Wood carving tools. Wood carving knives A tool for cutting various shapes of wood

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. Climbers include all kinds of cranberries - a 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 way- 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 a canvas 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:

Raw material selection

From right choice raw materials depends on the quality of the resulting product. There are hard and soft wood products. Each variety has its own pros and cons, for each specific case a specific processing technology is selected.

Among the soft breeds most often used:

birch
aspen
pine
juniper.

Soft grades are easier to process, but they are easier to spoil with one wrong movement of the cutting tool.

From durum varieties select:

Red tree
boxwood.

Solid timber has a higher cost, but the items are beautiful, unusual and popular. With such materials, craftsmen with experience most often work, knowing the intricacies of processing a hard surface without damaging the tool or causing injury. Therefore, wood carving for beginners is more accessible from soft woods.

When choosing, you should pay attention not only to the hardness, but also to the shade of the raw material. For young craftsmen, birch blanks are ideal. It can be processed in different directions. It drills and cuts well. For the first job, you need a small wood carving kit.

Thread types

Woodcarving belongs to the plastic arts. Allocate relief and three-dimensional sculptural carving. Beginning carvers need to first master the techniques of creating a relief. In this technique, the following options are possible:

geometric
flat-relief
openwork
blind carving with matched background
slotted contour thread
invoice.

However, this is not the whole list. Classifications often differ due to the fact that our state is quite large. In different regions, the names of the same technique may be different. But the core of the work remains the same. All young craftsmen start with geometric carving. She is light and beautiful.

There are three types of geometric threads:

contour
trihedral-notched
nail or staple.

You can come up with a drawing yourself or copy the pattern you like. Do not immediately start cutting complex patterns. The pattern is made up of simple geometric shapes, it can be stripes, squares, triangles of various types, polygons, circles and segments of a circle. So that from such simple shapes to get beautiful combinations, all the same elements must be made of the same size, the same depth. Only in this way will individual carved figures become a uniform pattern, called an ornament.

To practice geometric carving on homogeneous wood, you need to have one cutter 0.2 cm wide and chisels for wood carving, about 5 to 10 pieces.

First you need to mark the fields on each side with a compass marker. The rectangular section obtained inside the fields must be divided using a ruler and a square along the width into the required number of segments and draw lines.

The knife-cutter must be installed vertically with respect to the workpiece at the beginning of the first line and cut with its toe to a depth of approximately 1.5-2 mm. The cutter is driven from the opposite edge in the direction "towards you". The carving is done while sitting. In order for the cutter not to wag and to get as few chips as possible, the heel of the cutter must be brought closer to the plank.

At the end of the intended line, the workpiece must be turned to the left and cut with a cutter along the same line at an angle from the second edge. As a result of such actions, you will get an even groove, or groove, of the correct triangular section.

Workplace of the cutter

Wood carving involves working with sharp objects, so it must be carried out at a workbench that meets necessary requirements stability and strength. If there is no workbench, you can use a tabletop of any size. At the same time, in height it should not exceed the level of the cutter's belt. During operation, notches often form, they must be removed. The board on which the ornament is cut must be firmly fixed with clamps.

Also important is the lighting. For a large number natural light, the table should be placed near the window. In the presence of a single light source, dull dark shadows are observed that prevent a clean carving from being made. Professionals advise installing 2-3 more lamps above the table. They need to be installed in such a way that they illuminate the table from different sides. Light sources should be located above the carver's eyes. Comfort and safety - this is the result of high-quality lighting.

In specialized stores you can buy a set of tools for woodcarving. It is applicable to almost all types of thread. The quality of the final product depends on the quality of the tools used.

Tools must be made to last, from high quality steel. In addition, they must be perfectly sharpened. Poor quality tools crumble and crush the wood. Basic carving tools:

shovel knives. They are used to create small indentations. The blade of such a knife is beveled by 35-400. The width of the canvas can be from 4 to 50 mm. According to the type of sharpening, single-beveled and double-beveled
cutter knives are necessary for the implementation of geometric, contour and sculptural carving. They are suitable for processing rounded elements.
chisels have different shapes. They can be straight, sloping, angular, semicircular. Straight chisels can make shallow grooves, chamfer. Semicircular recesses are made sloping and semicircular. Angle chisels create fine grooves
spoon knives are necessary to create internal spherical surfaces with three-dimensional carving
staples and staples are used to remove rough primary wood
chasings are metal rods with a working surface in the form of various geometric shapes. They are used to process smooth workpieces in order to give them a texture or pattern.

One of the best materials for decorative design The interior was and still is wood. Being completely natural, the tree does not emit substances harmful to health either during processing or during operation. Wood is practical, wood is beautiful. Taking advantage a simple tool, you can create a unique carved decoration: a panel, a box, a 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. The choice of the right carving tool largely determines the quality of the product.

It is not at all necessary for a novice carver to purchase full set 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 wooden figurine. self made. 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 a variety of tools, 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 great quality every stroke, every groove.

