Woodworking Tools And Their Uses
By Jason Bibb
A sculptor's wood carving tools can be explained and
appreciated according to their types and functions. Labeled
by the processes used in carving wood, tools are used to
measure, cut, shape, and finish a raw material into a fine
piece of artwork. This article is a brief introduction to
these tools and what they're used for:

Measuring (Marking) Wood Carving Tools: Measuring wood
carving tools assist with scaling sculptures to an
appropriate size and are used at the beginning stage of
development. Rulers, tape measures, and protractors are
used to mark the increments of a shape's dimensions while
perpendicular dimensions are achieved with straightedges,
combination squares, or T-squares. If you need an absolute
flat area, a plane gauge will help you achieve the
perfectly leveled surface. After the proper measurements
are put in place, you can use an awl or marking gauge to
indent (mark with a slight poke) those measurements for the
next stage of development.

Cutting Wood Carving Tools: With cutting wood carving
tools, artisans move into the second stage of development
and start to remove large sections of wood that will not be
part of the final piece. For unusual angles (45 - 90 degree
angles, back angles, front angles, etc.), you can use a
crosscut saw or you can use a circular saw to cut through a
large plane of wood. Table saws, on the other hand, enable
you to move your wood into a cut shape, rather than move a
saw in the direction of a shape.

Shaping Wood Carving Tools: Having cut away the wood that
you don't need (and moved into stage three of development),
shaping wood carving tools allow you to bring your abstract
piece into one that begins to resemble the final idea. You
can use various types of hand planes to shave off thin
layers of wood or use a router and bits to engrave fancy
designs onto the wood's surface. A lathe will make a
rounded surface for you and a chisel will chip away small
bits of wood. If necessary, you can use a gouge to clean
out holes.

Finishing Wood Carving Tools: At the last stage of
development, you'll find these finishing wood carving tools
to be essential in bringing your project to a complete fine
work of art. Because woodwork at this stage needs only
minor adjustments, you can use sandpaper and sandpaper
products (belt sander, palm sander, disc sander, and
orbital sander) to bring a crude surface to a smooth
finish. Files come in handy when you need to remove rough
patches while steel or bronze wool will bring your piece to
a stained and polished finish

Article Source: http://www.article-matrix.com

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