Wooden bowl carving tools
- Thread starter wildtraks
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How big is the wood? Good carving tools don't fight back but you pay for what you get.
If the tools are too small, the work becomes so tedious I'd not blame anyone who quits.
Cheap tools are often cheap metal and dull in minutes.
Really big wood = Bladesmiths like Hans Karrlson and Dave Budd (?) forge "bowl gouges." I badly, badly want one.
Less than 20cm across, a mallet and a couple of gouges, say a 9/15 and a 3F/8 for smoothing will do nicely.
50% of the work will be to keep your tools carving sharp and that's a learned thing to do by several methods.
I've carved birch, really like it. Eveything from spoons and forks to dishes and turtle flippers.
If the tools are too small, the work becomes so tedious I'd not blame anyone who quits.
Cheap tools are often cheap metal and dull in minutes.
Really big wood = Bladesmiths like Hans Karrlson and Dave Budd (?) forge "bowl gouges." I badly, badly want one.
Less than 20cm across, a mallet and a couple of gouges, say a 9/15 and a 3F/8 for smoothing will do nicely.
50% of the work will be to keep your tools carving sharp and that's a learned thing to do by several methods.
I've carved birch, really like it. Eveything from spoons and forks to dishes and turtle flippers.
Carved from birch, they could be! Parts for a 60 x 60cm Green Sea turtle, the body is carved in western red cedar.
Depending on your budget and what you might have for carving tools already, there are several "tricks" for bowl carving.
Depending on your budget and what you might have for carving tools already, there are several "tricks" for bowl carving.
Like Robson says, depends on the size of bowl. I've had some good success using the flexi-cut range of gouges for smaller projects. They're are relatively inexpensive and can be kept very sharp. or have a look on ebay and antique shops for some older tools. often bargains to be had.
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
For most bowls I've made from green wood I'd say:
1. Use a bowl adze (i.e. one with a curved blade) to rough it out
2. Use an axe on the outside to rough that out (sometimes 1 & 2 gets reversed)
3. Finish the inside with a "spoon knife", preferably something a bit larger than the smallest ones
4. Finish the outside with a plain knife
This pretty much works for anything from "breakfast size" to "small dugout canoe". Just different times at the different steps
1. Use a bowl adze (i.e. one with a curved blade) to rough it out
2. Use an axe on the outside to rough that out (sometimes 1 & 2 gets reversed)
3. Finish the inside with a "spoon knife", preferably something a bit larger than the smallest ones
4. Finish the outside with a plain knife
This pretty much works for anything from "breakfast size" to "small dugout canoe". Just different times at the different steps
Good advice given. Youtube has some great video tutorials. Main thing is to get going on it with what you have! Lots of people have all sorts of fancy tools, but you can do excellent work with a very basic setup.
In the most basic terms you need something to shape the outside and something to shape the inside.
A knife would work for the outside but an axe is much more efficient and takes a lot of the work.
For the inside I prefer a combination of adze then gouge but adzes are expensive for anything worthwhile.
If you looking to try out bowl making without spending too much I would say a good gouge and mallet/branch offcut are the way to go.
For me pfiel are my go to, I use this with a 35mm sweep for most everything and is a good all rounder for the price - http://www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/pfeil-straight-gouges-no7-grouped-1873
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A knife would work for the outside but an axe is much more efficient and takes a lot of the work.
For the inside I prefer a combination of adze then gouge but adzes are expensive for anything worthwhile.
If you looking to try out bowl making without spending too much I would say a good gouge and mallet/branch offcut are the way to go.
For me pfiel are my go to, I use this with a 35mm sweep for most everything and is a good all rounder for the price - http://www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/pfeil-straight-gouges-no7-grouped-1873
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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