Proper Choice and Care of Woodcarving Knives

The care for the woodcarving knives has to be proper in order to make the carving task an excellent one. It is a duty of a good carver to realize that taking care of the knives is equally vital to performing the actual task of carving. This realization starts at the beginning level for a carver. While learning to carve, a beginner carver also learns how to take care of his tool.

Woodcarving tools round and smooth the piece of wood to produce the desired sculpture or useful item. There are wood carving tools suitable for different types of work. Each work will need slightly different types of knives. Therefore, a carver ends up collecting a significant number of knives in his toolbox.

The carver has to perform two tasks with these knives - selecting the correct one for buying and then taking care of them after buying. These tasks include proper care of the wood carving power tools as well as safety in using them.

Choosing a wood carving knife may sometime be highly critical to the success of the carving project. This has to be done extremely carefully. The main properties that a carver should look for when selecting a wood carving knife are its blade and handle. If the task requires delicate handling, the blade should be short, and for the rough part of the tasks, the blade should be longer. The handle must fit the carver's hand properly. If the handle does not fit properly, the carver must work hard to accomplish the required level of detail. In that case, he can become tired unusually quickly, and the quality of the work may go down. The manufacture of each wood carving knife is different. Thus, the carver needs to make certain he gets the one that is best for his hand for his usage.

The sharpness of the blade is also crucial to make the task of the carver easy. The blunt or dull edge is critical for two terms. First, the blunt edge destroys the quality of the work because it cannot deliver delicate detail. Secondly, the blunt edge causes an additional force to be applied to the knife and the force may become dangerous if the blade slips and hurt the carver's hand.

There are two ways to ensure the sharp edge of the blades. First, to prevent them from being blunt easily. Surprisingly, this can be achieved by simply organizing the blades properly. If they are placed unorganized in a box or compartment, the bang among the wood carving power tools can cause harm to the blades. So the knives should be hung by the handle or can be stored in a drawer with compartments so that they remain separated. Secondly, once they started to be blunt, they need to sharpen. Ideally, the task of sharpening should be done professionally for beginner level carvers this is a must. However, experienced carvers can use stone sharpeners, power grinders or leather strops to sharpen the knives. The stones can be hard or soft, and they need oil or water respectively. The knives can be sharpened by brushing them against the stones repeatedly. Motored power grinders can sharpen the knives easily, but the wood carving power tools need to be held against the wheel when the wheel is rotating away from the knife. The micro-abrasive surface of the leather straps can also sharpen the knives.

The environment of the knife storage is also a significant factor for the knives. The environment should maintain a moderate level of heat, and cold and the moisture level should be minimum.

The proper choice of wood carving power tools along with the appropriate level of care for these knives can make it easy for the task carver. In combination with his imagination, some of the best woodcarving work my come into existence.

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