I had noticed during the drying process that the end of the log had started to split and by that time it was too late to think about coating the end to stop the quick evaporation. What I should have done in the first place was to coat both ends of the sawn log with some spare latex paint to even out the evaporation and this may have reduced the amount of cracking. I would estimate that the cracks had penetrated a full one inch into the log at this time. The project that I wanted to do called for a piece eleven inches long by three inches by two and a half inches which would be marginal with what I had to work with. With the hardness of the timber unknown to me I had decided to use a base made from one inch thick figured oak that had been lying around and I knew this material would give a base that would be hard and durable.

My first task was to cut a flat on the tallest side and with a few stubs left over from branches that had been trimmed off, this provided the stability needed to run it through the bandsaw. I had also placed a wedged piece of pine along the length to stop any grab from the blade as an extra precaution and feeling confident I took the first step to cutting a flat on that side.

With that first freehand cut I was pleased with the flatness and could then cut another length off at right angles to give me a square face for marking out the blank. I set the fence of the bandsaw at three inches hoping to get the overall width that I needed and cut off the excess strip. I found there were only a few inclusion of bark and I felt confident that most of this would be lost during the shaping process. I had already decided to use the figured oak block for the sole of the cabinet scraper so the thickness for this blank could be reduced to one and a half inches. This face would be the one that I would glue the oak block to as there would be no inclusions just solid wood. I was well pleased with the drying out process, the wood cut cleanly with no grab from the bandsaw and the surface was dry to the touch.

Now with the blank cut out I will sand the faces to flatten off and glue the one inch of figured oak to the face that would be the sole of the scraper. I’ll use a couple of wooden none marring clamps to glue the chunk of oak on so as to keep a minimal glue joint, once cured I would cut and sand the block to the size required.

I had photocopied the layout from the magazine as a quick guide to laying out the design on the block of wood, firstly, so that I would not mess up the magazine and secondly, as a working drawing it was bound to end up grubby. With these plans I then enlarged the photocopy to fit within the block size that I had and with both front and plan views enlarged I could scribe on two controlling lines on to the wooden blank. These lines would be the centerline of the cabinet scraper and a longitudinal line or the line that would cover the breadth of the tool. This would allow me to center up the photocopy and also control the placement of the photocopy for the outer edges of the tool. On each of the photocopies I notched out on the centerline and on the longitudinal line that would correspond to the scribe line on the block of wood for ease of placement.

With the photocopies prepared and the scribe lines in place I sprayed each with a Super 77 contact adhesive by 3M so that the paper would stay in place while the profile was cut on the bandsaw. Each profile is cutout but the resulting offcut is not discarded but re-taped into position so as to provide a stable platform for the next operation. This method was used for the top and front face profiles removing all the excess timber leaving a rough shaped blank ready for carving.

To shape the handles I mainly used a three quarter inch paring chisel rounding off the edges so the feel was good between thumb and forefinger. The shape of the handle nestled nicely in the palm of my hand giving it an overall feel of good balance and control.

To further shape the handles I used a wood rasp to fine tune the radii and cleaned up the shape with various grades of sandpaper. Where the wood had cracked during the drying process I filled with a five minute epoxy resin. This enabled me to go back in and reshape without having to wait too long. The resin worked well with the coloration of the wood and the various gray tones that ran through the grain, stabilizing any further shrinkage and possible disaster should the handle splint in two. I know I went into this project with a “It doesn’t matter attitude” but now that I’m enjoying the results I want it to work.

Once I had the shape I further shaped with a garnet based sandpaper which is as coarse as it gets to take out any lumps from the resin.

With all the body form complete apart from a final smooth down with fine sandpaper I next marked out the blade holder which at this moment is still attached to the main body of the scraper. The blade holder has an overall thickness of 5/8 of an inch at the top and would be cut on the bandsaw at an angle of 85° that means an angle tilt of the table of 5° taking off the slice would then make the blade holder. I flattened the face of the body of the scraper with a small block plane and checked with a straight edge to make sure it was flat. The blade holder was flattened by rubbing on a sheet of sandpaper because the minimal thickness made it awkward to hold in a vise. I could have held it down with double sided tape but I still had the photocopy of the blade holder on the outside that I still had to shape to so I opted for sanding.

