Wood cutters: types, DIY manufacturing process

Knives for wood carving are a must-have accessory in the arsenal of a craftsman who makes decorative objects from natural wood.

Such tools can have different types and shapes, which directly affects the specific processing of individual parts. The most famous cutter, which is very popular among our craftsmen, is the Bogorodsk knife.

Blade making

If you plan to make wood cutters with your own hands, then you will need a piece of saw blade approximately 8 centimeters long. Of this, 4.5-5 centimeters should be left for the shank, which will be attached to the handle. Using an electric sharpener, the shape of the future knife is cut out of the canvas. The master determines the form himself depending on the requirements. Then you need to grind the shape on a machine, making a large chamfer with an angle of 10-15 degrees. This narrowing from the butt to the cutting edge is necessary so that the cutter can be worked with. A cutting edge with an angle of 25-30 degrees, which will participate in the cutting process, is created later.

This work must be done slowly, otherwise the metal will heat up, become soft and no longer hold an edge. You can sometimes cool the workpiece in water.

Set of cutters Narex Profi 868700

Photo: https://pokupki.market.yandex.ru

The blade is made of chrome-silicon tool steel, hardened to a hardness of 57-59 HRC. Blade length: with a width from 4 to 20 mm - 100 mm, with a width from 30 to 70 mm - 125 mm. The handle is octagonal, barrel-shaped, made of stained beech.

Set of cutters Narex Profi 868700

Advantages:

• quality
• reliability
• convenience
• comfort
• safety

Making the handle

To make handles for objects such as machine tools, you need to give the wood a special shape with your own hands. For the handles, oak bars about 12 centimeters long and 12x22 millimeters in cross section are suitable.

1. Sand the tail of the metal workpiece along the edges to remove burrs.
2. Place the tail on the block and trace the shape with a pen.
3. Use chisels to select wood to a depth identical to the thickness of the workpiece. Periodically, the workpiece must be tried on, placing a second block on top. The hole should not be too deep or too shallow - in the first case, the blade will wobble, and in the second, the handle will simply crack or not stick together.
4. Once you are sure that all the parts fit together perfectly, you can glue them together. Glue must be applied to the socket and to the surface of the bar. You can apply less glue to the second part.
5. Then connect the parts as accurately as possible and tighten them with clamps. You need to do this forcefully, but so as not to split the bars.
6. Remove excess glue with a damp cloth and leave everything to dry for about 12 hours.

After this, the tightness of the structure must be checked - grab the handle with one hand, and try to loosen the blade with the other. If you hear characteristic creaks, the work will have to be redone. Don’t be lazy - if hand wood cutters are poorly made, the blade will quickly become loose and can ultimately lead to injury.

Electrical tools

Modern carvers widely use electric wood tools, which are lightweight, functional, and portable:

• The electric drill is the main power tool in the market. Drills are produced both mains powered and cordless. Many people, out of habit, purchase a powered tool, although cordless models are more convenient to use. They are lightweight, quiet, and have removable battery packs or come with wall stands with a built-in charger. The range of use of an electric drill is expanded by all kinds of accessories for it.
• An electric jigsaw is a tool that works like a hacksaw and an openwork, or bow, saw. Modern designs are equipped with electronic speed control, the engines are highly balanced and have little vibration. All jigsaws are designed so that the saw blades can be easily changed. A wide variety of different types of wood saws with special tooth configurations are produced.
• a circular saw or circular saw when he needs to cut wood in any direction, quickly, accurately and safely. The main thing is to choose a tool with precise guides and reliable saw blade guards. Some models have a built-in electronic control system that provides a smooth start when turned on and selectable speed.
• An electric planer is ideal for quickly adjusting workpieces to size or for trimming. There are several types of knives that simply change if both edges become dull. The knife block is protected by a barrier, which prevents not only the worker, but also the knives from damage.
• Using electric grinders, you can prepare the surface of a product for polishing or varnishing. There are belt and disc vibratory sanders.
• A manual electric milling machine has taken the place of planes, chisels, tongue and groove sheets and folding tapes. With its help, edges and grooves are cut out in a wooden workpiece, quarters are selected, and chamfers are removed.

Handle adjustment

The good thing about DIY wood cutters is that you can shape the handle yourself, as you see fit. Although some general rules must be followed:

• Leave the back round and wide, much wider than the one closer to the blade. Therefore, it is better to make handle blanks in advance in the form of an elongated truncated pyramid.
• Be sure to make a notch on the handle for your index finger.

The edges of the handle can be sharpened with a grinding machine. This must be done in a respirator and safety glasses so as not to damage the organs of vision and breathing. Roughly grind the handle and then sand it down by hand with fine sandpaper. Afterwards, if desired, paint the handle and be sure to varnish it.

Installation of a wooden blank

Hand tools for wood carving are very sharp. Therefore, it is important for safe operation that the workpiece is secured. They use both special fixing devices or standard clamps, as well as those made independently.

You can do carving on a table, a special stand or a carpentry workbench..

When sculptural cutting, the main condition for comfortable work is the ability to quickly change the angle of the product. To do this, use a special rotary clamp, with which you can quickly change and fix any angle of the workpiece.

A bench vise can be used for wood carving by installing soft jaws on it so as not to leave traces of the metal sponge on the future product. A standard carpenter's workbench vice can be used if you attach a clamp to it, which will continue to hold the workpiece.

For clamping a flat workpiece on the surface of a stand or workbench, a carpenter's quick-release clamp will be convenient. A gasket must be placed between the product and the clamp. Bench stops can be used for the same purpose.

A woodcarving vice is similar to a bench vice , but is made of wood rather than metal. They have thicker cheeks, which are covered with leather or cork to prevent damage to the product. A model vice is an analogue of a metal vice. They have large, wood-lined cheeks that can swivel.

For rigid fastening of workpieces on a stand or workbench, a workbench screw is used. The threaded end of the screw is screwed into the wood, and the other end is secured with a nut through a hole in the stand or workbench.

The carver's stand is a wooden workbench that consists of four massive legs spaced out for secure support and a thick surface. The surface is drilled in order to use fixing devices on it. For stability, the stand must be made heavier by attaching additional weight to it.

Sharpening if the knife is dull

Over time, your knife will, of course, become dull. Then it can be sharpened with sandpaper, and then also polished on the back of the leather belt with GOI paste.

1. Wood carving technique
2. Let's make it ourselves
3. Blade
4. Lever
5. Sharpening

Knives for wood carving are a must-have accessory in the arsenal of a craftsman who makes decorative objects from natural wood.

Such tools can have different types and shapes, which directly affects the specific processing of individual parts. The most famous cutter, which is very popular among our craftsmen, is the Bogorodsk knife.

Set 23 pcs. BISON EXPERT 18377-H23

Photo: https://pokupki.market.yandex.ru

Professional cutters of various shapes and sizes meet the needs of any master. Convenient handles ensure comfortable work. They are used to perform precision and artistic design work on paper, cardboard, soft and hard wood, and plastics. The blades are made of improved tool steel. Three differently shaped handles provide a secure grip and comfortable operation. Convenient plastic box for storage and transportation.

Set 23 pcs. BISON EXPERT 18377-H23

Advantages:

• quality
• reliability
• convenience
• comfort
• safety

Wood carving technique

Wood carving is a complex but very interesting technique for decorating products, known since ancient times. Getting started, as a rule, consists of creating a blank, or, more simply, a deck or blank. Next, a rough surface treatment is performed, during which it is leveled and all sorts of defects are removed. Then comes the turn of artistic work, which the master carries out using wood carving cutters. Technically, this process looks like removing a piece of wood, which allows you to give the workpiece relief and volume. This stage can be called the main one, because it determines what the final appearance of the product will be. The finishing treatment of a decorative item consists of sanding the wood and impregnating it with antiseptics and paints and varnishes.

To perform manual work of this type, cutting devices with different blade configurations can be used. The purity of the ornament on the wood depends on their quality no less than on the skill of the carpenter, so it is necessary to ensure that the chisel blade is strong, sharp and free of jagged edges. If experienced craftsmen can determine the type and quality of carpenter's knives with their eyes closed, then choosing wood cutters for beginners can be a difficult task. For those who are not yet fully familiar with the features of choosing and manufacturing cutters, we suggest that you familiarize yourself in more detail with their main varieties and method of application. You can also learn how to make wood cutters yourself by giving them the required sizes and shapes.

