Wood cutters for hand carving. What tools are needed for wood carving. Sharpening cutters with your own hands

Wood carving is a complex and exciting activity. It allows you to create unique crafts, decorate your home, make gifts to friends and acquaintances.

Also, carving will be a constant source of positive emotions, and for some, even generate income. For children, this hobby will be a great way to spend free time and develop artistic thinking.

Most often, woodcarving tools are made. This happens for three reasons:

Firstly, it is rare to find a good cutter on sale.
Secondly, many people cannot afford it, especially teenagers and children who are fond of carving. Most often, cutters are sold in sets, have a high price, and half of them are unlikely to ever be needed.
Finally, the third reason is that experienced carvers prefer to make a tool “for themselves”.

DIY wood carving tools (drawings) can be divided into three types - knives, chisels and engravers.

A knife is a tool that works with a straight or curved cutting edge.

Cutting wood occurs under a force directed mainly across the axis.

A carving chisel is a tool during which the force is directed along the axis, according to the principle of a conventional carpentry chisel.

A chisel is a tool that is a kind of chisel. First, it crashes into the wood, and then a small layer of wood is “teared off” with the skillful movement of the carver. Shtihely include all kinds of cranberries - special tool, popular in Transcarpathian woodcarving.

Starting with a simple one - a cutter for geometric threads

Geometric thread is the simplest type of thread.

She will be the best choice if you just want to try your hand at carving .

Despite its apparent simplicity, it allows you to create drawings with a "three-dimensional" effect.

It is also a national art craft in Russia, Karelia and Finland.

Geometric carving does not require a lot of "hardness" of the hands, such as carving with a chisel. It consists of simple elements - pegs and triangles.

Making a woodcarving tool with your own hands is easier than for any other. Objectively, this is the only tool that can be made at home without the use of forging.

The cutter for geometric carving is a knife. Outwardly, it looks a bit like a leather shoe knife with an oblique blade, but the similarities end there. The main difference is the width of the blade and the cutting angle of the knife.

The width of the cutter for geometric carving should be about 2 cm, however, this will depend on the size of the pegs that you intend to cut.

The angle of the "bevel" of the cutter should be quite steep, almost straight - from 80 to 70 degrees. It is undesirable to work with a too “sharp” nose - the cutter during such work will close the drawing and it will not be visible what you are doing. In addition, at too large angles, the tip of the cutter will constantly break during awkward movements.

blade material

Most the best option- make a cutter forged from a bar.

The part of the blade protruding from the handle must be forged from round section into a flat knife.

It will cover the drawing less when .

Unfortunately, most carvers do not have access to a forge and do not have the forging skill.

For them, it will be optimal to make a tool for woodcarving with your own hands from an old blade of a hacksaw for metal.

The canvas is made of R6M5 steel, sometimes carbon steel. It has a width of 25 ... 50 mm and a thickness of 2 to 5 mm. If possible, take a blade 25 mm wide and 3 mm thick, it is best suited for the cutter.

How to cut the canvas of the right size and at the right angle? After all, it is hardened! You don't need to cut anything. Clamp the blade firmly in a vise under the desired one.

Then, with a hammer blow, simply break off the blade as needed - the break in the vast majority of cases will occur along the clamping line of the vise jaws.

Then correct the cut line on an electric sharpener and pre-sharpen the cutter. The blade is fixed in the handle with the help of cloves that used to cut metal. This is best done by drilling holes and driving in rivets, but due to the hardness of the material, it will be extremely inconvenient to drill it.

Perhaps you will find another, more suitable one. The main thing is that it should be made of high-quality steel. Some make incisors by grinding from files or from surgical instruments, from the blade of knives for stripping wires. Excellent cutters are obtained from broken disc cutters for metal from P18 steel. All of these methods are good.

About homemade wood tools - on the video:

Knives

You will need a good knife - one that will be comfortable to work with. There are three types of knives - with a folding blade (pocket knife), with a fixed blade and knives with a replaceable blade. I prefer fixed blade knives because they are the safest. Knives also vary in blade shape and steel type.

