Hello Ben Here, I am a retired US Army Helicopter pilot. I still Fly an EMS Helicopter in the North woods of Wisconsin. Since my work schedule is 7 days on and then 7 days off I get to spend a lot of time out in my studio. The Studio is behind the lake House and has a wonderful view of the lake with plenty of wildlife all around. In fact there are a family of Red foxes that have a den under the studio and I get to see the new family every year playing outside the window. The channel is about wood carving hoping to inspire folks to take up the hobby. I have been carving since my early twenties and my father-in-law is also a carver. His style is a wonderful folk style and he has sold many carvings on the East Coast. While I was stationed at West Point in NY on the Hudson we even had a Wood Carving Shop across the river in a neat little town called Cold Springs. Please subscribe for patterns, tips, and other content not in the videos. Thanks Ben
Ben hope everything is okay. Looking back at previous projects....I wish you would get back on the cuckoo clock if you didnt lose it in the fire. Thanks for the content either way. Best wishes.
Hi Ben, My Micro-Motor was delivered yesterday and I gave it a brief test. In the ebay listing it was referred to as a Marathon III, but the labeling on the machine only says "Micro-Motor" although it looks identical to the Marathon III branded machine, except the foot pedal, handpiece rest, and cords are all black on mine. Also, no actual instructions are included. There is a one-page color brochure with photos of different models. I don't really know what I actually received, or if this one is substantially different than a Marathon III. Apart from those minor deviations, the case and handpiece look identical to yours. I did notice something worrisome though. The speed dial on the control box doesn't seem to change the speed from the one o'clock position through the highest setting. On all the other settings I can hear a difference in the sound as the speed changes. I can also feel and see a difference in the engraving (diamond bur on glass), but from one o'clock to five o'clock positions (full-speed) there is no change at all. That doesn't seem right to me. Does your machine have a discernible change in sound & speed in those positions? What do you think? The first 2 lowest positions have very little power even with a diamond on glass and they are pretty rough and chattery. It feels like the handpiece might stall at those low speeds. I don't know if that's normal or not. I have a very light touch, but even with that those positions aren't workable on glass, so it probably would stall on wood. I'm thinking maybe I should return this machine and see if a replacement is any better. What's your opinion on this issue, please? Thank you for any advice you can provide. Shirley
Hi Ben, Thanks for the review on this one. I've b'een looking at these for a different use than wood carving. I want it to tool leather. I watched one video that showed a very similar motor from Ali-Express and the guy said he got an additional handpiece to give him the reciprocating action that is needed for leather tooling. I looked on their web site, but couldn't find a separate reciprocating handpiece. Have you seen anything that would fit my needs on the import market?
Harbor Freight. Well... I have a LOT of HF tools and such and -- at first glance and first use, it's easy to want to toss them away as "crap." But, there are some 'secrets' to making some Harbor Freight tools into reasonably decent tools that can save you tens and hundreds of dollars over a year or two. I do a lot of wood carving and have quite a few knives and chisels that came from some of the "top" carving tool makers. Most of them are NOT sharpened to my satisfaction when I unwrap them. And these are the expensive tools! On the expensive stuff, the blades are good, hardened, carbon steel, and the 'profiles' are always ground correctly. They just don't have the 'finish' sharpening and polish put in them yet, because the actual sharpening angle will depend on the type of wood you're carving. Hard woods require a bit 'beefier' edge with a micro-bevel finishing out the sharp part. This helps keep your tool sharper and for a longer time. For the softer woods -- say basswood, limewood, linden or whatever you want to call it -- you can have a longer beveled edge. Generally, it's a 20-degree bevel for the hard stuff and 15-degree bevel for the softer woods. Some carvers just shoot somewhere in the middle at 17 - 19-degrees and work from there. This has proven to be the best 'all-around angle for me and I work mostly in basswood because I have a sawmill that's always on the lookout for it and they'll call me when they get such a tree. I "barn dry" the stuff allowing about one-year of drying per inch of thickness and, of course supporting the planks liberally with plenty of 'stickers' to support it while it's 'seasoning.' Now, to the Harbor Freight knives, chisels, etc. They really are 'junk' in the sense that they look like a tool but aren't really a tool -- YET. Much of the 'knifey' stuff at H/F is made for the speed of making them and not for the ease and artistry of using them. That's why they're cheap as hell in comparison to those really expensive carving tools. But, those H/F knives and chisels are, indeed, made of the right stuff and -- with a little bit of knowledge and elbow grease -- you can make a doggone fine set of carving tools out of them. The first thing to do is to grind them to the proper shape with a wet (and slow) grinding wheel or more 'elbow grease' and some wet/dry sandpaper. Start with 80 to 100 grit and work smartly and patiently. Treat that tool at least as well as you plan to treat one of your