Selecting perfect wood carving tools and accessories

 

Woodworking offers a huge platform for both the professionals and aspiring artists for showcasing their innate talent. It just takes the right guidance and patience for pursuing your heart’s desire.

Traditional carving is a heritage that can be seen mostly in the traditional houses, mosques, churches and palaces of Southeast Asian countries. Traditional wood carving is the most significant Malay ornamental art form.

Wood carving is an amazing art which transforms a simple blocks of wood into magnificent masterpieces. With the right set of wood carving tools, accessories and techniques, you can be a good woodcarver.  Essential wood carving tools are of generally clubbed together and offered as wood carving kit.

How to Select Perfect Wood Carving Tools?

Wood carving tools come in different shapes and sizes. Selecting the perfect tools out of so many available tools is a crucial step.

Wood Carving Knives:

Carving knives are basically sharp blades for cutting and shaping the solid wood into the desired shape. These knives are of different types, shapes and sizes that cuts wood specifically. Generally, a detail knife, a cutting knife or a roughing knife are used for carving chip carving patterns.

While selecting perfect knife, you should consider the quality of knife. Knives having planer knives carbide steel blade are more expensive than stainless steel blade. Most carving tools are made from high-carbon steel, which are easier to sharpen.  High carbon stainless steel blades are also available nowadays which comes with the durability of stainless steel and the advantages of carbon steel.

If you are looking for pocket knives, select the one which has two or three knives so that these blades are placed conveniently. A locking knife keeps your knife locked at specific location and thus avoids sudden accidents like hitting to your finger. Also, select a sheepsfoot blade i.e. the one where the tip of the knife is closely aligned with the main cutting edge of the blade.

A whittling knife is basically used for whittling and trimming silvers of wood in order to carve out raw wood into specific shape. Twigs, branches from any tree or specialized baas wood blocks are good to start whittling with. Wooden knives are a popular item to whittle from a tree branch.

One of the primary knives used for wood carving is the Sloyd Knife. It is the ideal striking knife that is considered as the first foundation tool to start wood carving with. The original design has a straight cutting edge with a tapered blade and a front that comes down at an angle forming a blunt point. It is much easier to sharpen and maintain it. It can be used for carving and adding details to work piece. These are also used for quickly roughing out work and carving spoons.

If you are thinking about buying a bench knife, you should consider the quality of steel used in the blade. Opt for high quality blade that can be sharpened well and fits in the palm of your hand. A bench knife having a long blade is good for de-barking wood, creating long whittling cuts, and for general shaping purpose.

Chisels and Gouges:

Chisels are wood cutting and shaping tools having a sharp metallic end and plastic or wooden handle at the other end. It is generally driven into wood by mallet or hammer. A Rockwell hardness of between 58 and 61 is considered optimum hardness for woodcarving chisels. High quality woodcarving chisels will retain their cutting edges for a much longer period and even last for lifetime if you care properly.

The most widely used style set of wood carving tools include a straight chisel, having a straight flat edge for shaping; straight gouge, having a curved cutting edge or depth; straight skew having a diagonal cutting edge; a veiner, which is a furrowing tool with a cutting edge that looks like a “V”. These tools are available with cutting edges in different shapes and sizes ranging from 1/8″ to 1″.

The tool’s width is measured in millimeters or inches from its right end to left end. The bevel or slant that the blade will take on the carving surface is normally inclined at a 45° angle. It should be sharpened at this angle.

When someone talks about the sweep of any wood carving tool, it refers to the curvature of its cutting edge and is assigned a number for convenience. As the number increases, the curve or depth of the tool also increases. For instance, a chisel’s straight cutting edge is designated as number 1.Number 2 or number 3 gouges are having just a bit of curve in their cutting edges.

A number 11 gouge as referred as a Veiner tool. It is a narrow “U” – shaped gouge, used for making finer detailed cuts, carves deep channels or grooves in wood. Fluter is also a number 11 gouge but has a broader shape. Veiners and fluters are essentially the same type of tool. The names simply refer to the width of the cutting edge: veiners are thin, fluters are wide.

A “V” – tool is also a special type of chisel consisting of two rectangular profiles brought together at a common point, used for sketching around detail in wood carving.

