Tools for Woodcarving
- A chisel and mallet are common woodcarving tools.woodcarving maestro image by sumos from Fotolia.com
Woodcarving requires skilled individuals to use hand-held cutting tools to transform a piece of wood into a work or art. Woodcarving is an art form that ranges from making intricate designs in pieces of furniture to creating animal figurines and statutes. Before starting your woodcarving project you should be familiar with the tools needed and the proper way each is used. - A coping saw is a manual saw with a U-shaped frame.handsaw image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com
A type of hand saw, the coping saw consists of a thin steel blade stretched across a U-shaped frame. This Old House magazine website says each end of the frame has rotating spigots that hold the blade and allow it to be angled to suit any cut you make. The saw's frame also has slotted pins on each end that allow the blade to be removed. Once a end of the blade is removed, it can be placed through a drilled hole in a piece of wood and reattached to the frame. This allows the saw with its rotating spigots to carve intricate internal designs and shapes into a piece of wood. - Chisels consists of a long piece of metal with a straight edge attached to a handle. During woodcarving, chisels carve away excess wood, create straight plains and crisp corners. There are many types of chisels for woodcarving according to Autonopedia.org including the paring, beveled, firmer, mortise, and round nosed chisel. It is important to keep the cutting edges of your chisels sharp by using a whetstone or leather strap.
- Gouges are similar to chisels except they have curved edges instead of straight. Gouges come in different shapes and sizes, each with a specific use. According to Whole Earth Catalog's website, the long-bent gouge is used to roughen out or hollow out pieces of wood. A fish-tail gouge carves clean cuts in sharp tight corners. There are also gouges specifically for word turning such as a bowl gouge, spindle gouge and roughing gouge.
- A carver's mallet is used to hit gouges and chisels while carving. The round design of the mallet allows a person to strike a chisel or gauge from any angle. Carvers mallets are usually made from hard woods such as maple, beach or hickory. There are also "soft blow" mallets that use vibration absorbing material such as urethane. These mallets are quieter and cause less damage to the handles of chisels and gouges, states the Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living website.
- Carving knifes have small sharp edges that are deigned to perform small detail work while carving. Similar to gouges and chisels, carving knifes are available with numerous different shaped cutting ends. There are chip-carving knifes that are designed to decorate a carving by cutting out v-shaped chips, according to the Wood Carving Tools website.