I recommend a high carbon steel blade with a hardness of 55 to 60 RC - it will stay sharp longer than a stainless or low carbon steel. For finishing and shaping, I use a 4 mm thick blade and a length of 3.8 to 5.1 cm. A knife with a narrower and shorter blade better fit to work out the details. Some cutters prefer knives with interchangeable blades, because instead of sharpening the knife, it is enough to simply change the blade. Another advantage is that that the handle of such a knife can be used with small chisels.

Chisels

Chisels come in different widths and curvature. Curvature is indicated by a number. The steeper the curvature, the larger the number. So, chisel number 3 is almost flat, and number 11 has a U-shape. Of course, a number 10 or 11 chisel cuts deeper and removes more wood than a number 3. On the other hand, a number 3 chisel is handy for finishing. The angle chisel with number 12, which has a V-shape, is characterized by a wide range - from 24 to 90 degrees, but chisels with an angle of 60 to 70 degrees are most common.

When choosing a chisel, pay attention to the handle so that the tool does not roll onto the floor when you put it on the table. Otherwise, you will constantly have to repair the blade.

When choosing a chisel, also keep in mind the size and type of carving you want to make. For self made palm-sized chisels are more suitable, and for small parts you will need tools and even less. Sculptural and relief carving involves the use of standard chisels with heavy handles.

Saws

Carvers use saws of the most different type depending on the task, but the most commonly used bow saw ("snake").

It includes a replaceable high carbon steel blade mounted on a steel frame with a handle. A bow saw can be used to draw narrow, curved lines, although a fair amount of patience is required to prevent the blade from breaking or warping. The saw is also used to remove excess wood.

Special tools

The scraper is used for removing bark and for quick, rough removal of excess wood, as, for example, when working on furniture. The spoon knife has a double-edged round blade, ideal for making spoons, cups or masks.

Abrasives

Files and rasps remove excess wood quickly and smoothly. They differ in the nature of the surface, which can be rough, medium or relatively smooth. Always use flat, semi-circular or round tools with a handle. Files and rasps of the riffler type have teeth on both ends and a variety of shapes. They are used to penetrate hard-to-reach places and removal of small chips. Tools with a rough surface are used for cleaning small areas.

The flexible sanding belt is useful when working on curved surfaces. Grinding cylinders included hand drill or the press are indispensable for the final finishing. Polishing tools vary in surface texture and material nature to meet a wide range of requirements. Sandpaper should only be used at the end of the work, otherwise the abrasive particles will get stuck in the wood and your tools will quickly become dull.

electrical tools

When you start making blanks yourself, you will need band-saw. A huge selection of blades will allow you to easily make the most difficult cuts, far surpassing anything that can be done with a bow saw. An openwork saw will help to process the inner surface, but not every tree can handle it. Belt and disc sanders are good for both finishing and bark removal. Many carvers use rotary tools with a wide range of heads to work on details such as feathers. There are hand grinders and small high speed cutters. There are also at least four types of electric chisels with reciprocating motion that allow arthritis sufferers and people with tennis elbow to enjoy carving.

Strengthening devices

If you are holding the workpiece in a vise, choose a tool that does not leave marks on the workpiece (or insert some material between the workpiece and the vise). To attach the workpiece to the workbench, I often use a six-millimeter capercaillie and a wing nut. If you are a beginner, you can wear a steel wire glove to protect your hand.

I have one old friend, also a carver, who dons a heavy leather apron when working towards the chest. When finishing or dyeing the product, you can use an awl or a dye stick.

SUPPORT

To better hold the workpiece when you cut a tree with a “snake” saw, I advise you to use a support - an ordinary board that supports the wood during sawing. Simply attach it to a workbench or table and hold the saw vertically in the V-shape as you cut the workpiece.