The blade holder was offered up to the body to make sure that the two faces met squarely without too much of a gap so that when the two are screwed together there will be less material to remove from the bottom of the scraper to realign. I wasn’t too concerned with the faces being completely flush as most of the face on the blade holder would be removed to create the throat and clearance for the wood shavings.

I was now at a stage where I had to make the blade of the scraper, for me this is not a problem. My main occupation involves clay modeling and with this type of job I use many different thicknesses of spring steel to form the resulting clay shapes. I had some spare 0.032″ thickness of blue spring steel and I was able to shear a piece three inches by two inches to give a reasonable size blade ideal for this application.

With the blade size now determined I could scribe a line around the blade onto the blade holder giving me the outline where it would sit. From this scribe line a parallel line of 1/8″ was placed inside indicating the position where the material would be cut away to give clearance for the wood shavings and allow 1/8″ for the blade to seat and be held in position. The throat would taper from 3/16″ at the bottom to 3/8″ at the top giving plenty of clearance for the shavings to pass through, for this exercise I just chiseled the material away from both ends rather than cut on the bandsaw.

With the clearance now cut I then rebated the 1/8″ shoulder that would retain the blade in position once screwed to the main body. Plenty of care had to be taken when I approached this as the depth of cut was only 0.030″ so that the blade would remain clamped tight, if I overcut the depth then I would have to shave the face of the blade holder down so that it would secure the blade tightly. I resharpened my chisel and gingerly cut each shoulder down checking numerously with the blade until the depth was correct leaving the faintest feel of the blade above the blade holder. Satisfied with the result I could now use the still attached photocopy to drill the positions of the screws that would attach the blade holder to the body.

The screws that I used were two 1 1/4″ sheet metal screws easy to find from any hardware store, make sure they’re pan heads though so that they sit on top of the wood once tightened. The clearance hole was put through on the drill press so I had to drill the pilot hole with a drill gun because of the slight angle. The face of the blade holder was at 5° so with the hole being square to that surface there would be a slight change in angle and I needed to keep the pilot hole square to the pilot hole to eliminate any slip once screwed together.

The design called for a 1/4″ thumbscrew by 2″ but I opted for a 3″ bolt instead because it is much easier to find and there will by little resistance when operated to flex the blade so a thumbscrew is not absolutely necessary. The nut I made from a piece of 1/8″ steel plate and tapped in the thread, with the nut being square it will be a lot easier to rebate in with only four sides to be aligned.

The clearance hole for the bolt was marked out on the back face of the main body and this was set at 3/4″ above the baseline and on the centerline. Once the clearance hole was drilled the bolt was inserted and the nut attached so the outline could be marked on ready for rebating. The rebate is easy enough with a 1/4″ chisel and it doesn’t have to be completely flat at the bottom of the rebate, the important thing is to retain the nut in the rebate tightly rather than to be loose.

The final finish for the cabinet scraper is a liberal coat of boiled linseed oil with all excess being wiped off after several minutes and a coat of paste wax. The blade had a 45° angle placed on and a burr to aid in the removal of wood shavings as described by the article. I’m not so sure that this is the best way as I always refer to my clay modeling experience where the steel has to be square with no burrs but I will try it both ways. The thing with placing a burr on the tool is if it is too curled the edge will not cut as the edge has returned on itself whereas a square edge will always remain sharp. I would be interested in anyones thoughts on this but I have tried it out both ways and it cuts like a charm, now all I really need is a good old gnarly project!

During this period March 2nd through March 31st 2008 they have a nice Flexcut Carving Knife Set. What makes this special is that the handles are custom made from Padauk and the tool roll sports the Woodcraft 80th Anniversary Limited Edition print. A nice edition at a reasonable price of $80.00 and they’re made in the U.S.A.

This is not the only deal they have at present, a full starter set of carving tools by Pfeil, a total of eight tools in a fitted tool roll with $50.00 off, a full Flexcut starter set comprising of seventeen cutting tools, two interchangeable handles and a Slipstrop to keep them sharp. Not such a great deal but $15.00 off nonetheless. Power Grip tools at a savings of 30% a six piece beginner’s carving tools set with savings of 25%, folding carving knives, safety gloves and even power carvers. I could go on about what’s on offer but it’s easier to offer up the direct link and you can check it out at Woodcraft.

