Shaping wood ?

[al3ph]

I`ve made a oak box (retro arcade joystick) with big fat sides and want to sculpt it with nice curves etc. Whats the best tool for doing this ?
I`ve got a couple spokeshaves which work nicely for putting bevels on it but I`m guessing I need some rasps to really shape the wood, if my assumption is correct what should I get ?

I`ve noticed that Axminster sell microplane ones which aren't to expensive, would these be good, I`d rather not go down the hand stiched path (no matter how lovely they might be) as thats more than I`d like to spend just yet.

cheers

 

[Jacob]

depends on exactly what you want to do. There's chisels. gouges, rasps, spokeshaves, drawknives, adze, axe, etc. Virtually all woodwork tools are for shaping wood, one way or another.

 

[al3ph]

Ah yeah, good point. I just want to add some curves to the profile, bit like the attached picture, but more varied.

 

[bugbear]

Ah yeah, good point. I just want to add some curves to the profile, bit like the attached picture, but more varied.

If the boxes are already made, and have thick walls, something like an arbortech/Lancelot might suit.

They're VICIOUS rotary cutters that fit in angle grinders. Sort of like chainsaw carving, only smaller.

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

As you've posted in the hand tools thread, and seem to be on a budget, here's a low cost hand tools answer.
As BB did, I'm assuming assembled boxes with thick sides.

If you want concave curves:

Buy (from eBay or a car boot) one or two gouges. Fairly common out-cannel pattern (ie with a bevel on the outside of the curve). Sharpen them up and get carving. You will need to take careful note of grain direction, and take careful, light cuts. If you want to smooth out all the tool marks, wrap coarse sandpaper around a broomstick or an offcut of plastic piping etc, and sand away, swapping to finer grits when you can.

Alternatively, buy one or two old wooden round planes and take a similar approach. (This may not be so successful if you need to cut across end grain, as on the boxes in the pictures.)

If you just want convex curves it's much easier - an ordinary plane will work to make a curved surface.

However, I would say also that if you want the result to look good, you will need careful planning and control of what you do. For a nice example, see if you can find a casket that Woodbloke made - concave sides joined by secret dovetails.

 

[al3ph]

Ah I hadn`t considered gouges, they might work. I`ll have a look on fleabay.


cheers

 

[jimi43]

Ah I hadn`t considered gouges, they might work. I`ll have a look on fleabay.


cheers

Since you're only in Ashford you might want to pop up one day when Douglas and I meet up. He's got some Logier rasps....which at first seem quite expensive but are worth every penny.

The idea is to remove all the waste wood as quickly and efficiently as possible down to a certain point conforming roughly to the shape you want and then start refining with more delicate tools.

Drop me a PM if you want to come over...now that Kent is truly tropical!! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[al3ph]

Yeah I`ve a sneaking suspision that a rasp or two is likely to be the best tool for the job. Pity they are so much, though I suspect I`d probably be able to get away with just a couple.

I have visited the Logier site, they look nice

Ah I hadn`t considered gouges, they might work. I`ll have a look on fleabay.
cheers

Since you're only in Ashford you might want to pop up one day when Douglas and I meet up. He's got some Logier rasps....which at first seem quite expensive but are worth every penny.

The idea is to remove all the waste wood as quickly and efficiently as possible down to a certain point conforming roughly to the shape you want and then start refining with more delicate tools.

Drop me a PM if you want to come over...now that Kent is truly tropical!! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Jacob]

Yeah I`ve a sneaking suspision that a rasp or two is likely to be the best tool for the job. Pity they are so much, though I suspect I`d probably be able to get away with just a couple.

I have visited the Logier site, they look nice

....

There's a vast range of cheaper rasps and lots of varieties of surforms available - other brands besides Stanley, including nice japanese ones. They work perfectly well.
If you did buy a Liogier rasp, assuming they are as good as they all say, at those prices I'd reserve it for finishing - you couldn't afford to use it for bulk material removal!

Start here http://www.axminster.co.uk/files-rasps- ... 14739_pg1/ then look further afield.

 

[al3ph]

Yep I went for a couple of the micro plane ones, see how I get on, I'll get some nicer rasps if I find I'm using them more than expected

cheers

Yeah I`ve a sneaking suspision that a rasp or two is likely to be the best tool for the job. Pity they are so much, though I suspect I`d probably be able to get away with just a couple.

I have visited the Logier site, they look nice

....

There's a vast range of cheaper rasps and lots of varieties of surforms available - other brands besides Stanley, including nice japanese ones. They work perfectly well.
If you did by a Liogier rasp, assuming they are as good as they all say, at those prices I'd reserve it for finishing - you couldn't afford to use it for bulk material removal!

Start here http://www.axminster.co.uk/files-rasps- ... 14739_pg1/ then look further afield.

 

[GazPal]

Saw rasps are pretty good for efficient bulk material removal :wink:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/ice-bear-jap ... prod20284/

You can obviously vary both tooling and your approach depending on the degree of work being undertaken, but tool expense justification needs to be a personal one and I think you're taking the right approach.