Which of my saws best for carving?

[Dan Forsh]

Hi,

 

Looking to try my hand at a bit of carving and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction as to which saw would be the best to start out with.

 

I do a little bit of buying & selling of saws, just as a hobby, so have quite a few saws to pick from.

 

I'm thinking light and agile would be the way to go and think I've seen others suggest the rear handle Stihl MS200 as a good saw to go with.

 

To be honest, I'd rather go with something I already have so I'm thinking that of the models I do have, MS170, MS211 or 024.

 

The two MS saws are obviously less powerful and don't have the build quality of the 024, but I'm not sure that if I were to get into this a bit more seriously, I would be able to get a carving bar and sprocket set up for the 024 as it's the larger 3003 bar mount. Is it essential to get the carver set-up even?

 

I'm also thinking that it's maybe a two saw set-up; something bigger to start out with on the rough shaping and then a smaller saw for the more detailed stuff?

 

I've already discounted my 1967 Stihl Lightning from the selection process as 106cc might be overkill

 

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

 

Cheers, Dan

[Woodcrafter]

Hi mate depends what your looking to carve I'd say you could put a carving bar on either of the ms170 or ms211 I'd go for a 10-12inch carving bar which is a simple conversion of the sprocket I'd IMO go for a canon they are generally multi fit. This would give you a detailing saw although I do prefer my rear handle ms200 but not necessary if your starting out.

What are you planning on carving?

The 024 would be a good blocking out/ roughing out saw. You could go for a quarter tip carving bar for that but again it really depends on what your planning on carving.

[Dan Forsh]

Hi, thanks for that.

 

I have an 026 too, so the 024 probably isn't needed then, just thought that it might be a candidate for a conversion.

 

I've too much money in the MS170 to hope for a return on if sold, so I think I'll go with that one and sell the MS211, if either is good enough.

 

For starters it will probably be a few shrooms to get a feel for it (and find out if I have any real aptitude for it) I did a very 'rustic' mushroom a few years ago and I was happy enough with it, now the cat's favourite scratching post.

 

I find some of the detail you lads can get in your work truly amazing and I doubt that I'll ever get anywhere near that level, but it would be nice to turn out a few reasonable pieces for friends and family.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on bars. Where would I go for them? See them on Ebay but they seem expensive, so I'll maybe go with what I have for now and see how I go on before I commit to bar, sprocket and chains too.

[Rob D]

I sell a good range of bars here Carving bars including some cheap and cheerful zebra bars (they're not that bad but they came to me without oiler holes hence selling at cost).

 

 

Also sell 1/4" drive sprockets Carving sprockets and chain Carving chains AND you get 10% off these prices (sign up on the site then tell me and I can set discount).

 

 

The better carving bars cost a lot as the tips have to be well made to stand up to the abuse they get!

 

 

 

[splinters]

don't bother with the 170 they are too under powered when used on a carving bar as there isn't a sprocket in the tip of the bar, so there is extra drag on the chain when doing detail work with the tip. put a 12" dime tip bar on your 211 and use the 026 for blocking out.

[Woodcrafter]

I'd prob agree with splinters if I had the choice of the two saws I think Dervishcarving would have a good opinion on the 170 as I'm sure he has used 1 for a while as a detailing saw.

The prob in my opinion on the 170 is its not that robust IMO.

[Happycarver]

i have just bought another husqvarna 135, for my 14" carving bar, i have a 12" bar on the other 135, they are great little saws and great value for money

[ashyc]

MS201 with the exhaust modified, fitted with 12" quarter tip carving bar. Bags of power and the reach for small to medium size carvings.

 

A great all rounder.

[dervishcarving]

Sorry, never saw this post for some reason. I use a ms180 for detail work and love it... its very light and small so its easy to get into tight spaces. yes, its a tad underpowered but its only for detailing. Blockign out can be pretty much any saw you can easily 'chuck about'. I use a husky 440 or, more often for bigger jobs, a 372xp.