Sharpening should start with alignment working surface 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 would also be useful to chat on thematic forums where experts share own experience They will gladly give good 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.

Wood carving is used to create both functional products and decorative fixtures. Today, at the time of the technical process, with the advent of woodworking technology and artificial materials, carving moved into the realm of leisure and hobby.

However, the century-old tool is used by practicing carvers in the restoration of furniture, buildings and other works of art, as well as new products.

In carving, the ability to produce any product of high quality requires not only the innate ability of the carver, but also the practical skills to work with an immeasurable variety of forms. For this, they were created as specialized hand tools and electrical appliances.

Chisels for woodcarving

The basis of carving tools is wood cutters for handmade. A set of round and flat chisels can be represented by 18 cutting edge shapes. Cloths have up to 5 different profiles, they vary in size from 2 to 50 mm.

Round and flat chisels for wood cutting are identified by number and name. As a rule, the name corresponds to the shape of the cutting edge and blade, while the section of the cutting edge is different. To facilitate the identification of chisels, a numbering system was adopted in the 19th century.

Special chisels are made, which are used for delicate and complex work. These include:

flat corner cranberry right and left;
cranberry with reverse bend;
cranberry with a stepped bend;
round chisel "fish tail";
pterygoid corner;
curved canvas with a rectangular chute;
cranberries with a rounded rectangular trough.

Other hand tools for cutting

In addition to chisels in carving, other general purpose woodworking tools:

Special fixtures

electrical tools

Modern carvers widely use electric tools for wood, which are lightweight, functional, and mobile:

Electric drill is the main power tool on the market. Drills are produced both with mains power and cordless. Many people buy a cordless tool out of habit, although cordless models are more convenient to use. They are lightweight, quiet, have removable battery packs, or come with wall-mounted stands with a built-in charger. Usage range electric drill expand all kinds of devices on it.
An electric jigsaw is a tool that works like a hacksaw and an openwork or bow saw. Modern designs are equipped with electronic speed control, the motors are highly balanced and have little vibration. All jigsaws are designed so that saws can be easily changed. A wide variety is produced various kinds saw blades for wood with a special tooth configuration.
Circular saw or circular saw the specialist uses when you need to cut wood in any direction, quickly, accurately and safely. The main thing is to choose a tool with precise guides and a reliable saw blade guard. Some models have a built-in electronic control system that provides a smooth start when turned on and speed selection.
An electric planer is ideal for quick trimming or trimming. There are several types of knives that simply change if both edges become dull. The knife block is protected by a barrier, which prevents not only the worker, but also the knives from being damaged.
Using electric grinders, you can prepare the surface of the product for polishing or varnishing. There are belt and disc vibratory grinders.
Manual electric milling machine took the place of planers, zenzubels, tongue-and-groove and false gobels. With its help, edges, grooves are cut out in a wooden blank, quarters are selected, chamfered.

Installation of a wooden blank

Hand tools for woodcarving are very sharp. Therefore, for safe operation, it is important that the workpiece is secured. They use both special fixing devices or standard clamps, and made independently.

With sculptural cutting, the main condition for comfortable work is the ability to quickly change the angle of the product. To do this, use a special rotary clamp, with which you can quickly change and fix any angle of the workpiece.

Locksmith vise can be used for woodcarving by installing soft sponges on them so as not to leave traces of a metal sponge on the future product. The standard vise of a carpentry workbench can be used if you attach clamps to them, which will continue to hold the workpiece.

For clamping a flat workpiece on the surface of a stand or workbench, a joiner's quick-acting clamp will be convenient. A gasket must be placed between the product and the clamp. For the same purpose, you can use bench stops.

Wood carving vise is similar to a locksmith's but not made of metal, but of wood. They have thicker cheeks, which are covered with leather or cork so as not to damage the product. A model vice is an analogue of a metal vice. They have large, wood-lined cheeks that can turn.

A bench screw is used for rigid fastening of workpieces on a stand or workbench. The end of the screw thread is screwed into the wood, and the other end is fixed with a nut through a hole in the stand or workbench.

The stand of the carver is a wooden workbench, which consists of four spaced massive legs for reliable support and a thick surface. The surface is drilled in order to use fixing products on it. For stability, the stand must be weighted by attaching additional weight to it.

Main types and styles of carving

The following types of thread are distinguished from the type of materials and the method of its processing:

flat-relief;
embossed;
flat notched;
sculptural;
propyl.

Each type has its own tasks, methods of execution and results:

In applied arts and architecture, flat-relief carving is used. With this technique, the drawing and the background look voluminous, although they are in the same plane. This is achieved by cutting deep into the canvas along the contour of the image.
The most picturesque is relief cutting. Drawing with this time-consuming technique, relative to the background, will be convex.
With the flat-notched technique, the ornament is applied to a flat surface. The pattern is displayed in the form of recesses and recesses.
The sculptural look of woodworking creates images without a background. This technique is used to make toys, souvenirs that can be viewed from all sides.
The sawing method of carving involves the removal of the background completely. A pattern is applied to the fixed workpiece and holes for the saw are drilled. A cut is made along the contour, chamfered with a chisel and skinned. The effect of lightness, airiness is created.