If you are in the market for some new woodworking tools why pay full price, I’m always looking for a bargain especially if it’s a quality tool so as I’ve already received my flyer why not check it out yourself. It’s always good for a comparison even if your not buying.

In one of my recent emails I find that Woodcraft are selling carving tools at a good discount and with this company they guarantee to ship them out the same day as ordered providing the order is received by 2pm EST.

The first set of carving tools that caught my eye were a set of six, a Henry Taylor starter set. These fine tools are made with hand forged blades and beech wood handles, not the general inferior quality blades that you associate with a beginners set. They are razor sharp so they are good to go straight from the box. Yes, they come in a storage box, not just loose items. The curves on the blades supplied are relatively small but will work great on small relief carvings, ideal for carving small lovespoons or ornaments. The total length for the Henry Taylor carving tools is eight inches so they won’t be too cumbersome for detail carving and should nestle nicely in the palm of your hand. The price for this set is discounted by 30% which for me is a pretty good saving.

The second set of carving tools that caught my eye were by Flexcut™, as you well know they are one of my favorite carving tools because of the versatility with the interchangeable blades. This holiday set that they have put together has six interchangeable blades, together with a quick connect handle, a mini detailing knife, SlipStrop and gold honing compound to ensure that the tools are kept at the peak of performance. They include a 16 page phamplet that explains the proper use of carving tools, honing and sharpening.

For the festive season there is also a small preprinted wood block to make your first carved ornament, with detailed instructions within the phamplet together with photographs. The total value of this package is $135.00 if purchased separately but as a boxed set it is $79.99. That’s a real good price as I recently purchased the SlipStrop and gold compound for my tools and that alone was $12.95!

The third set of carving tools that I found interesting are a Japanese carving tool called Power Grip. I have a set of these myself and they are every bit as sharp as the Flexcut™ tools. They are great for carving woodblock if you are into woodblock printing but I use them in conjunction with my other carving tools to carve my lovespoons. The ones that are on sale at Woodcraft are a five piece set at a 30% discount, that is $19.99. These tools are mid-length in size, in-other-words they fill the gap between the Henry Taylor and the palm tools from Flexcut™ giving you the ultimate in flexibility. The full seven piece set is $41.99. This set also comes with a storage box for safe keeping.

The nice thing about buying a starter set is you have the majority of blades to cover for general carving projects at a greatly reduced price compared to buying individually. They come in a convenient tailored box and for this time of year an easy wrapping project. Quality tools at a well reasonable price, so if your at a loss what to buy the handy person in your life then maybe a carving starter set could be the answer.

Navigating the site was easy enough and only required an email address and password to continue with the ordering. The online catalog had a vast selection of available blades together with Mallet tools, Palm tools and Power handle sets. The Palm tools and Power handle tools all have the same available blades as the quick connect handle making it the buyers choice as to the type of carving tool purchased. As you well know I’m going for the quick connect blades to save room and weight.

The Mallet tools in contrast to the quick connect handle blades are more robust in design, designed primarily for larger projects and denser hardwoods. The blades still have the familiar look but are larger in size. The handles come with a brass ferrule and a sturdier ash handle giving an overall length of ten inches showing you that it has “work horse” written all over it. The one thing that stuck me about this website is that it doesn’t deviate away from the primary reason of visiting it. The tools are all Flexcut™ together with all the necessary equipment needed to keep them in good shape.

With the quick connect blades, Flexcut™ has a universal adapter that will transform my standard blades for use with their power carver, if at a later date I want to take on a larger project. This I find really useful because I won’t have to purchase a different configuration for that purpose, i.e. Palm tools, Power Handle tools or Mallet tools.

OK, let me go over the extra blades that I think will round out the existing carving set, making it a more complete travelling companion. The main emphasis was on flatter gouges to enable better control of carving out the spoon with minimal ridges. I also felt that a left and right hand swept angle would be useful in the harder to reach areas especially when carving vines and scrolls. I also made sure that I ordered the Flexcut SlipStrop™ plus the Flexcut Gold Polishing Compound™ and just to round it out an additional quick connect handle.

Here is the list of extras.