BENCH VICE

If you plan to do relief carving, I suggest you also make a simple bench vise. One terminal holds the vise from below in a fixed position, while the angle formed by the other two from above prevents your product or workpiece from slipping out of your hands during operation. Attach a bench vise to your work surface.

Accessories

Electric burn-out tools can be used for coloring the product, giving texture, as well as for signing the work. In this case, you will need a dust mask and a vacuum cleaner. You also need artist's tools and various brushes if you want to cover the product with paint or varnish. To transfer the pattern to the workpiece, I advise you to use tracing paper or copy. A good light source and a magnifying device are essential when performing fine detail work.

Instrument Care

You should periodically inspect your tools, wipe them with an oiled cloth so that they do not rust. Store your tools in their individual compartments or wrapped in cloth to protect them and reduce the time spent sharpening.

TOOL SHARPENING

Keep your tools sharp at all times, and pause to sharpen from time to time. All the carvers I know have developed their own dressing system; everyone found his own procedure, convenient for him personally. Some use whetstones with oil, others with water, and still others use electrical devices.

The first step is to sharpen the blade with a fine-grained abrasive, such as diamond grit or sandpaper. First, one side is processed until burrs appear on the metal, then the other. At the next stage of editing, the surface irregularities that arose at the beginning are eliminated. In conclusion, the blade should be polished to a mirror finish with a special compound, reducing friction between the blade and the wood.

How can you tell if a blade is sharp enough? Take a piece of scrap wood and run your knife across the grain. If an even mark remains, then the blade is sharp. If the fibers stick out in different directions and the mark is rough, then you need to sharpen the blade more.

REQUIRED TOOLS

cutting tools

Knife (preferably with a fixed blade)

Four straight chisels (palm size is enough)

No. 3 sloping chisel 1/2 wide (1.3 cm)

No. 7 semi-circular chisel 1/2 wide (1.3 cm) No. 11 steep chisel 1/4 wide (6 mm)

No. 12 chisel-corner 1/4 wide (6 mm)

Drawing supplies and patterning tools

Copier (MFP)

Bow saw ("snake")

Support (see above)

Drawing accessories

Pencil

Copy paper

Wood carving is an exciting hobby. The possibilities for creativity are almost endless, there are many techniques and styles of carving. In order to take the first steps in the direction of this art, you need a professional tool, and it costs a lot of money. You can make a tool for carving wood with your own hands.

For an entry-level, several devices are enough that can be used to draw a picture on wooden surface. This article will discuss how to make the first wood carving kits. First you need to decide what woodworking tools for beginners you will need.

Chisels

You can make chisels for wood carving with your own hands, having a metal blank and a grinder with a grinding stone. The final sharpening of the chisels is done manually, without the use of power tools, after giving desired shape the point needs to be hardened.

It is necessary to harden the cutting part of the chisel after shaping and sharpening the point. To do this, heat the sharp part of the tool to a crimson color with a gas or kerosene burner and lower it into a container with machine oil or mining.

Advice! Immediately after placing the working part of the chisel in the liquid, move it into the sand, this will save you from the procedure for cleaning the chisel from fuel oil.

The tip of a chisel can be straight and figured, the easiest way to make a straight point is to make the correct figured chisel you need to know the proportions.

The handle can be carved at home lathe assembled from an engine from an old refrigerator and a corner of different sizes.

Types of chisels for wood carving have different dimensions and shapes of the working part, it is expressed in numerical values from 1 to 12.

The curvature of the chisel is determined by the number assigned to it, the smoother it is, the less the numerical value is used to designate it. Smooth chisels for wood carving are used mainly at the initial stage of processing the workpiece. More curved V and U shaped, which are numbered 12 and 11 respectively, are used to give the final appearance product.

Advice! When making a handle for a chisel, try to make it flatter, this will prevent the tool from rolling off the table involuntarily. When falling on the working part, it becomes dull and requires frequent sharpening.

Woodcarving is done with small chisels, the size of an adult's palm. There are smaller tools, they are used in working with small parts.

incisors

One of the most commonly used wood carving tools is a cutter. Woodcarving cutters should be of various shapes, in total, the kit includes from six varieties. The types of wood cutters depend on the factors described below.