There are author's styles of woodcarving. These styles, patented by the carver Shamil Sasykov, include the Tatyanka style. This is a flat-relief carving, in which there are flat-notched elements. You can get acquainted with this technique on the author's website tatianka.ru. Wood carving tool and tutorial can be purchased from this site's online store.

All photos from the article

Wood carving is a very interesting and exciting process, and anyone can master this skill. The only thing is that for this you need to prepare a certain set of tools. Next, we will consider in detail what tools are needed for wood carving, and for what purposes they are used.

Set of tools

cutters

Cutters are one of the main tools for woodcarving. Moreover, there should be several different angles blade inclination and its dimensions, which will provide convenience when performing various operations.

As a rule, there are six cutters in the cutter kit, while one of them is the main one, which is most convenient to work with. The choice of such a knife is a purely individual matter.

However, there are some basic requirements that all cutters must meet:

The handle should fit comfortably in the hand;
The blade must be sharp, made of high quality steel.

When choosing a tool, you should take it in your hands to make sure that the handle is ergonomic enough.

In the photo - a set of chisels

Chisels

There are chisels different types and are characterized by the following parameters:

Width - the choice depends on the size and type of thread.
Curvature - the greater the curvature, the greater the number that marks the tool.

For example, the chisel number 3 has an almost flat profile, and the tool number 11 is U-shaped. As you might guess, chisel 11 can cut wood deeper than chisel number 3. At the same time, it is more convenient to work with the latter when finishing the product.

It should also be noted that there are chisels with the number 12, which have a V-shaped profile. They are characterized by a wide range of angles under which the faces are located - 24-90 degrees. However, the most common is the V-shaped chisel with an angle in the range of 60-70 degrees.

Advice!
When choosing a chisel, you should pay attention to the handle of the tool.
It should not be round so that it does not roll off the table onto the floor.
Otherwise, you will have to regenerate the blade frequently.

To do wood carving with your own hands, you should purchase palm-sized chisels. For fine carving, you will need an even smaller tool. But for relief and sculptural carving, a tool is used standard sizes with big handles.

Abrasives

Abrasives include files and rasps. With their help, you can smoothly remove excess wood. The main difference between the files is in the following points:

Also abrasive tools include:

Grinding flexible belt - used when processing curved surfaces.
Grinding cylinders (nozzles for hand drill) - are an indispensable tool for the final finishing of the product.

Note!
Sandpaper can only be used to finish the wood product, otherwise the wood carving tool will quickly become dull on particles of abrasive stuck in the wood.

power tool

Significantly simplify and at the same time speed up the process allows various power tools for wood carving.

Let's take a look at the most common types below:

Circular saws - thanks to a large selection of blades, they allow you to perform even those operations that cannot be performed with a bow saw.
- allow you to quickly complete the finishing of products. In addition, they can be used to remove bark and perform some other operations.
Rotary tools with a large selection of heads (milling cutters) - allow you to perform grooves, profiles and many other operations.

Note!
On sale you can even find such an electric tool as chisels that perform reciprocating motion.
They are intended primarily for people suffering from arthritis and other joint diseases.

Fixing devices

A vise is usually used as a fixing device, which is fixed on a workbench. In order not to leave marks on the product, it is necessary to use gaskets when clamping it in a vice. These can be pieces of thick leather or plywood.

Tool sharpening

Sooner or later, any cutting tool becomes dull. Buying a new one because of this, of course, does not make sense, since its price is quite high. If the tool is sharpened, then it can last quite a long time, and you can do it yourself.

The process of sharpening cutters and others is as follows:

The first step is to sharpen the cutting parts with a fine abrasive.. For example, sandpaper or diamond grit. First one side is sharpened, and then the second.
You can also use a special power tool to perform this operation.

Next, you need to eliminate the bumps that appeared as a result of the initial grinding..
After that, it is necessary to grind the blade with a special compound until a mirror shine is obtained.. This will reduce the friction between the wood and working part tool.

After performing all of the above operations, you need to determine how sharp the tool turned out to be. The instruction is quite simple - you need to draw a blade across the wood across the fibers. If the trace is even, then the blade is sharp, but if the trace is rough and the fibers are fluffy, then the tool needs to be sharpened further.

Tool Care

In order for the tool to last as long as possible, it is necessary to ensure proper care behind him. To do this, you only need to periodically inspect it and wipe it with an oiled cloth to prevent corrosion.

All inventory should be stored wrapped in cloth or in separate compartments of the locker. This will significantly reduce the time for sharpening the blades. Here, perhaps, is all the basic information that you need to know about the tool for woodcarving.

Conclusion

Woodcarving involves the use of a fairly large number of tools, but the main ones are cutters and chisels, while the rest of the devices can be classified as auxiliary. However, regardless of the type of tools, they should all be comfortable and in good technical condition. The quality of the thread, and even the safety of work, depends on this.

Get some useful information on this topic can be from the video in this article.