Files, Rasps and Rifflers:

Files, rasps and rifflers are used for shaping and smoothing wood, with much greater control than normal edge cutting tools.  Rasps come with raised teeth. Files have straight chiseled edges that cuts slowly but imparts a much finer finish.

Rifflers are thin, double-ended tools curved to opposing shapes. They can easily get into difficult areas and are good for doing detail work or cleaning up carving. These come in a variety of shapes like flat, round, half-round, and triangular.

Carver’s Mallet:

It’s the most vital tool used by any woodworkers for exerting some additional muscular pressure in their projects. They come in a variety of sizes and styles like the wooden mallets or the plastic mallets.

Mallets used for wood carving are light in weight. They are used to drive chisels or dowels in wood or to knock wooden pieces together.

These are the basic woodworking tools that can be used for carving out basic as well as intricate woodworking patterns and designs.

Top 10 Woodworking and carpenter’s tools

 

Professional woodworkers choose their tools quiet carefully. The basic tools in any workshop are the essential or the most versatile ones. Tools are chosen in such a way that these can be used well for not just one project but for many other upcoming projects as well.

We have collected a list of 10 basic woodworking carpenter’s tools or cabinet making tools that your workshop should be equipped with.

woodworking and carpenter’s tools:

1.Drill Press: A drilling machine or drill press is used for making holes or enlarging holes in workpiece. The primary advantage of a drill press over the standard traditional handheld drill is its accuracy and speed of repetition. The drill is held in a rotating spindle and is fed into the workpiece, which is usually clamped on a work table.Apart from drilling, it can also perform activities like reaming, countersinking, counter boring or tappin

2.Saws: A saw is an important tool that has a blade with its sharp points known as teeth all along with one edge of the blade. It is an essential tool used for cutting lumber or usable workpieces. All saws can be broadly classified into two main categori

Handsaws: In woodworking and carpentry, hand saws are better known as panel saws while in other sectors these are known as fish saws. Panel saws are driven by muscular force of a woodworker and are used to cut pieces of wood into different shapes.

Handsaws can be further identified as coping saws, hack saws, rip cut saws, crosscut saws, bow saws, pruning saws, fret saws, and veneer saws. Some less common saws are the Japanese saws, keyhole saws, and the back saws.

Powered Saws: Powered saws are usually driven by electricity. These saws are the easiest one to use and are huge time savers. These saws produce excellent cutting or trimming results. Moreover, portable power saws are very flexible and can reach any difficult position with ease.

Chainsaw: This saw has set of teeth along a moving chain and is used to cut lumber and even trees. Some chainsaws are driven by gasoline engine and some by electric motor.

3.Circular Saw: This saw uses a circular blade to cut and is mostly light weight and handy. If you want a cordless power saw for use in different worksites, the circular saw is one of the best options.

Most popular circular saws are Corded circular saws, Cordless circular saws, Compact and Mini circular saws, Worm Drive circular saws, Sidewinder circular saws, Cold Saw circular saws, Abrasive Saw circular saws and the Track Saws.

4.Band Saw: This saw is a stationary saw that can cut through different materials just by changing blades. The saw has a long blade in the shape of a band and rotates with speed while cutting wood. The length of the Bandsaw blade is calculated according to the model of machine or the size.

Widely used bandsaws are the Wood band saws, Benchtop band saws, Horizontal band saws, Vertical band saws, Portable band saws and Meat band saws.

5.Table Saw: A table saw is one of the most flexible saw that has a circular blade and its depth can be adjusted on the attached table so that you can rip the wood, cut straight and measure as you cut as per your requirement. The blade is fixed at the center of the table and simply extends upward and downwards accordingly. A good table saw is always the heart and soul of any workshop.

The most widely used table saws are the Benchtop, Jobsite, Compact, Hybrid, Contractor, Cabinet, Sliding, Mini and micro table saws.

6.Jigsaw: It is a powerful and versatile hand tool fitted with a narrow sharp blade that can cut through so many materials and can reach to some of the most difficult positions while cutting. It can also bevel up-to 45 degree

7.Miter Saw: The miter saw is fitted with small circular blade basically used for making angled cuts in wood. For making the most accurate cuts for joints that require most perfect fitting, a miter saw is the ideal tool. Use the dial pad of your miter saw to dial the degree to which you want to cut precisely and get the exact result.

Compounded Meter Saw: These saws will make a variety of angled cuts along with a slight tilt in one particular direction for cutting a bevel. These are popular for making square, angled or beveled crosscuts on wood.

There are many more powered saws available like the scroll saws, reciprocating saws, wet tile saws and pole saws which are used for the purpose of cutting but we have discussed most useful saws here.

8.Clamps: Clamps are great tools that are used for holding wood pieces securely in any workshop. They are just like extra hands that hold the wood together so that you can use your hands freely. There is a variety of clamps available all designed uniquely to perform various tasks. Some of the famous types of clamps are 90 degree corner clamp, screw clamp, quick release clamp, angle clamp and toggle clamp.

9.Measuring Tape and Carpenter Squares :  A measuring tape or tape measure is a long flat flexible ruler used for making measurements. Woodworkers generally demand more from a measuring tape. Some prefer 25 feet tape while others feel 16 feet tape more light weight and comfortable for use.

10.Carpenter square  is also known as ‘framing square’ and is used extensively for framing and laying rafters and stairs.  It can also be used as a straight-edge, finding and establishing right angles and marking cut-off work on work piece. These squares are generally made of steel, aluminum or polymers. It consists of long wider arm and a shorter narrower arm which meet at 90 degree right angle.  

11.Electric Planer: A corded electric planer or the cordless battery operated planer is a tool that can’t be missed at any cost. It smoothes the surface of the wood and rough end grains and tapers the wood also.

A block planer is a simple small hand held tool used for planing manually with blade at different angles than other type of planes.

Electric planers types include the benchtop planers and the stationary planers. Benchtop planers are smaller and lighter than stationary planers.

12.Power Jointer and Thickness Planer: This tool is an essential tool that almost every woodworker likes to own. Used since last so many years, it’s a great dimensioning tool that processes rough lumber into exact size and thickness planer blades. It makes the surface of wood usable.

 

13.Electric Sander: It is a powered tool that smooth and finish surfaces of wood very easily and effortlessly. All sanders have a mechanism for attaching sandpapers and to move it rapidly.

Some of the widely used sanders are random orbital sander, belt sander, disc sanders and finishing sanders. Of course, cordless sanders come to you with additional benefit of detaching from the power supply and using comfortably.

14.Tenoning Jig :  A Tenoning Jig is actually utility tool of your workshop. It locks the workpiece or stock against a plate and holds it steadily in its place so that the saw machine can cut cheeks and shoulders on all four sides of a tenon. A stop piece keeps the workpiece square in both directions.

15.Chisels and Mallets: Chisels are also indispensible for any woodworker or carpenter. A chisel consists of a sharp cutting edge attached to a handle and is rectangular in shape. It is generally used with a small hammer or mallet or can be used separately on wood.Chisels and hammers are found in different styles and sizes like beveled edge bench chisels, mortise chisels, and paring chisels

16.Push Stick: At last but not the least important in the list is the push stick or push block. It is actually a safety device that saves your fingers and hands from being fed to the unforgiving saw blade.

So, these are  essential tools that any professional carpenter’s workshop should be equipped with. Woodford Woodworking Tooling Ltd. is one of the leading suppliers in UK that is completely dedicated to our customer’s total satisfaction. We supply industrial equipment and various components from a variety of manufacturers and hence have a huge choice for our happy customers.

Bandsaws Blades for Cutting Metal Plastic Wood

 

The Woodworking is the best activity or skill of making items from wood, and includes Cabinetry and Furniture, wood making items like table, chair,Kitchen items.

A bandsaw is a saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material.The mostly use for the band saw blades is in cutting irregular shapes.A bandsaw blade (2, 3 TPI) should be used for resawing wood and cutting thicker stock up to 8.The blade itself can come in a variety of size which enables the machine to be highly versatile.The Bandsaw Blades are able to cut a wide variety of materials including wood, metal and plastic. Bandsaws dedicated to industrial metal-cutting use, such as for structural steel in fabrication shops.

A bandsaw is a best addition to any woodworking shop, so much so that it should be your first choice when it comes to cutting timber as it’s safe, easy to set up and use, and is extremely versatile.