The difference is the shape of the blade and the angle of its inclination, depending on them, the cutter is selected for each specific case. Of the six devices, one is usually considered the main one, most of the operations are performed using it. Here are some requirements applicable to all varieties of incisors:

Convenience - the handle should lie well in the palm of your hand, and not have sharp edges, so as not to damage your hand during operation;
Sharpness - the blade should always be well sharpened. To keep sharpening longer, the blade is made of alloyed tool steel.

Sharpening incisors is a responsible and complex process, since sometimes they have a bizarre blade shape.

When buying a cutter in the market or in a specialized store, do not hesitate to take it in your hands and check whether it will be convenient for you to work with it in the future.

Knives

When working with wood, you cannot do without a good knife, choosing this tool, you should give preference to the one that will be most convenient in wood processing. It is also important to find out what grade of steel was used in its manufacture.

When choosing a knife from a foreign manufacturer, it is necessary to compare the indicated steel grade with the domestic counterpart, and check what properties it has according to the steel grade.

A good knife is characterized by a high carbon content with the addition of alloying elements.

Knives for working with wood are divided into three types of folding, with a replaceable and fixed blade. A blade with a length of 40 to 50 mm and a thickness of 4 mm is considered optimal.

power tool

Wood carving involves manual processing, but on initial stage it is allowed to use power tools for woodcarving. These include:

Electric jigsaw;
Drill;
Lathe;
Electroplaner.

Preparatory stages, involving additional equipment, are needed to give the workpiece the necessary proportions for further processing using hand tools.

A wood carving workshop should be equipped with a standard set of power tools.

Knife making

Options self-manufacturing There are a lot of knives, consider the most popular of them.

Blade knife from a hacksaw

For such a knife, a broken or ground blade is suitable. The process of its processing is quite complicated, this is due high quality steel, but on the other hand, the better the tool will turn out.

Using a grinder, cut the canvas into three parts, at an angle of 45 degrees, this angle will be the working surface of the future knife.

The grinder accelerates to high speeds during operation, which will affect the quality of the metal, all alloying elements near the cut will simply burn out. Therefore, after sawing, you will need to clamp the desired part of the canvas in a vise and use a file to remove two, three damaged millimeters.

If the canvas is too thick, then it is recommended to remove excess metal with a small file or needle file. Sharpening a wood carving tool requires a thorough approach, this requires a needle file and sandpaper.

When the sharpened cutter is ready, you can think about the handle. The easiest is to just wrap it with duct tape or raw rubber, but professionals prefer wood handles.

Video: homemade woodcarving tools

One of the best materials For decorative design The interior was and still is wood. Being completely natural, neither in the process of processing, nor during operation, the tree does not emit substances harmful to health. Wood is practical, wood is beautiful. Using a simple tool, you can create a unique carved decoration: panel, casket, figurine.

A carved wood product is the best decoration of your own home and a great gift. Carving is not difficult, anyone can become a woodworker, you just need a little talent, a lot of perseverance and, of course, good tools for woodcarving.

What a beginner carver can't do without

Anyone who is lucky enough to be in the workshop of a real wood carving master will be horrified - he uses so many different tools. It's just eyes wide open. The master will easily determine how to perform this or that stroke, which is best for this or that detail. Choice the right tool for carving largely determines the quality of the product.

It is not at all necessary for a beginner carver to purchase a complete set of tools; for the manufacture of entry-level products, you can get by with a few of the most versatile knives and chisels. This will provide an opportunity to gain work experience, develop your own style, and then acquire exactly the tool that will really be in demand.

Knives-jambs

The most common wood carving knives are shovel knives. They are used by both venerable professionals and novice carvers. Knives of this type have a beveled blade, which makes it convenient for creating small indentations. Their use is justified both for flat-relief sampling and for creating three-dimensional compositions.