• Flexcut SlipStrop
• Flexcut Gold Polishing Compound
• Quick Connect ABS Handle
• Skew Gouges, #3 sweep, 9/16″(14 mm) Right Hand, #3 9/16″(14 mm) Left Hand
• Single Bevel Chisel, #1 5/8″ (16 mm)
• Straight Gouge, #3 sweep, 7/8″ (22 mm)
• Straight Gouge, #6 sweep, 1/2″ (12 mm)
• Straight Gouge, #8 sweep, 11/16″ (17 mm)

Once the order was place I received a confirmation email and I was hoping for some type of indication that I could track the package but this seemed to be unavailable. I must admit I was a little nervous as I wasn’t quite sure whether the order had been placed or not, even though I had received verification. I normally like to have some way of tracking the package rather than just wait for it to turn up.

My uneasiness was soon to be dismissed as the package was received within five working days by UPS Ground. Everything was neatly packed with plenty of styrofoam peanuts allowing for safe travel. In addition, a full line catalog, just what I need to entice me to buy more product!

Overall the experience was very rewarding after the initial hesitation and I would certainly purchase from them again. The difference between purchasing direct or from your local woodworking specialist is, you are pretty much guaranteed the items being in stock, whereas if your local woodworking store is out of stock they have to order direct anyway. Many may argue that you are affecting your local guys by not supporting them but the general stuff is always purchased at their store because of the convenience, so in this case direct is the way to go. Now all I need to do is try them out!!!!

This was not the reaction I was looking for, I wanted to know from first hand experience if they would stand up to the test of every day carving. My reason for being in the store in the first place was to find something that was more suitable for carrying on a regular basis rather than a full set of palm tools. The palm tools are perfect for the person working in his workshop or garage but to carry them on a day to day basis they can become quite bulky once you have eight to ten various blade configurations.

My work bag consists of basic things that I consider important to me plus my carving tools, just incase I have free time at lunch to carry on with one of my small lovespoon carvings. I’ve noticed the weight of the bag getting heavier over the past few months and thought it’s time to start reducing the weight. The first thing to do was streamline the contents and that started with the carving tools.

My first intention was to go to the Woodcraft® store and purchase the Flexcut™ Carvin’ Jack™, a complete carving set that you carry in your pocket but on seeing that tool in person I had reservations of spending $129.99 on a elaborate pocket knife. No doubt it would do a fine job but it did not have the versatility that I was looking for. On my lovespoon carvings I need more gouge type configurations than the two offered on the knife due to the various types of bowl that I carve.

The next thing that caught my eye was the Flexcut™ carving kit, this was available as a five piece or a eleven piece set. The ideal thing about this set is the fact that the blades are interchangeable, reducing the bulk that you have to carry around and giving a neat little tool roll with all the basic tools that you need.

I decided to settle with the eleven piece kit because it offered a variety of gouge sizes that would fit my needs for the smaller type of carvings that I am presently doing. This kit consisted of ten blades and a single quick connect ABS handle. The blades are;

• 1/8″ No.11 veiner
• 1mm 45° V-parting
• 1.5mm No.9 gouge
• 1/4″ single bevel chisel
• 5/8″ No.5 gouge
• 3/8″ No.6 gouge
• 1/4″ No.11 veiner
• 3/8″ No.3 gouge
• 5/8″ No.3 gouge
• 1/4″ 70° V-parting

These tools are nestled nicely in the ten piece tool roll with room for a one piece quick connect handle. The owners manual explains the various usage of the gouges, V-tools, chisels and skews. Explicit instruction on inserting and removal of the blades together with how to keep your tools sharp using the Flexcut SlipStrop™.

The unfortunate thing is, the slipstrop is a separate item that has to be purchased individually unless you buy the Flexcut™ boxed set. The owners manual also includes instruction on how to carve the leaf pattern block that was included in this starter set, using each of the individual tools supplied. The back of the brochure outlines additional profiles of blades that you may need at a future date which is a handy feature as they appear to be at fullsize.

My first attempt at placing a blade into the handle met with a nick to the finger. It was barely a touch to one of the other blades while removing the chosen blade to fit into the ABS handle but enough to draw blood. This proved to me that the blades were very sharp and caution had to be used when removing from the pouch. The blade is easy to insert but make sure you have a firm grip and don’t get distracted. There is no play in the blade to handle interface which I am pleased about but only time will tell how this will eventually wear.