carvings. What you want to do is correct the bad angles on the outside edges of the "V" and "U" gouges. Find a picture online of an excellent example of an expensive tool (Swiss, German, etc.) and sand in that profile. When that is done, it's a good time to do what didn't get done correctly when the tool was being made. And that is to HARDEN and TEMPER it. You can do this with a propane torch, but a MAPP torch would be a lot quicker. I harden and temper these kind of tools in a 2-step process -- heat and quench. Because I don't want to heat the whole damned thing (no reason to, really) and because I don't want to be "F'n" around taking handles off and putting them back on, etc. I wrap the tool in a wet rag.and I only heat about 1/2 inch of the cutting edge. That's all you need to heat. So, I heat it to the 'color' I want. Generally, red to bright red is about 1400 to 1500 degrees and when I get the color I want, I quench it in a soup can (metal, get it?) full of any kind of cooking oil. That's it. Wrap it in wet cloth to help keep the heat from spreading too far up the tool and end up burning the handle; heat the cutting edge to about 1/2-inch back; when the heated patch starts getting bright red, look for the actual cutting edge to be heading for an orange to yellowish color (yellow is about 1,800-degrees). At that point, stick it in the oil and move it around slowly until it cools enough that you can touch it without burning yourself. Doing it this way allows you to skip the part about "drawing down" the temper. Now, at this point, clean up the tool and polish it with some higher grit wet/dry sandpaper. Once you can see polished steel, you go for establishing the bevel and sharpening the edge. You're basically -- at this point -- about where you'd be if you bought that $40-50 carving tool and were beginning to sharpen it. So, you saved a bunch of money and you actually have a good tool. Sharpen it to your satisfaction with the higher grit (600 or higher) sandpaper, then put some 'grit' onto a piece of leather and strop it. For 'grit' I've found that the solid yellow 'stick' produced by Flex-Cut is hard to beat. You don't want to use any of the waxy/greasy "Tripoli" or "polishing compounds," for this because they are made for use on motorized polishing wheels. The Flex-Cut stuff is made to use with a leather strop or even the cardboard backing from a writing tablet. Use the leather, though. Just find a piece that isn't too thick. Why? Because thick leather will compress under the knife and likely round that beautiful edge you're trying to keep scalpel-sharp. So, thinner leather is how you want to go. Why leather? because the backside (rough side) holds the 'grit' that puts the scary-sharp edge on your tool. Now, for the "insides" of these "U" and "V" tools, you just polish any "wire edge" a tiny bit. If you start trying to put an edge on the inside of them, you'll ruin them. Only sharpen the outsides. For my knives, when they're sharpened/polished, I'll bring them up close to my eye and catch the light in such a way that it gives me a seemingly microscopic view of the edge. When I'm looking at an exact and crispy sharp mirror image of my eye, etc. being reflected back, I know that knife/chisel, etc. is extremely sharp. As I said, I have some expensive carving tools, but I also have a couple sets of the Harbor Freight carving tools and they are quite fine for wood carving after I've "trained" them. Once you learn how to sharpen your carving tools, you'll be amazed at how dull those "razor-knife" utility knives are. You can sharpen them, too. No sense buying pack after pack of semi-dull blades just to throw them away after a few cuts. Good luck and happy carving!
I reworked the set i got from harbor freight mostly with a harbor freight tiny file set and emery cloth. The steel seemed good and hard but the shapes were clunky. I carve old bearded faces on walking sticks and pencils so V gouge of various sizes gets used a lot.
I started carving approximately 1994 Internet searches were very sketchy. I’ve carved a lot of styles and gotten away from carving and came back. It is so refreshing to see other wood carvers recommend other wood, carvers and supporting each other. It’s the next best thing to go into a live meeting.
Just started up with carving after about a 9yr hiatus & found your channel. I haven't finished watching this video yet, but I HAD to pause & agree with you on the amazing skill of Grinling Gibbons. I'm forever in awe of people who can do such beautiful stuff w/out modern technology. I wish I had the patience to do that, but I know it's just not in me 😂
I like it and you have convinced me to try it. I have an old quail cuckoo clock and can't find the carvings for it this seems like my only option at this time. Is there somewhere a person could obtain a pattern or is this something you just do from a picture?
Good morning. I’m just getting into Dremel carving and have been watching a lot of carving fusion. ( love jordy ) last night I came across some one showing off a lot of wooden golf club heads with duck heads on them. I thought the where neat. There’s a fella in the next town that has a barn sale one weekend a month that always has old clubs. So after watching your video I’m going to go to the next one and buy a few. I enjoy your videos and I did find you through Jordy. Thanks and have a great day.
The level of detail looks unnatural. On a bird of this size you cannot sea the feather structure. To me it looks too rough, whereas a bird is sleek. I am a keen birder and a registered bander, so get to see birds very close up . I am not sure what this species purports to be. Proportionally it doesn't look right . The head looks too big. PS birds do not have hairs at all