A separate type of jamb is a flag knife. It looks like a triangle with one corner stuck into the handle. This knife is universal, in work all zones of the blade are used.

Knives-jambs differ in the angle of the cutting edge and the width of the blade. According to the type of sharpening, single-bevel and two-bevel sharpening are distinguished. A novice carver should have several of these knives in his toolbox: at least three of different widths.

Cutters for geometric threads

In the manufacture of embossed panels, one cannot do without another common carver knife - a knife-cutter. Due to the longer blade, this knife is ideal for creating ornaments in the form of geometric shapes. It is convenient for them to process curvilinear figures and roundings. So, triangles and other shapes are cut out with a hatchet knife.

In addition to creating flat reliefs, cutters are widely used for bulk products. In skillful hands, a small cutter can be compared to an artist's brush.

Bogorodsky knife, "Tatyanka"

The phrase "Bogorodsk toy" is familiar to many. This is a handmade wooden figurine. Almost the entire process of carving, from preparing the workpiece to smoothing out small irregularities, is performed with a special knife, also called Bogorodsky. Such a knife must certainly be in the carver's workshop.

A modification of this knife, popularly called "Tatyanka", is widespread. When cutting soft wood, a full cycle of work can be performed with this tool alone. It is great for carving "by force", thanks to a comfortable handle it perfectly transfers force to the blade.

Chisels for woodcarving

It is convenient to make samples of a wide variety of configurations using chisels. Carvers use various tool but the most common are:

straight chisels;
semicircular or radius;
cranberries, semicircular chisels with a bend at the cutting edge;
bracketed, having a U-shaped profile;
corner.

Unlike knives, the use of chisels for woodcarving allows you to make a groove of the required depth and profile in one pass. When working with soft wood, the chisel is pressed in by hand; hard wood carving requires percussive technology. Here a wooden hammer, a mallet will come to the aid of the master.

In addition to differences in profile, chisels are also distinguished by size. There is a tool with a working edge from two millimeters to several centimeters.

In addition, there is another type of tools for engraving and woodcarving - a chisel. They can do beautiful artwork.

Other Required Tools

A carver cannot do with knives and chisels alone. It is necessary to acquire another tool designed for woodworking. The list can be very extensive, it all depends on the qualifications of the master and the list of products that he plans to make. In any case, you will need:

hacksaw or electric saw for cutting the workpiece;
hatchet for roughing;
planer and rasp for preparing the surface of the board;
a set of patterns for transferring the image to the workpiece;
drill, manual or electric;
nichrome wire for burning thin elements;
sandpaper of different grain sizes for the final finishing of the product.

It is also useful to worry about safety when carving with a sharp tool. For fastening small products, a carpenter's vice or several clamps are needed. A protective glove made of steel wire will help protect your hands from injury, this is especially true for beginner carvers. If the work involves multiple movements with a sharp knife “on yourself”, you should purchase an apron made of thick leather.

Tool sharpening

In order for wood carving to bring pleasure, and the created masterpieces to please the eye, the tool must be sharp. If an increase in material resistance is felt during work, it is necessary to take a break and sharpen the tool. This will allow you not to apply excessive force when carving and guarantees the excellent quality of every stroke, every groove.

Sharpening should begin with leveling the working surface of the tool. To do this, use a coarse-grained abrasive. It quickly and efficiently removes burrs, creates an ideal cutting edge.

Note! In work, it is important not to spoil the sharpening angle of the wood chisel and the geometry of the knife blade.

When working on emery, one must be careful, one should not allow the metal to overheat, sudden changes in temperature can “let go” of the cutting edge.

After large irregularities are removed, they move on to fine-grained abrasives. During grinding, the roughness that arose during the rough sharpening of the carving tool is removed. The last to use grinding mixtures applied to the felt base. They create a perfectly flat surface, reducing friction between tool and material to a minimum.

Choice and purchase

A novice carver naturally has a question - where to get a carving tool. This is not a problem these days. The industry offers chisels and knives of all kinds and modifications. You can buy several knives and one or two chisels, or you can buy a set of tools, guided by your own taste and financial capabilities.

