a corner on many occassions. All the carvings which develop that terminal illness get tossed out. Annual exorcism.

Normally, I do a lot of drawing on paper. Mostly to convince myself that I like the shapes. Then apply that/those to the block and begin the rough-out process.

Tools? Which style of wood carving has the greatest appeal? The tool selection must change a little from one sort to another style. I began with relief carving but was quickly dissatisfied. Carving "in-the-round" has left me a legacy of a few tools that don't get used once a year.

The result is that I've never been able to convince myself that a carving set is a good thing to buy. The companies all try to be all things to all people. I don't believe that it works well. Half a dozen recommended top-of the line tools bought from open stock may save a lot of replacement money later on.

Edge management, keeping the tools carving sharp. is the major fun-factor. It's a learned process and there are several ways to get it done. They all work. "Star's Sharpening Journey" is in the archives of this forum.

I suggest that you explore wood carving. Even as an adjunct to other woodworking projects.

I am 58 now and fast running out if time to do all the things that need trying. Wood carving is certainly one. Inlay is another. Walking along the border between England and Scotland is another. I am a few years and dollars from retirement and then I will have more time to play games. We are going to sell our house and buy a new one. The new place will need a new kitchen and the plan is to make a camphor laurel kitchen with some carved highlights. Kitchens I can make, carving I have to learn. The sort of carving that the kitchen will get is called relief carving I think. I know a chap in Beenleigh who has a wood carving school and I can get help from him, if required. But I really like the idea of experimenting. A few kicks in the right direction from some knowledgable person to get started then mucking about myself. I have been carving a few flowers and leaves. I think they look ugly. My wife, whose eyesight must be dreadful, thinks they look nice.

Dang! I forgot the most important things of all.
1. Don't ever fall in love with anything you carve. I got sick of looking at some carvings so 8 of them went out back and got screwed to the fence posts. I don't care if they rot out there. More to come.
2. Practice and then do more practice. I throw away maybe 1/3 of my carving "starts," like they are going nowhere, fast.
Q: can you post a few pix of what you've done? If you want, I can post a list of the variety of carving tools that I began with. As my interests expanded, I've added other tools and a few bigger tools.

I started carving, seriously, when I was your age or a bit younger. Classroom carving instruction then did little with it for some years. I can't explain what set me going again.

Find other carvers for advice and instruction. Show them what you've done. The tool marks are quite unique in that they reveal process and technique. No other carvers here so I stagger through one puzzle after another.

The Pacific Northwest native art and carvings have been a strong influence for most of my life. You just can't ever get away from it here! Not willing to even try to imitate their sophistication, I've invented enough design elements that none of them use in their traditional styles. There are 4 basic styles, each quite distinct from the others.

Kitchen decoration: I understand. I have a hairy-butt-ugly wooden valence in front of the kitchen lights which are above the sinks. Painted plywood, bandsawed curly edge, that's been attached with 2,000 nails. Right now, my thoughts tend to make several wood carvings in local western red cedar and simply cover the thing with them.
Relief carvings, formline designs, but local wildlife if I can bring it off.

I'll give my totally unjustifiable and inexperienced thoughts since I bought the Mike Davies Carving by the Numbers book years ago, but never got around to actually trying carving.....yet.

I've always thought his carving by numbers tutorials looked very attainable for a self teaching attempt. Buying the Record set and the matching skills video and DVD looks like good value to me, even if the chisels probably aren't made in Sheffield any more. For $10 a chisel for a set that matches the instructional video tutorials, I'd think it would be worth a try. I think the Mike Davies book originally cost me 1/3 the price of that set alone, so that makes the chisels about $7 each.

Perhaps somebody who knows might like to give a review of Mike's skills and teaching ability?

For someone wanting to drop their toe into carving the Record Carving set are a fair set, enough shapes to get you started.

By no means are they as good as you kirshen or pfeil tools etc , as you get what you pay for.

For a lot of people these will get them started and probably do enough small project to justify the expense.

If you find you want to get serious about carving then you replace or buy the good ones as you need them.

I guess that my position is that if the wood fights back and the tools fight back, there's no fun in carving.
Carving is such a hoot, I see the shavings spall off, the chips pop out, as I expect. I am satisfied.
There's no magic, there's a lot to be learned. If you're addicted to learning as I am, that's OK.
If not, that's OK too.
I will do my very best to make your journey as easy as possible.

Today, I was bashing up a shake block of western red cedar for a dish, 24" x 8" x 6".
I got 16" x 6" x 4.5" once all the weathered wood and dirt and cracks were off.

I believe, quite firmly, that finding other carvers as mentors will speed things up tremendously.
The real deal is that you will not know what questions to ask without a little experience.

Hi Chook, I'm a couple of years younger than you and started carving about 2 years ago, I love it. I love the challenge of trying to create
something you thought would be beyond you. I bought a starter kit at the beginning, set of six reasonable chisels of which I found myself using about three
of them, since then I have been buying Pfeil chisels one by one as I get to know which shapes I need most. In hindsight what I paid for the starter chisels I could have bought three better Pfeil chisels, just a thought for you before you buy. Oh yeah, I agree with Pat, leave the Huon for later.

It seem to me that this question keeps coming up over and over again. If you haven't already taken the plunge, here's what I have found.... (it echos several responses already posted)

1. Find somebody to teach you the basics... an individual or club who is willing to spend a very little time with you at the beginning will save you hour and hours of trial and ERROR on your own with books or even DVDs.

2. Only get what they what they recommend to start but go for quality tools rather than 'bargain' tools. Practice with those in creating your first pieces. They will most likely be copies of other's work which is fine while you are learning. You will be shown what you need to create specific pieces which is fine at the start. No need to buy tools in speculation of what you might need later. Buying cheap early means that these will almost inevitably be abandoned as you realise the difference in the performance of quality vs bargain tools.

3. As you develop skills you will realise shortcomings in your range of chisels. You can add them one at a time as you recognise a personal need. The number of carvers who have purchased 'sets' of chisels, who years later will acknowledge that they never used even half of them, are legion.

Good luck... have fun...