Took advantage of Woodcraft's 10% off sale and bought some Pfeil Swiss Made carving tools that I'd had my eye on for a while. I've never carved anything in my life, but have been fascinated by Peter Follansbee's work and also by the fine carving work I've seen by Kari Hultman on her Village Carpenter blog. I bought the set of 6 to start with, as it had tools that I thought would be useful in a variety of different projects. The set included a 8mm straight chisel(double bevel), 12mm #5, 10mm #7, 10mm #9, 3mm #11 veiner,and a 6mm #12 V-parting tool.
I went to the fabric store this afternoon and bought some duck cloth to make a tool roll to give my new tools some kind of protection. The roll has 19 slots, so I have room for more tools; Christmas coming and all, in case my lovely wife or wonderful mother are reading this. :) I'm no seamstress but I think the tool roll turned out pretty good considering I made it using my daughter's "I'm a Big Girl Now" sewing machine. :)
Hope to give a report on how they carve soon.
7 comments:
You did such a good job on your tool roll, maybe Santa will bring you a full size sewing machine for Christmas instead of more carving tools. ; )
Maybe an old TREADLE sewing machine! I like doing the unplugged thing. :)
Jamie
You know, you need to make a list for your "lovely wife" so that you don't end up with the wrong items.. :)
Those are really cool. I've been reading the same things you have, have been thinking the same thoughts, and wanted to buy the same tools, but haven't followed through yet. I think I'm going to have to overanalyze it a bit more. I'm down to the Ashley Iles versus the Pfeils. I have so much rusty junk to fix before then though . . . to sell so I can overanalyze some more! Keep us updated with your carving. As a fellow carving tyro I'm very, very curious to see what you do and how you do it.
Hi Jen Bacon! Got an ever growing list in production now. Lots of cool tools to make lots of nice stuff for us. :-)
Anonymous, still haven't had a chance to use the new tools yet, but I'll post something when I do. Just made a candle box last week and I think it may be in need of a little carving. :-) I doubt you could go wrong with the pfeils or the Iles. Or Henry Taylor for that matter. I'm sure they're all fine tools and more than likely it just comes down to personal feel (handle design, weight of the tool in your hand). The 10% off sale pushed me over the edge on the Pfeils; plus I like the octagonal handles. Good luck on your search for the right set. Let me know what you choose.
Actually that little sewing machine looks pretty effective for this type of basic need. I've been thinking of making up some leather tool rolls, but the duck looks like it does a nice job.
The iron men of the wooden ships used to sew everything they needed out of duck cloth like this, clothes, bags, hammocks, awnings, etc. (by hand and needle, of course). If you couldn't make it yourself you weren't a real sailor.
I'll be interested in seeing your carving progress. Peter makes it look so easy. I have some old Pfeils from my uncle, plus a few I bought new. However, my carving skills are just...embarrassing! Maybe now that I'm better at sharpening, though...
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