Oddly enough, but a wide range of carver tools significantly complicates the choice. It is difficult to navigate and buy a really good thing. It is easy to become the owner of a "disposable" tool, which is enough for several hours of work.

Before buying a tool, you should definitely ask:

steel grade from which the tool is made;
manufacturer;
country of manufacture.

The tool is an individual thing. When choosing a knife or chisel, it would be right to hold it in your hands, check how convenient it is to use, and only after buying it. It will also be useful to talk on thematic forums where experts share their own experience, they will gladly give practical advice.

DIY knife

Many professionals do not recognize a purchased tool and prefer to work with one that they have made with their own hands. This makes sense, because every knife, every chisel fits perfectly to the hand of the master. It is convenient to work with such a tool, the hand does not get tired, it is easy to control the pressure.

This is a reasonable approach. Having experience with metal and good steel, you can start making a universal Bogorodsk knife for woodcarving or a hatchet knife. To do this, you can use a broken blade from a mechanical hacksaw 2 mm thick. From a tool of a sufficiently powerful electric sharpener.

The outlines of the blade are transferred to the workpiece and carefully processed along the contour. During operation, the workpiece must be periodically cooled by dipping it in a container of water.

For a person familiar with woodworking, making a handle will not be difficult. The ideal handle can be made from a mold obtained from plasticine held in the hand. wooden block a suitable size is marked out, clamped in a vise. With the help of a hacksaw (it is better to use a hacksaw for metal), excess is removed. For final finishing use a rasp and sandpaper.

One of the most relevant topics for any carver is where to get a good woodworking tool? High-quality well-sharpened wood cutters can help out even an inexperienced craftsman. The cuts are smooth, clean, and working with such a tool is much easier! Having tried different variants source material for the manufacture of tools for woodworking, from scalpels to razors, I settled on milling cutters for metal.

They are quite fragile and strong at the same time. Carbon steel allows you to keep the edge of the blade sharp for a long time, it does not dull even on hard woods.

So, first we cut the cutter on the metal cutter according to the pre-applied drawing of the future cutter:

In our case, this is a small knife-cutter, which is the main tool of the cutter:

The presence of such an abundance of sparks during cutting indicates that the steel is good, carbonaceous, which means it is suitable for wood carving:

It turns out such a blank:

It is desirable that the part that will be in the handle is larger than the blade. This is for strength.

We grind the blade of the knife, constantly dipping it in cold water so as not to overheat:

Now you need to make a handle for the knife. To do this, we take slats made of durable wood. In one part we draw the outline of the knife, the other as an overlay:

We cut a recess in the tree in the shape of a knife so that it drowns flush, coat both parts with PVA glue:

We glue the knife in a vice. It takes 12 hours to glue:

After gluing, we grind the handle, and bring the knife on the grinder to the desired sharpness.

According to this principle, you can make a knife with your own hands.

By the way, excellent wood chisels are obtained from metal drills:

And semicircular chisels from punches:

Knife - jamb can be made from a rapid saw:

Here are more wood cutters that I made with my own hands from a metal cutter:

The main tools of any woodcarver are shovel knives:

They are needed in different sizes and with different angles of inclination.

For wood cutting knives, all zones (blade, toe and heel) are used. The main requirements for knives: 1) they must be well fitted to the hand of the master, 2) they must be made of good carbon steel with good sharpening. Knife-jamb for woodcarving can be made by hand ()

In addition to jambs for figured woodcarving, they are also used auxiliary knives:

They come in different sizes and shapes, some of them are needed for rough cutting, others for cutting through small details.

For geometric woodcarving, various chisels. They are semicircular with varying degrees of convexity.

Also with straight cut.

And triangular section

Semicircular chisels are sometimes made with a cutting edge beveled at an angle of 45 degrees.

Cutters are often used cranberries. These are the same semicircular chisels with a blade bent near the cutting end.