Chris Knight
Established Member
Shaping Miscellany
For the biomorphic joints of the rockers I have been making, I have used a number of tools. To answer the obvious question as to what you really, really need, I'd say rasps, spokeshaves, scrapers and sandpaper in that order.
1. Angle grinder
As unlikely as it sounds, this is a pretty versatile tool and used carefully can remove a lot of stock in a hurry and give a good rough shape for refining with less aggressive tools. I have tried it with the arbortech attachment but in practice a much much cheaper 36 grit sanding disc attachment from Machine Mart works just as well in the heavy duty areas and much better in the more delicate areas.
Many alternatives exist for those who prefer not to use such a tool of course. I have done the same hogging off with a combination of chisels and gouges, with rasps and with cordless drill equipped with a mini drum sanding attachment and with spokeshaves. Not being a dedicated Neander - just a part time one, I tend to use the tools that give me the result I want in the shortest time. Nearly always this means a combination of power tools and handwork (a rare exception is jointing long - more than four feet - boards of an inch or so in thickness where I can hand plane a glue joint more quickly than I can machine plane it).
2. Dremel tool and small diameter coarse sander
This is great for taking off a lot of wood in a hurry whilst maintaining some semblance of control over the proceedings
3. Rasps
Good rasps are handmade and the reason they work well has a lot to do with the irregularity of the teeth. The randomness of the teeth prevents "washboarding" and the creation of those horrible ripples that seem to multiply rather than disappear as one tries to get rid of them. I have bought Auriou rasps that come in all shapes and sizes and notably in fineness/coarseness of cut. All our American cousins have in this line are two (count them) Nicholson rasps the 49 and the 50. Auriou - made in France have fifteen degrees of cut and umpteen shapes.
I use cuts from a number 9 to number 15 in a variety of sizes - all in half round configurations and all tapered at the end. Despite looking fierce and having large teeth, the number nine cuts sweetly and leaves a fairly smooth finish that can, if need be, be smoothed with 100 grit sandpaper.
4. Wood chisels
These are of limited use for making smooth curves, they are best used bevel down to help with exiting the cut and when using them like this one is better off using an out cannel gouge or carving chisel.
5. Patternmakers' gouges
Both in-cannel and out-cannel can be very useful if you have ones that match the radius of the curve you want to cut. In-cannel gouges can be very unforgiving if you embark on a cut against the grain and find it wants to dive into the wood but they also give the cleanest cut for a curve of absolute dimensions. For joints, it is both easier and safer to use out cannel gouges where the bevel helps to exit the cuts
6. Carving chisels and gouges
My recent carving course gave me an appreciation for these and an ability to sharpen them properly. They are a pleasure to work with in this kind of sculptural jointing. However they are not particularly cheap and one needs quite a few to make reasonable work of all the curves and planes in these joints
7. Small diameter air powered sander
You thought we had left these powered things behind? No chance. This is a great little tool that sounds like a demented dentist's drill. It is actually a miniature ROS (2 inches diameter). With 100 or 180 grit paper it makes nice smooth sanded transitions where I would prefer my Festool ROS to do the job but where it is too big for the joint in question. At a pinch and at the cost of lots of sanding discs, it can perform creditably as a shaper, rather than just as a smoother.
8. Festool ROS with soft sanding pad
A bit like a Mercedes waterbed of a sanding option
9. A very thin scraper
I have saved the best till next to last. This is perhaps the most versatile tool in my armoury - it is certainly the cheapest. In conjunction with the wonder burnisher I have spoken of previously and pictured here because I love it, I can make this scraper take huge shavings worthy almost of a scrub plane (yes, I know I'm exaggerating - but not a whole lot!) or equally, fine tissue thin stuff. Because it's thin I can bend it into all sorts of shapes and use it at any position in the joints. It has no equal for dealing with glue squeeze-out and difficult grain. If you told me I had to choose between a table saw and a scraper for my work in future, I would choose a scraper!
