Tools,Tips and Techniques

[munksapprentice]

Correct sized belts

[Ross Macneil]

hi my list of chainsaws and tools

 

Stihl 660

husqvarna 372 xpg

husqvarna 357 xpg

husqvarna 346 xpg

echo 350 12" cannon dime tip carving bar

Stihl 192 12 " quarter tip carving bar (looking to sell)

 

makita die grinder

angle grinderx2

makita 9mm finger sander

sand o flex

burner(map plus gas)

breaking bar

slection of rotary bits

slection of eye tools

slection of saber tooth bits for die grinder

chisels

wood preserver

danish oil

radio ear defenders

eye protection

grilla wood glue

refrence books

drill

hex head wood screws

wood carving illustrated magazine

 

sand o flex

[splinters]

Toms tip of the week

to create a large area of blackened wood rather than use a blowtorch, get a bottle of malt vinigar and put a few nails in it. drill a small hole in the lid cus it gives off gas as the reaction takes place it took me a few bottles shattering to work that out. leave it for a few weeks then take the nails out. then paint the vinigar onto your wood. the iron that the vinigar has stripped from the nails will now stain the wood black build it up in layers to get it as dark as you want. you have to remember to take the nails out other wise you will end up with a bottle full of rusty sludge. oiling over the black makes it look even darker.

 

as used in the samon below. i did this quite a few years ago and the colour is still good. the blowtourch blackening weathers off kinda quick

[dervishcarving]

rusty wood good tip Tom

only downsides i can see are

1- does it soak into the grain? along the grain? im wondering if it lets you get details (like spots)

2- Does it leave everything smelling like a fish supper?

3- will it work on all woods? I know it will work on wood with a high tannin content (i think its called 'ebonising') but is that all woods?

the alternative i think would be to buy iron sulphate (also called ferrous sulphate) and make a solution of tat in water and paint that on, will have the same effect.

 

oh..teh gas it gives off will be Hydrogen, so don't leave it close to a flame

Edited June 23, 2012 by dervishcarving

[dervishcarving]

apparently to make the stain even darker you can increase the tannin level in teh wood by painting on a strong cup of tea first (I'm not joking) and let that dry THEN paint on the Iron-solution. not tried it myself tho.... anyone tried this? im tempted to try it on a piece of spare wood but its pishing down

[munksapprentice]

That sand O flex looks a really nice piece of kit. Where can you buy them from??

[FriarsGorse]

I'm lookin forward to tryin the "cup of tea and iron fish supper" method... thanks for sharing those tips ....... I'm still struggling with eyes ... can anyone post pics of the tools or bits that they use for eyes ... i'm floundering with my cheap crappy copy of a dremel !!!

[wisewood]

apparently to make the stain even darker you can increase the tannin level in teh wood by painting on a strong cup of tea first (I'm not joking) and let that dry THEN paint on the Iron-solution. not tried it myself tho.... anyone tried this? im tempted to try it on a piece of spare wood but its pishing down

 

Not heard of the tea idea before, I've used old very fine wire wool before in vinegar to get that ebonising solution. Didn't the leather tanners use oak galls as they are rich in tannin, maybe you could mulch some of them in vinegar to paint on woods with no tannin levels.

[EddieJ]

Exhibitions/events

 

This weekend was my first public exhibition, and here are a few things that I have learnt from it, in no particular order.

 

Even with loads of PR, don't rely on local media supporting your chosen event!

 

Make sure that you have someone to help you set up and clear up site. I didn't and it made for very hard work. Also allow plenty of time for the above.

 

Take plenty of water to drink. I hadn't realised just how thirsty that you get.

 

If possible, try and involve children. Get them interested and the parents have to follow.

 

Bite your tongue and be nice to everyone, even when the parent comes over to 'demand' one of the free rain deer that I had been offering to children. Had the child been out of ear shot, my polite stance may/would have been different!

 

Don't try and be too ambitious about what you think that you can achieve over the time of the event.

 

Take along as much of your own publicity as you can, including something to display business cards in.

 

Take along enough stands/tables etc to put your tools on.

 

Make a check list of what tools and equipment that you shall need. Then go over the list and check it again. It is surprising what you forget the first time around.

 

Don't leave anything sharp just laying around. This may sound obvious, but you can quickly forget when talking to someone.

 

Remember that talking to endless amounts of people soon seems to knacker you out, so try and find somewhere to sit down and chill out away from people. You have your cards etc out, and any potential clients can always come back.

 

Expect that I shall think of more later, but for now one last thing... Enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2012 by EddieJ

[dervishcarving]

agree on the whole 'talking to loads of people knackers you out' thing. I regularly do open days for work or training days for SCUBA (Im a SCUBA instructor in my, increasingly limited, spare time). I cant help thinking a joint display between 2 carvers or a carver and another wood-shaping related person would be the best approach. Ok, so there are possibilities for disagreements on who-gets-the-business but for those of us who don't do this as a full-time job this shouldn't be a problem