Wood-Carving Tools And How (not) To Test Them.

[CumbrianLad]

Hi.

I'll say right off that this is just me confessing some of the idiocy of which I'm perfectly capable... do not read on if you are averse to the mere thought of blood...

First, I wanted small chisels for a specific purpose. I bought cheaply... really cheaply... the chisels arrived and though I never tested them on butter (for fear of contaminating my butter), I doubt they'd have cut it. Seriously, I tried them on 1/16" plywood and the cutting edge rolled! The wood was only slightly flattened. You get what you pay for!

I still wanted decent chisels, so ordered a set of 6 Narex (Czech) chisels.

They arrived today.

With too much enthusiasm, I opened the package and tried to take one out. 3 of the chisels pointed down in the packaging. The other 3 pointed up (this is the start and end of my lame excuse). I went to take out the flat 3mm chisel and my knuckle gently nudged into the neighbouring gouge...

... blood instantly started to flow from my knuckle. I now have a lovely crescent-shaped cutmark below my knuckle.

A bit of toilet roll and a plaster later, I was extremely happy with my purchase.

The instructions say to hone the chisels, although they are provided with a factory edge. I have a strop. I'll hone them, but I may not be able to type after this operation. It depends on how many fingers I inadvertently chop off.

Warning! Never attempt to test the quality of your chisels by jamming them into your body! It hurts.

 

[Don Case]

I have found that if you end up with crummy chisels it's worth a shot to harden/retemper them. I have a couple of chisels that actually turned into good tools after this treatment.

 

[AMack]

I recently bought some Veritas miniature chisels https://www.carbatec.com.au/set-of-three-minature-chisels they are excellent.

 

[shota70]

Dear Friends,
I would like to ask A question about carving / sculpting in boxwood:
whether it is very hard to need knock sculptors and not hand sculptors, or whether it is soft enough and suitable for working with hand sculptors and for small-scale sculpture like figuredhead ?
thanks

 

[CumbrianLad]

Thanks for the replies, folks.

I posted to give you a bit of a laugh at my clumsiness! I don't mind if you do. I've managed to cut myself 3 times in the last fortnight. Once with the chisel and twice with my Robert Welsh kitchen knives. The last of those, I was making food with my daughter. I was finely dicing spinach whilst talking to her and not looking at the knife. I grip herbs tightly to bunch them up and gradually move my fingers back whilst chopping. I forgot about moving my fingers. The result? The blade went clean through my thumbnail and neatly sliced off the very tip of my thumb. It was sore for days and the meal was meant to be vegetarian. Luckily I got no blood in the spinach.

On a serious note (probably G in a minor key), Don Case, I take your point. I may try it with the 2 chisels I didn't test. The other 3 are ruined, the edges of those 3 are rolled beyond belief. I doubt that it'll work, since the base metal is pure garbage, but we'll see. It'd be nice not to throw them away.

On a second serious note (any minor key will do. D minor is a favourite of mine). Amac, I'll bear that in mind. I'm very happy with the Narex chisels and I haven't even used the strop to hone them yet.

 

[Uwek]

Hi.

I'll say right off that this is just me confessing some of the idiocy of which I'm perfectly capable... do not read on if you are averse to the mere thought of blood...

First, I wanted small chisels for a specific purpose. I bought cheaply... really cheaply... the chisels arrived and though I never tested them on butter (for fear of contaminating my butter), I doubt they'd have cut it. Seriously, I tried them on 1/16" plywood and the cutting edge rolled! The wood was only slightly flattened. You get what you pay for!

I still wanted decent chisels, so ordered a set of 6 Narex (Czech) chisels.

They arrived today.

With too much enthusiasm, I opened the package and tried to take one out. 3 of the chisels pointed down in the packaging. The other 3 pointed up (this is the start and end of my lame excuse). I went to take out the flat 3mm chisel and my knuckle gently nudged into the neighbouring gouge...

... blood instantly started to flow from my knuckle. I now have a lovely crescent-shaped cutmark below my knuckle.

A bit of toilet roll and a plaster later, I was extremely happy with my purchase.

The instructions say to hone the chisels, although they are provided with a factory edge. I have a strop. I'll hone them, but I may not be able to type after this operation. It depends on how many fingers I inadvertently chop off.

Warning! Never attempt to test the quality of your chisels by jamming them into your body! It hurts.

Hallo @CumbrianLad
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY