Thread: Record carving chisels

As a starter set They seem fine to me as well except for the angle, you really need to bring the angle down as you found.
But 100 bucks for 10 carving chisels is a great starter plus you learnt how to grind and sharpen them.
As you go along you can replace your most used ones for really good ones or increase the collection with a few great ones.
Better than buying 10 or 12 chisels at 35 bucks each and working out you don't like it.

Enjoy.

Originally Posted by _fly_

As a starter set They seem fine to me as well except for the angle, you really need to bring the angle down as you found.
But 100 bucks for 10 carving chisels is a great starter plus you learnt how to grind and sharpen them.
As you go along you can replace your most used ones for really good ones or increase the collection with a few great ones.
Better than buying 10 or 12 chisels at 35 bucks each and working out you don't like it.

Enjoy.

And that's the thing. One of the things I don't know is what chisels I will need. The catalogs are full of them and I suppose that I could waste a bunch of money finding out. $100 is good money to start with and getting them to work has been an education. The other issue is my work bench. I made it low for hand planing and for cabinet work but it is too low for carving. Some sort of platform or something seems to be required to raise the work to a height which will not hurt my back for periods of ruining timber carving it. Carving is hard frankly, especially starting from nothing as I am. But I am fortified by my previous experience learning to hand cut joints and dovetails. At first it seemed impossible but over tIme some useful skills came. Today all I made was mess. Next time maybe less mess and soon I have hope of a set of carved draw pulls of which I will not be ashamed. The record chisels actually cut okay. The v tool is probably the only one I am not sure about but I will try a bit more surgery on it. I also have a small set of palm chisels which work okay. The difference between 25 degrees and 20 degrees is noticeable. Also made some little shaped blocks to match the shapes of the chisels to hone them and that helped.

Chook, Go to all the Weekend Markets, Tool Sales you can find, & could be on the Internet under " Markets ". You will nearly always find something there, & maybe Knives Nos. 21 & 23 Pfiel as well. Makers like Pfiel, Addis, Dastra, Stubia, Ashly Isles, Two Cherries, & most likely at the same price as you paid for the Records.

Thank heavens you knew to change the angles , you might have been put off carving before you started otherwise.
It really is disappointing that an old company like record can supply a carving chisel in that state when I'm sure they know better.
It really is a difficult task for a beginner to select the carving tools he needs even if, like you ,he knows what sort of carving they want to do. The best way is to buy 3 or 4 top quality tools & then get more as you feel the need but make no mistake - a heck of a lot can be done with very few well chosen tools.

Originally Posted by Mike the knife

Thank heavens you knew to change the angles , you might have been put off carving before you started otherwise.
It really is disappointing that an old company like record can supply a carving chisel in that state when I'm sure they know better.
It really is a difficult task for a beginner to select the carving tools he needs even if, like you ,he knows what sort of carving they want to do. The best way is to buy 3 or 4 top quality tools & then get more as you feel the need but make no mistake - a heck of a lot can be done with very few well chosen tools.

my my biggest problem is lack of time and skill. The second of these is the easier of the two to deal,with at present. Some of the chisels were ok but some simply had too much meat behind the edge. The steel seems okay and at 20 degrees approx they hold an edge.

Wood carving gouges are commonly 20 degrees. Wood carving knives as commonly 12 degrees. Look away back for Star's Sharpening Journey, that is still mostly what I do.
"Carving Sharp" is a concept somewhat different from "razor sharp" as it is possible to put a carving sharp edge on a razor edge.
Sustaining the carving sharp edge is a constant activity, approx every 30 minutes for me.
To begin with, just carve marks to see what the edges will do. Use a really soft wood that won't fight back in toughness. Ignore splintering at the start.

There's an order, a process in carving. The drawings, the setting in with stop cuts, the rough shaping work then the fine forming.

The good part about learning some wood carving is that you can add finishing accents to other woodworks.

"The good part about learning some wood carving is that you can add finishing accents to other woodworks."

it it is exactly for this reason that I want to learn some carving now. One of the features that separates good woodwork from excellent woodwork is the presence of carved elements. I could easily just screw some draw pulls,to the drawers in the cabinet I am making or I can carve some draw pulls. I know which will look the nicer. It would be nice though to carve a statue of my four legged Westie friend. But the skill,for that is a way off yet.

All I can suggest is: start now.
Practice in scraps, practice in junk wood.
Carve curves, holes, zig-zags.
Carving is 1/3, learning the wood is 1/3 and carving sharp is 1/3.

After a winter of carving, I have calluses on my thumb tips from pushing carving skews.
It becomes bloody difficult to button a shirt.

Most of it, the edge management, nobody wants to talk about except me.
The better you get at becoming competent sharpening wood carving tools,
the more you will enjoy the tools making the marks which are in your imagination.

You render the finesse details which add the touch.

You know it really is difficult when just starting out woodcarving , of course ask any questions you have here, I have just stumbled on these on-line tutorials -Mary May's School of Traditional Woodcarving | Video lessons from a classical woodcarver ,there is lots of traditional relief work & it may be of interest to you. I personally have not seen the whole videos & cannot comment on whether they are worth the money but thought it might be up your street ,subject wise.

PS.I'm afraid you will have to type that into goggle yourself as the hyperlink function isn't working.