10, Abralon. This is wonderful stiff made by Mirka in grits from around 180 to 4000 and super for sanding curves and film finishes. It comes as rounds for ROS tools and as rectangles for hand sanding
For the biomorphic joints of the rockers I have been making, I have used a number of tools. To answer the obvious question as to what you really, really need, I'd say rasps, spokeshaves, scrapers and sandpaper in that order.
1. Angle grinder
As unlikely as it sounds, this is a pretty versatile tool and used carefully can remove a lot of stock in a hurry and give a good rough shape for refining with less aggressive tools. I have tried it with the arbortech attachment but in practice a much much cheaper 36 grit sanding disc attachment from Machine Mart works just as well in the heavy duty areas and much better in the more delicate areas.
Many alternatives exist for those who prefer not to use such a tool of course. I have done the same hogging off with a combination of chisels and gouges, with rasps and with cordless drill equipped with a mini drum sanding attachment and with spokeshaves. Not being a dedicated Neander - just a part time one, I tend to use the tools that give me the result I want in the shortest time. Nearly always this means a combination of power tools and handwork (a rare exception is jointing long - more than four feet - boards of an inch or so in thickness where I can hand plane a glue joint more quickly than I can machine plane it).
2. Dremel tool and small diameter coarse sander
This is great for taking off a lot of wood in a hurry whilst maintaining some semblance of control over the proceedings
3. Rasps
Good rasps are handmade and the reason they work well has a lot to do with the irregularity of the teeth. The randomness of the teeth prevents "washboarding" and the creation of those horrible ripples that seem to multiply rather than disappear as one tries to get rid of them. I have bought Auriou rasps that come in all shapes and sizes and notably in fineness/coarseness of cut. All our American cousins have in this line are two (count them) Nicholson rasps the 49 and the 50. Auriou - made in France have fifteen degrees of cut and umpteen shapes.
I use cuts from a number 9 to number 15 in a variety of sizes - all in half round configurations and all tapered at the end. Despite looking fierce and having large teeth, the number nine cuts sweetly and leaves a fairly smooth finish that can, if need be, be smoothed with 100 grit sandpaper.
4. Wood chisels
These are of limited use for making smooth curves, they are best used bevel down to help with exiting the cut and when using them like this one is better off using an out cannel gouge or carving chisel.
5. Patternmakers' gouges
Both in-cannel and out-cannel can be very useful if you have ones that match the radius of the curve you want to cut. In-cannel gouges can be very unforgiving if you embark on a cut against the grain and find it wants to dive into the wood but they also give the cleanest cut for a curve of absolute dimensions. For joints, it is both easier and safer to use out cannel gouges where the bevel helps to exit the cuts
6. Carving chisels and gouges
My recent carving course gave me an appreciation for these and an ability to sharpen them properly. They are a pleasure to work with in this kind of sculptural jointing. However they are not particularly cheap and one needs quite a few to make reasonable work of all the curves and planes in these joints
7. Small diameter air powered sander
You thought we had left these powered things behind? No chance. This is a great little tool that sounds like a demented dentist's drill. It is actually a miniature ROS (2 inches diameter). With 100 or 180 grit paper it makes nice smooth sanded transitions where I would prefer my Festool ROS to do the job but where it is too big for the joint in question. At a pinch and at the cost of lots of sanding discs, it can perform creditably as a shaper, rather than just as a smoother.
8. Festool ROS with soft sanding pad
A bit like a Mercedes waterbed of a sanding option
9. A very thin scraper
I have saved the best till next to last. This is perhaps the most versatile tool in my armoury - it is certainly the cheapest. In conjunction with the wonder burnisher I have spoken of previously and pictured here because I love it, I can make this scraper take huge shavings worthy almost of a scrub plane (yes, I know I'm exaggerating - but not a whole lot!) or equally, fine tissue thin stuff. Because it's thin I can bend it into all sorts of shapes and use it at any position in the joints. It has no equal for dealing with glue squeeze-out and difficult grain. If you told me I had to choose between a table saw and a scraper for my work in future, I would choose a scraper!
10, Abralon. This is wonderful stiff made by Mirka in grits from around 180 to 4000 and super for sanding curves and film finishes. It comes as rounds for ROS tools and as rectangles for hand sanding