All in all I’m quite pleased with the purchase and the only thing left is to put the tools to the test. I will start off with a simple carving with enough intricacy to evaluate all the different blades which I will report on shortly.

First impressions, a nice carving set for people on the go.

“Any goods manufactured by us found faulty in material or edge keeping quality will be replaced unconditionally. Any tool returned to us, which we have made, we will regrind free of charge.”

With that kind of guarantee how can you go wrong, my own carving tools that I have, I’ve had since they were given to me as a present 34 years ago and are still serving me proud to this very day. My small set of five London Pattern carving gouges were for being accepted to my patternmaking apprenticeship and are now being put to good use in the carving of my Welsh Lovespoons. In my latest carving, these carving gouges are put to the test on the seed pod of a Queen Palm and are proving to have as keen an edge as they did when they were first purchased all those years ago.

My particular tools have the older style 5 inch boxwood handles as opposed to the beechwood handles of today. All the blades range from 5 inches to 6 inches in length and are still in excellent condition with minimal rust pits even after being in an outside garage for numerous years. The beauty of these carving tools is once the edge is honed it takes considerable time for it to become blunt again, most certainly a tribute to the manufacturing process.

During my resharpening process I was thinking about how these particular tools were manufactured which prompted me to contact Ashley Iles direct. I asked if I could share their videos with people who did visit this weblog and it was a resounding yes, even to the point that if I did require any specific video they would capture it for me.

To give you an idea of how these carving tools are produced in the traditional way I will explain with the use of Ashley Iles video clips. To view the video clearly, right click on the links and “save target as.” This will save the video to your hard disc for multiple viewings with the best quality.

The first process in making one of these carving tools is to form the bolster and the tang, this is the part of the blade that fits into the handle. As you can see from the short video it is very much a hands on operation with the operator moving the blade blank back and forth to produce the required shape. The noise factor would be pretty intense so ear defenders are a must as are safety glasses. The white hot blank is pounded by the mechanical spring hammer which has the necessary die to form the shape. Regular heating in the electric furnace to 1000 degrees centigrade will keep the metal malleable allowing for a precise shape to be formed.

With the tang and bolster formed, the blade can be reversed and then the spring hammer is put to work in drawing out the blade to the desired length keeping an overall thickness of approximately 1/8 to 3/16 inch. What we have to realize is, this is going to be noisy and hot work as the machine works the metal. As you can see from the video the amount of hammering can be detected by the pieces of fettling that are jumping up and down on the anvil area.

Once the blade has been drawn out, the basis of the tool is reheated to straighten it ready for forming the shape of the gouge on the hydraulic press. This is where the close proximity of the electric furnace comes into its own, these modern day furnaces are electronically controlled and are close to the operator so that no time is lost in transferring the white hot metal to the anvil for shaping. The foot operated press forges the curve of the gouge effortlessly and precisely giving it the shape that will continue throughout the process.

With the general shape formed, it’s time to clean up the blade. This is achieved on the first wet grind. With wet grinding it helps to preserve the hardness of the blade by reducing the amount of heat and removing the grindings, it is at this stage where the burrs and irregularities are removed. Even thought the large grinding wheel is running through a bath of water the blade will get very hot so the operator will use some type of guard to protect his fingers while applying pressure to the blade, probably some kind of leather strop.

With the major grinding completed on the outside of the blade the attention is then drawn to the inside. As you can imaging the size of the grinding wheel would be dramatically reduced to only grind the inner flute and as you can see from the short video the operator is applying pressure with some type of pressure pad. This major grinding takes care of all the scaling that occurs during the forging process bringing the metal to a uniform look. The final process is to polish the outside and then the inside with the linisher, this takes care of any sharp edges and burrs, bringing the finished tool to a high polish.

Well that gives a little insight into the making of these fine edge tools by Ashley Iles but it is unfortunate that they are not that well known here in the United States apart from a few specialist shops. I’m one of the few that do own these tools and put them to good use in my latest carving “Lovespoon from a Queen” so we’ll see how this carving eventually turns out.

Many thanks go to Tony and Barry Iles for allowing me to use their video clips in my presentation and special thanks to Tony’s wife Christine for the prompt response to my request. The Ashley Iles Company now resides in East Kirkby, Spilsby, Lincolnshire.