Criterias of choice

Today, purchasing a tool is quite simple. Many stores provide a wide selection. But how can you avoid running into Chinese disposable products? This is a more complicated question.

It’s best to start by studying specialized forums and listening to the opinions of professionals. And it will be even better if you can find a real master and chat with him “live”.

But this is rare, so when purchasing a set or tool separately, do not hesitate to ask what grade of steel the product is and who the manufacturer is. Take a block of wood with you to the store and try on the spot how the tool will fit in your hand and what its cut will be like.

Price categories vary, but it is clear that a set of 10 items costing 300-400 rubles will not be normal. This means that saving is not worth it here.

Yes, the tool can be quite expensive, but again, a few items are enough for a novice master. And the rest can be purchased as your skill improves.

Kinds

It is believed that virtuoso craftsmen can get by with one or two chisels, however, as practice shows, a good set of special carpentry tools, which includes chisels with blades of various shapes, will help to achieve the best result and make work easier. Experts in this industry recommend adding the following items to your arsenal:

Along with devices for cutting openwork elements, there are also additional items that no carpenter can do without. Such tools include hacksaws, jigsaws, drills, wood hacksaws can be intended for roughing or finishing work (reciprocating saws, bow saws).

Those craftsmen who work with large-sized structures acquire not only hacksaw tools, but also include hatchet cutters, or, as they are also called, figured adzes, in their arsenal. Their operating principle is similar to that of smaller cutting tools, with the only difference being the scale and purity of the process. Beginners who are just starting to learn the craft do not understand the types of instruments as thoroughly as experienced craftsmen, so the main thing here is to follow the golden rule - quality above all. Since buying high-quality knives can be expensive, many people make cutters on their own, especially since today it’s easy to find suitable video and photo tutorials on the Internet. Next, we will tell you how to make knives for figured carving with your own hands from scrap materials.

Let's make it ourselves

Let’s say right away that a high price does not always force a carpenter to take radical measures. Often, a good experienced craftsman cannot choose a tool for himself that would meet his requirements, and this also becomes the reason for working on the cutter independently. In principle, this problem can be solved quite successfully; the main thing is to know what to make the cutters from and what technology to use in this case.

Blade

In most cases, ordinary wood or metal cloth is suitable as a raw material for self-harvesting. You can make an excellent jamb knife from such material - just break it off by hand or cut a segment of the blade on a lathe, and then form a cutting edge. The wood saw blade also has decent characteristics suitable for our product, because it is very important what steel the knife is made from, and here we are dealing with a carbon metal that is easy to sharpen and remains sharp for a long time even when working with hard rocks tree.

If your future homemade cutter is intended for cutting wood, it should have a semicircular blade shape, and in this case it is better to make it from a punch, which can be found in almost every home workshop. In private carpentry workshops you can find homemade bearing cutters, which have also proven themselves to work well.

Lever

When the cutting part of the chisel is ready, you can begin making an equally important part of the tool - the handle. Here we will need a wooden block, and it is better if it is hardwood, from which we will need to cut a holder with a hole in the end. Please note that the shape of the hole must correspond to a similar parameter of the metal shank of a knife for wood carving, made with your own hands from a canvas or disk.

If a handle consisting of two parts is used to make a wood cutter, it is recommended to additionally fix the blade with fasteners and carry out the gluing process using a vice or clamps.

Set 6 pcs. BISON 18373-H6

Photo: https://pokupki.market.yandex.ru

Chisel 18373-H6 from ZUBR is a high-quality tool that is used for creating carvings, contours and recesses and chamfering wood materials. The basis of the working part is chrome vanadium steel - a heavy-duty material with a width of 6-12 mm, which allows you to sharpen the chisel as needed. The wooden handle of the chisel has an impact-resistant fixation with protection against premature destruction.

Set 6 pcs. BISON 18373-H6

Advantages:

• quality
• reliability
• convenience
• comfort
• safety