Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Carving with Power Tools

There is a  cherished mystique about using only hand powered tools for carving and woodworking. An apprentice in one Japanese wood working school will not be allowed to touch a band saw or any electrically powered appliance until he has first mastered the art of planing surfaces and making perfect joints with hand tools.  Those young folks like Jeremy and others who steadfastly adhere to the way things were done before electric power was available have my admiration and respect.

But... I have way too much wood and way too little time to make something of it.  I prefer a gas powered chain saw over an axe to take down a tree.  An electric chain saw in my shop can be quite helpful to quickly reduce a chunk of black walnut to something closer to what I think it could be.  I also have a band saw, table saw, Dremels, die grinders, side angle grinders, and a variety of electric powered sharpening gismos.

 I am planning to bring some of this stuff to demonstrate after the annual meeting,  Jan. 17th.  If you have a favorite power carving tool, please bring it along for show and tell..
Using Dremel with sanding disk to refine inside snake coils