carving bits

[Poink88]

Is this the one Dan was using? -
http://www.amazon.com/Whiteside-WSS...qid=1366516364&sr=8-1&keywords=Whiteside+SC41

Looks like it. I know that is the brand, it is well known, and one of the top quality brands.

 

[Ross]

Sorry, not knowing your carving experience, I am just throwing a word of caution. Better that than be sorry later. As I said, I would hate to see these nice materials ruined.

No, you have every reason to be nervous for those trees because I have zero carving experience! You gotta start somewhere though, and I have a bunch of other crummy trees to practice on, so what do I have to lose...aside from a couple fingers!

 

[berobinson82]

Offer was for Ross only...not everyone.

I laughed out loud. I'll still weigh in on the bit.

 

[Smoke]

I actually think the core box router bits like you are referring to are pretty darned safe. It takes a little experience to anticipate the jumpiness. The problem I find with the one bit carving is unless you are working with big stuff it is just too large and unvaried.

I have been using router bits for carving for decades. Core box router bits come in all sizes.

I have them from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch. They are safe but do catch on wood when pushed too hard. They will remove a 3/4 inch branch in a split second. You can cut a 4 inch thick tree in half with a 1/2 inch bit in about 22 seconds. I do not place any fingers nor hands on the tree. Both hands are on the grinder at all times. Anyone that professes otherwise is just fooling themselves. I have all my fingers and have been a construction worker for 42 years. I have known kids in the trade for a couple years and already have digits missing. Just plain stupid.

Buying a particular brand is also not very smart. Don't pay for names. Just buy a good carbide tipped router bit and it will last a life time unless you hit embedded copper wire, pray that you don't. It isn't pretty!

 

[Brian Underwood]

I do quite a "bit" of carving myself and have used the terrier, shogun, shogun master, samurai, and weasels. They all work great, but if I had to choose one, it would be the "little terrier" or "shogun master." You can do a lot more with a small bit than with a large one, but the bigger holes/carves require more time. As Al said, keep both hands on the router, secure the tree well, and clear out any wire before going to work. Have fun and be safe!

 

[milehigh_7]

Hey Al Harbor Freight has that long neck straight die grinder on sale this month for $27 I am gonna go grab me one.

 

[tismeisthatu]

Router bits?

Please excuse my stupidity people but I'm a little confused. Are you saying normal router bits will fit a dremel like tool or just a die-grinder.

 

[milehigh_7]

Please excuse my stupidity people but I'm a little confused. Are you saying normal router bits will fit a dremel like tool or just a die-grinder.

It is gonna depend on the shank. Dremel like tools are 1/8" and grinders are 1/4" or more.

Here are the little fellas I use in my dremel.

They got a little beat up from an Acacia I did last night...

 

[tismeisthatu]

It is gonna depend on the shank. Dremel like tools are 1/8" and grinders are 1/4" or more.

Here are the little fellas I use in my dremel. View attachment 34671

They got a little beat up from an Acacia I did last night...

Thank you, I have some of these but they seem to clogg up pretty quickly & also they wear out quickly.

 

[Dav4]

I do not place any fingers nor hands on the tree. Both hands are on the grinder at all times. Anyone that professes otherwise is just fooling themselves. I have all my fingers and have been a construction worker for 42 years. I have known kids in the trade for a couple years and already have digits missing. Just plain stupid.

Thank you and can't agree more!

FWIW, I own the terrier and like it, but I tend to reach for some of the larger 1/4" shank Kutzall brand carving bits when I've got alot of wood to remove.

 

[crust]

I have been using router bits for carving for decades. Core box router bits come in all sizes.

I have them from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch. They are safe but do catch on wood when pushed too hard. They will remove a 3/4 inch branch in a split second. You can cut a 4 inch thick tree in half with a 1/2 inch bit in about 22 seconds. I do not place any fingers nor hands on the tree. Both hands are on the grinder at all times. Anyone that professes otherwise is just fooling themselves. I have all my fingers and have been a construction worker for 42 years. I have known kids in the trade for a couple years and already have digits missing. Just plain stupid.

Buying a particular brand is also not very smart. Don't pay for names. Just buy a good carbide tipped router bit and it will last a life time unless you hit embedded copper wire, pray that you don't. It isn't pretty!

So you working in construction...still? And for 42 years! Oh, and I am missing a digit-- torn from me via a wedding ring, not at work, but while moving some junk out of some ceiling joists. However I did tear the pads off my fingers in a wire green house collapse, nearly sliced two off with a Lancelot, then there was the planer accident when I was in my twenties.

 

[Dav4]

then there was the planer accident when I was in my twenties.

Yikes!! For me, imagining my hand being pulled into a planer is right up there with generating the visceral fear of imagining being eaten alive by a shark.

 

[crust]

How do you handle a bit like that? I've never seen one in action. Should it be pulled left-to-right? Will it cut when being drawn back towards me? Can it be plunged into the wood? Sorry if I have a million questions, thanks for all advice.

I can't explain things like this. I do it intuitively and adjust to the variables as they happen. Just buy one and get some live wood to work and do it. Be careful, use two hands, don't get is on anything that can be wound up, use eye wear. Study pictures of well carved wood that you want to emulate right before. Doing is more valuable than study at this point.

 

[crust]

Yikes!! For me, imagining my hand being pulled into a planer is right up there with the visceral fear of being eaten alive by a shark.

It was a portable electric planer( not a self feeding monster). What I was planing I held foolishly in my hand. It went "swing". The planed quickly descending through my finger tips. Great amount of blood ensued. I happen to be working on a elegant spa room clad in unfinished white poplar paneling which was delicately sprayed with crimson tendrils.

 

[Smoke]

It was a portable electric planer( not a self feeding monster). What I was planing I held foolishly in my hand. It went "swing". The planed quickly descending through my finger tips. Great amount of blood ensued. I happen to be working on a elegant spa room clad in unfinished white poplar paneling which was delicately sprayed with crimson tendrils.

You paint a nasty picture.

 

[BigDave]

delicately sprayed with crimson tendrils.

Crust you have a way with words...beautiful

Two hands on the tool is the common saying around the job site, Good tip AK, and all

Seems I'm
pushing 40 years in construction,also...arrrg still have all fingers, loads of cool scars though.
Seen a bunch of ugly accidents over the years.

I like the dremel and automach, just more relaxin,
Btw the structured carbide bits in the dremel are quite aggressive

When it loads up with sap, etc, you can hit them with the torch and it cleans it instantly

Good growing,

D

 

[BigDave]

Whats a structured carbide cutter, you say

http://www.amazon.ca/Dremel-9935-16-Inch-Structured-Tungsten/dp/B00004UDJZ

 

[youngsai]

This thread is great stuff guys, thank you all so much. I wish I had come here before grinding cheap bits to the bone on this giant seiju elm I have. But I'm here now, and I have decided to order these, and see how it goes-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002IXTJ4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1DJ6SUVUT2VWZ
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004T7DD/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

But I still had two questions-
1.) What epoxy is generally used to make the wire wheel brushes last longer and not burn like kindling (does anyone think this would work instead)
http://www.mastercarver.com/12-piece-texture-saw-set/


2.) Is there a bit I can buy for my 1/4" die grinder that will extend/lengthen the bit so I can get deeper in say, a uro?

 

[bonsaibp]

I just use crazy glue on the wire brushes and they last way longer. I would never use some kind of adapter or extension on a bit- there are longer shaft bits they just cost.
Those little saws can be used for creating grain texture but will not replace the wire brushes.

 

[Poink88]

2.) Is there a bit I can buy for my 1/4" die grinder that will extend/lengthen the bit so I can get deeper in say, a uro?

Major hazard. Even if you find an extension piece DO NOT use it!!! A minor deflection (talking about microns only which will happen) will cause major wobble when going at 25,000 rpm. You are most likely to have a projective shortly after. I repeat, DO NOT do it!