Wood carving tools overview (opens in new tab)

(davidffisher.com)

60 pointswiherek10y ago19 comments

19 comments

Kind of a fun thing to see on HN. If you enjoy this, you might also like frank howarth's videos on youtube. He puts in a ton of time to do stop motion animations of his projects coming to life.

https://www.youtube.com/user/urbanTrash/videos

weaksauce10y ago

It always delights me when an email shows up saying that frank howereth uploaded a new video to YouTube... I know what the next 15 minutes are going to be used for. Can't recommend him more.

digitalsushi10y ago

And the other 50% of woodworkers worth watching https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel

dahjelle10y ago

If you are in to this sort of thing, my wife (who carves a pretty spoon herself) maintains a list of links to carvers, tool-makers, and the like at http://jarofwood.com/spoon-links/.

ChoGGi10y ago

If you have (lots) of extra money to spend, then there's always Lee Valley Tools

http://www.leevalley.com/en/home/OnlineCatalog.aspx?id=0a61b...

(They do ship internationally and to the U.S.)

ne8il10y ago

Lee Valley / Veritas and Lie Nielsen have helped usher in a renaissance of well-made tools. Their planes and saws are arguably better than any produced during the 'golden age' before WWII. There are cheaper options from abroad available (WoodRiver, Quangsheng, etc) but I like spending the extra money knowing its supporting good, customer-focused companies who care about the craft.

(But I also like finding/restoring old Stanley planes when possible, which is cheap and ethically satisfying).

projectileboy10y ago

Wow, thanks for sharing! I have no idea how I've missed this for so many years. Lie-Nielsen (https://www.lie-nielsen.com) also makes beautiful (and expensive) hand tools, for anyone interested.

matthoiland10y ago

More fun with bowl carving with Roy Underhill. http://video.pbs.org/video/2365554475/

Isamu10y ago

Unexpected, but glad to see this as I also have some logs drying that I intend to carve into bowls. Thanks for the tips!

Also you can make your own tools from scrap tool steel. I made a hand adze from a broken horse hoof rasp when I was a kid. Encourage your kids to hack stuff and make their own tools.

kd0amg10y ago

How much hot work was involved there? I sorta skimmed the bits about particular products because I'd probably aim to make my own tools for this sort of thing.

Isamu10y ago

Well true, I did have access to an old coal furnace and I hammered out the basic shape. I bent the tang to follow the shape of the handle, flattened out the burrs and shaped the blade. Not sure if it was essential to do this all hot, but on the other hand I didn't have a bench grinder or much else, so I was going to have to get the final shape by hand.

1 more reply

dfc10y ago

You "would probably aim to make" your own tools for this sort of thing? And you are also asking how much "hot work" is needed to refashion a farrier's rasp into an adze? Something does not add up.

1 more reply

yamafaktory10y ago

I really appreciate the work of Peter Follansbee, who makes reproductions of 17th-century oak furniture, spoons and bowls with hand woodworking tools https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/

n00b10110y ago

This is really cool! Another fun way is to use a lathe (I guess that would be called "turning" a bowl rather than "carving" a bowl). Using a lathe would be much faster and wood lathes are relatively inexpensive.

Someone123410y ago

Undeniably true, that's how wooden bowls are typically made now.

But I cannot help but feel like using a lathe misses the point of hand carving a wooden bowl. In the same way most whittling could technically be accomplished much faster using a dremel.

Animats10y ago

That's so retro. I'd use a ShopBot CNC router, with a 1/2" carbide end mill for the roughing, then a 1/8" ball cutter for finishing. Then sand and polish.

wiherekOP10y ago

that's awesome, I was playing with trying to carve a bowl, thought I might be using the wrong tools, found that, looked good, great references thanks guys

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19 comments

k2enemy10y ago

Kind of a fun thing to see on HN. If you enjoy this, you might also like frank howarth's videos on youtube. He puts in a ton of time to do stop motion animations of his projects coming to life.

https://www.youtube.com/user/urbanTrash/videos

weaksauce10y ago

It always delights me when an email shows up saying that frank howereth uploaded a new video to YouTube... I know what the next 15 minutes are going to be used for. Can't recommend him more.

digitalsushi10y ago

And the other 50% of woodworkers worth watching https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel

dahjelle10y ago

If you are in to this sort of thing, my wife (who carves a pretty spoon herself) maintains a list of links to carvers, tool-makers, and the like at http://jarofwood.com/spoon-links/.

ChoGGi10y ago

If you have (lots) of extra money to spend, then there's always Lee Valley Tools

http://www.leevalley.com/en/home/OnlineCatalog.aspx?id=0a61b...

(They do ship internationally and to the U.S.)

ne8il10y ago

(But I also like finding/restoring old Stanley planes when possible, which is cheap and ethically satisfying).

projectileboy10y ago

Wow, thanks for sharing! I have no idea how I've missed this for so many years. Lie-Nielsen (https://www.lie-nielsen.com) also makes beautiful (and expensive) hand tools, for anyone interested.

matthoiland10y ago

More fun with bowl carving with Roy Underhill. http://video.pbs.org/video/2365554475/

Isamu10y ago

Unexpected, but glad to see this as I also have some logs drying that I intend to carve into bowls. Thanks for the tips!

Also you can make your own tools from scrap tool steel. I made a hand adze from a broken horse hoof rasp when I was a kid. Encourage your kids to hack stuff and make their own tools.

kd0amg10y ago

How much hot work was involved there? I sorta skimmed the bits about particular products because I'd probably aim to make my own tools for this sort of thing.

Isamu10y ago

1 more reply

dfc10y ago

You "would probably aim to make" your own tools for this sort of thing? And you are also asking how much "hot work" is needed to refashion a farrier's rasp into an adze? Something does not add up.

1 more reply

yamafaktory10y ago

I really appreciate the work of Peter Follansbee, who makes reproductions of 17th-century oak furniture, spoons and bowls with hand woodworking tools https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/

n00b10110y ago

Someone123410y ago

Undeniably true, that's how wooden bowls are typically made now.

But I cannot help but feel like using a lathe misses the point of hand carving a wooden bowl. In the same way most whittling could technically be accomplished much faster using a dremel.

Animats10y ago

That's so retro. I'd use a ShopBot CNC router, with a 1/2" carbide end mill for the roughing, then a 1/8" ball cutter for finishing. Then sand and polish.

wiherekOP10y ago

that's awesome, I was playing with trying to carve a bowl, thought I might be using the wrong tools, found that, looked good, great references thanks guys

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse