Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

I thought it would be useful to start a thread where we can all share info and ask Questions about tools, tips and techniques.

So whats in your carving kit other than your saws? do you have any handy info to help others or any Questions on carving.

lets make this the one stop info shop to save trawling through hundreds of threads to try and fing an answer.

my carving kit contains.

saw maintainance kit
tape measure
1m straight edge marked every 5cm
inch and half inch chistle
small lump hammer
mora carving knife
mora tight curve hoof knife
thick graphite stick for drawing lines
two cans of tree marker. one red one orange. i use the orange to mark up sizes and rough shapes on my log then mark my final cut lines in red.
4ft high lift jack handy for standing up and rolling big logs.
cant hook
battery drill
coconut bristled hand brush
two big plastic (cattle lick) tubs i put a pank across them to stand on if i need a bit of hight when im carving at shows or in peoples gardens and when im finished i can throw all my off cuts in them to clear up.

i think thats about all

This thread should be interesting ... I am not in the arb industry so when i decided to have a go at carving about 3 years ago, equipment was a bit of a mystery! (Still is) I was a professional guitar player for 10 years and earned a living with the most basic equipment...so I applied the same logic. I did a chainsaw course with Phil Dunford (to protect myself from myself) and got some PPE and a MS 171 with 14" Cannon carving Bar.
Rest of my kit...
File Kit & file clamp
Wire Brush
Soft Brush
Ratchet Straps (For holding a piece with plunge cut through a stump)
Cant hook
Turning Bar
Old Workmate with crudely modified top.. (Crap but just about works)
And thats about it !!!

I bought a cheap copy of a Dremel (Parkside from Lidl supermarket) and this can be useful for a bit of small detail but to be honest thats crap and just about works !! Think I would like a die grinder (Thanks to Wisewood for tellin me what this was in earlier post) for doing some nice eyes...but as always its the cost !!! .... So what does everyone else use for eyes and small detail ??
Think Ive realised that each piece deserves consideration as to how detailed you want to get so I dont have any chisels or knives. I told myself I wanted to do chainsaw only carvings and while ive only done about 8 carvings in 3ish years ... i do wonder about going to the next phase on some with chisels. I guess thats what determines whats in your kit bags.

I want to try some chainsaw sculptures in the near future. How do you secure to wood if it's a small piece. Does anyone use carver's screws?

Good idea Tom, especially if we can keep it on-topic and avoid the ' xxx is better then yyy' arguments
My kit has a couple of saws (long-bar rough-cutting and a short carving bar saw)
basic tool kit, files and saw-fixing/fueling/oiling stuff
angle grinder with sanding disc attachment plus a range of discs.
basic hand-tools (hammer + small chisel + knife + screwdrivers, pliers etc for placing and then removing screws/nails to secure stuff during the carve)
battery drill (handy if no electricity)
lengths of rope (static and dynamic) slings and ratchet strap
marker pens (i find a pencil and some fat marker-pens are useful)
tape measure, stright edge and some string... helps to keep me on track
a long lever (1.5 m wrecking bar)
workmate (despite it being useless for almost everything it makes a handy bench for saw-fiddling etc)
a dremel-thing with a range of cutting bits plus a lot of sanding attachments, very handy for getting smooth details in tight corners.... assuming you have elecctricity
a couple of huge polythene sheets/tarps... put one down round the stump before you start and it makes clearing up when you have finished
blowtorch
finishing oil (linseed or teek)
brushes (a big brush for cleaning up, some paint-brushes for cleaning in details and for oiling)
i also do quite a lot of planning before i start and make sketches before i begin (at home). I tend to take a folder with me containing pictures of what i am aiming for (pictures of owls of leopards or whatever) to give me a reference. If its an unusual shape i may have also modeled it out beforehand and so i take the model with me.... i find bluetak is the best modeling stuff.


i will now be adding a cant hook (dunno why i didnt think of that earleir) and maybe a car-jack

I dont know what carvers screws are but if you can screw a piece to any solid surface and its secure then it would work... you could screw a batten to the bottom of the piece you are carving and clamp the batten in a workmate .. if the piece is not too big ...

I have a large trunk section tha i use as my carving-block and i secure small pieces to this if i need to. I drill guide holes at the bottom of the wood and screw it to the carving block BUT, and this is essential, draw a line round teh wood about an inch above the level of the screws and dotn carve below this mark unless you are certain there are no screws in that area otherwise you are gonna knacker your chain pretty quick.
If i am carving something very small i use a workmate. they are handy as you can take teh wood out and move it about to access different ends etc but only for small carvings

A wee quick start tutorial on something small would be ace

im inthe process of putting together a starter book of basic projects will keep you posted.

Nice idea Tom, although I'm probably going to suffer a bit of tool envy
I currently have two saws with a few different bars that cover most needs.
066 with 18" and 36"bars and ripping chain
Mountfield with a 16" bar and an 8" quarter nose carving bar, run a lo pro .325 chain as I can't get a 1/4 sprocket to fit the saw.
(In hindsight a 12" bar would have been more versatile but funds were tight, when I can I hope to get a small Stihl, get a longer bar and run it on the carving chain. While I'm at a mid range 50cc saw would come in handy too.)
Angle grinder with sanding discs
Drill, various bits,inc. flexi shaft, rifler bits, flap wheels sanding mops etc
Blow torch
Quite a lot of carving chisels,gouges, skews etc(fairly new to chainsaw carving but been carving old school for many years).
Side axe
Froe
Carving adze
Riflers,files and home made punches. Made a punch/stamp with my logo on so's I don't have to carve one on each new piece of work
Paint brushes for dusting off and oiling work
Polyurethane glue for repairing splits etc
Workmates, and various vices/clamps.
Cheers,
Si