ARTICLE ON GREEN WOODWORKING TOOLS BY MARK ANGELINI
Mark wrotes: At our Nov. ’13 meetup folks were asking me about what tools I use in my green wood work and where to get them. So here is a list of resources of what tools I recommend, where to get them, as well as miscellany including tutorial videos and the like.
TOOLS:
A basic green wood working kit for making spoons, cups, axe/hatchet hafts/helves, or other small wooden pieces includes:
- A sharp hand axe aka hatchet
- A thin profiled single beveled straight knife (also referred to as a sloyd/slojd knife)
- A hook knife
- A sharpening kit with at least two different grits of sharpening stone and a strop for honing
That’s the base kit.
A more advanced kit would probably contain (in order of importance):
- A drawknife
- Several lengths of straight knives
- Several hook knives of various radius’s
- An adze for hollowing bowls, especially
- Framing chisels
- Hand planes
- Spoke shave
- A few hand axes of various weights and cutting edge lengths
- A froe for splitting and riving wood
All of this being said: start with the least amount of tools—master those and then think about adding more. It’s common to get tool lust and spend all sorts of money on various tools and kit, just to have it sit around unused, rusting, or collecting dust. So, buy as little as possible up front, get the hang of those tools, then assess if more will make work more enjoyable. Of course, if you want to collect tools, that’s a whole ‘nother topic/problem… (Chronic Tool Acquisition Syndrome) 🙂
SOURCES:
My favorite tools so far come from these fine makers. If you are going to put own hard earned cash, don’t waste it on cheaply made tools that will most likely break, not hold an edge, or be of inferior design. Been there done that…
Axes:
Read this article first:which is the best axe for carving, bushcraft, general use?
I have used and recommend the Gransfors Bruks wildlife hatchet, mini belt hatchet, and especially, their carving axe.
My main axe is one custom forged by Dan Roesinger of Stark Raven Studios in Northern Wisconsin—his Scandinavian Carving Hatchet: http://www.stark-rave…
Wetterlings is another Swedish, hand forged maker that is comparable to Granfsors Bruks. Again their wildlife is going to be the most well rounded for carving and other uses.
Bahco makes, from what I hear from other carvers, a very good low cost alternative to Scandinavian steel.
Knives:
Read these first:
– What is the best knife for wood carving and whittling?
–Which is the best spoon carving knife, hook knife?
The best all-around knives, at bargain prices, are the Eric Frost’s from Mora, Sweden. They make some of the best knives around, period, regardless of how incredible affordable they are. I use their 106 as a main-stay—it is nice and long and good for most work. Their 120 is also good—short and maybe a good entry level. I do not recommend any of their hook knives. They are pretty bad. Spend $20 more and buy a Del Stubbs hook kinfe (see below).
I also use Del Stubbs‘ knives, perhaps religiously. They’re impeccable. Start with his regular sloyd, and his regular 1 3/4″ hook. I also use his two other open sweep hooks for various bowl sizes etc.
Sharpening:
I use three grits of DMT Dia-Sharp diamond hones plus a strop for pretty much all tool maintenance.
Del Stubbs sells a nice kit on his site—you get 3 DMT hones plus a strop w/ compound for $112.
Okay… That should get anyone going.
Oakland County Permaculture (Clarkston, MI) – Meetup
www.meetup.com/Oakland–County–Permaculture/
(OCPM) is an open network dedicated to connecting like-minded individuals interested in permaculture design and …
Oakland County Permaculture Meetup Public Group | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OCPMpermaculture/
Notes by Deanne
FYI, the Oakland County Permaculture Meetup gathers once a month, usually the 2nd Wednesday….in the Clarkston’ish area. The site moves around.There is always a learning component, a potluck, and a great chance to network and share ideas.
I like the mora straight blade or opinel collapsible knife…in stainless steel or carbon….see article by Mark Angenlini’s article in Oakland County Permaculture meetup above.
Warren Cuttlery https://www.warrencutlery.com/product-list.php?pg1-cid51.html is the site for the hooked blade to carve the spoon bowl. They work well and are pretty cheap, although the shipping is expensive. I also have a number of straight blade for the knife (…although I prefer to use a solid kniife…the mora or Opinel)
Tonight I ordered the following. I think getting just one of these would work, too. I am trying them all to see how they work. Mark suggsts a hook gouge in his article.
SLH small left bent cutting blade
$11.20
$5.60
2
$6.30
$6.30
1
LLH Large Bent wood cutting blade
$6.30
$6.30
1
$5.60
$5.60
1