Finishes with angle grinders

[abercarver]

Anyone use angle grinders to finish their carvings?

 

As im a bit of a newbie and after carving my mushrooms I tend to smooth the tops over with an angle grinder.

 

I have a cracking Black & Decker and have taken the guard off, using flap discs. Works pretty well.

 

Iv been looking at tungsten Carbide attachments and allsorts...

...anyone have any advice or would like to share there 'ways of working'

I would be very grateful.

 

Many Thanks

[slackbladder]

Best thing seems to be the Arbotech Turbo plane

[Gardenmac]

Tool Station is cheaper for the tungsten carbide and grit flap discs, both give quick results, the carbide does get clogged but the turbo plane is outstanding at removing wood, expensive but well worth it.

[dervishcarving]

i use angle grinders to sand, plus a black and decker powerfile. gives a lovely smooth finish but remember to uyse a wire brish to clean the sandpaper regular to avoid burning

 

dont use Lancelot and Squire Cutters | King Arthur's Tools tho

lovely tool but inherently dangerous. im out of action now for probably 2 months as mine almost removed the whole of my left index finger. all guards were in place etc, think my glove got caught and pulled my finger against the chin. once the skin grafts and the nerve grafts (did u know they can graft nerves?) i should be back carving again but i will never use that thing again

[Gardenmac]

i use angle grinders to sand, plus a black and decker powerfile. gives a lovely smooth finish but remember to uyse a wire brish to clean the sandpaper regular to avoid burning

 

dont use Lancelot and Squire Cutters | King Arthur's Tools tho

lovely tool but inherently dangerous. im out of action now for probably 2 months as mine almost removed the whole of my left index finger. all guards were in place etc, think my glove got caught and pulled my finger against the chin. once the skin grafts and the nerve grafts (did u know they can graft nerves?) i should be back carving again but i will never use that thing again

 

Heard quite a few people have accidents with the angle grinder rip cutters. Sorry to hear that Dervish, hope you get back into it soon.

[Gnome]

i use angle grinders to sand, plus a black and decker powerfile. gives a lovely smooth finish but remember to uyse a wire brish to clean the sandpaper regular to avoid burning

 

dont use Lancelot and Squire Cutters | King Arthur's Tools tho

lovely tool but inherently dangerous. im out of action now for probably 2 months as mine almost removed the whole of my left index finger. all guards were in place etc, think my glove got caught and pulled my finger against the chin. once the skin grafts and the nerve grafts (did u know they can graft nerves?) i should be back carving again but i will never use that thing again

 

Ouch!!!! My finger is almost recovered mate, Had a look at that lancelot but I got the fear. I stick with Rhodius Zirconium Flap Disc from toolstation. Angle grinder still has the guard on and the extra handle for control. I keep the revs down to reduce burning. Try not to hold it too close to reduce chance of sanding the ball bag.

[splinters]

My first tip is Put the F*&%£$G guards back on before you hurt yourself. if you are sanding using the edge furthest away from you the grinder will try to transfer the pressure point the the quater of the disk behind it then the quater closest to you in a split second you will have a speed wobble what will snap your wrists to the side and throw the tool out of your hands. the guard will bump off the wood helping to stop this happening.

 

only sand using one quater of the dist against the wood at a time this will mean that the sanded strokes all go in the same direction so you wont get round marks on your wood.

 

sand in the direction of the grain. if you go agaist the grain you will fluff up the surface of the wood.

 

If you are wearing gloves which i would advise make sure they fit snuggly as loose gloves are more likely to get tangled up in the moving parts.

 

and as Dave has already said if the wood starts burning clean up your diskc with a wire brush.

 

Dave hope you heel soon and if you arnt going to us that disc again send it my way ill put it to good use.

Edited April 22, 2013 by splinters

[Woodcrafter]

dont use Lancelot and Squire Cutters | King Arthur's Tools tho

lovely tool but inherently dangerous. im out of action now for probably 2 months as mine almost removed the whole of my left index finger. all guards were in place etc, think my glove got caught and pulled my finger against the chin. once the skin grafts and the nerve grafts (did u know they can graft nerves?) i should be back carving again but i will never use that thing again

 

Nasty mate hope it all heals quickly for you I've had a few close calls with the Lancelot they are lethal. They need an emergency stop like a chain break.

Amazing what surgeons can do I had a Nasty fall nearly 10yrs ago broke my arm and severed a nerve they took 30cms from out my leg and did a graft they also Grafted a muscle onto a tendon to give me a wrist movement. Arms about 90% what it was but I can't complain could have been worse.

Ps. Thanks for the oil advice.

Looking forward to seeing this secret piece your doing for the school!!

Phil.

[dervishcarving]

secret pieces are finished fortunately. the chair is half finished but is now on hold. as is the gruffalo. fell v bad that i cant keep to the schedule but no way i can carve one handed and the vibrations would destroy the grafts if i tried

[canoehead]

get well soon dervish.

 

arbotech pro -4 woodcarver pretty good, not too pricey, sculpts easily, and manageable even without their plastic safety guard.

 

rick