Wood carving is a very ancient and venerable art, inherited. The assortment of tools of the master-carver can reach several hundred types of various knives, cutters, chisels, shticheles, etc. But the use of hand-held power tools allows not only replacing most of all this with one, but also increasing the speed of processing the material.
Such a miracle device today is a wood carving machine. It is also called a mini drill or hand engraver. Thanks to her, it is much easier to learn such a complex matter. But here there are many subtleties and nuances. One of them is the difficulty of choosing the tool itself.
Engraver Choice
When buying the first drill, you should adhere to the rule of the golden mean. That is, you do not need to chase the price and buy a deliberately problematic tool. And the purchase of the most expensive will not bring much contribution to the skill, and money will be spent pretty much. In order to make the right choice, you must follow the following criteria:
- For the first instrument, the price of the kit will be about 3-6 thousand rubles.
- The power of the tool is usually from 35 to 300 watts. It is advisable to take an engraver with a power of at least 100 watts.
- Tool revolutions - from 3500 to 35000 rpm. The electric motor must be able to adjust them for processing various types of wood.
Thus, not the most expensive hobby is carving with a drill. In Moscow, as in any other city, you can easily buy the right tool or order it from China.
If you are not ready to lay out about 5 thousand for a new engraver, then you can do it yourself. But in this case, you still have to buy nozzles and a flexible shaft. On the other hand, a wood carving machine may suit you. But at the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to her condition, check that nothing hangs, and try to process the material.
Additional devices
To facilitate the work with a mini-drill, various elements are required. Some of them are usually included. These include a flexible shaft with a handle and a nozzle limiter. A flexible shaft with a handle is needed to facilitate the work when machining small parts. It is connected to the engraver himself, and work is no longer carried out by the device itself, which weighs about one kilogram, but by a handle connected through a shaft. It is simpler and more convenient, and its weight is only 200-300 grams.
The limiter nozzle serves to level the dull background. This is a piece of filmed material that has one level. The nozzle is put on the engraver itself, then the desired milling depth is set. This position is fixed with a bolt and you can begin to work.
Some devices may not be included, you have to buy them yourself or do it yourself. Such a device, for example, is a tripod. With the help of it, the engraver is suspended, and work is carried out with a handle with nozzles through a flexible shaft. This is necessary, because if the engraver is simply put on the table, then from vibrations it will move along it, thereby interfering with the work, or simply fall, which can lead to its breakdown.
Some models are equipped with a foot pedal, but their use is not always convenient, especially when there are several devices.
Cutters and Nozzles
Grinding and carving with a wood drill is carried out using special cutters, circles, rollers, etc. Milling cutters can have a different shape, grain and purpose. Coarse grains are intended for rough processing of large surfaces, and fine grains - for a detailed study of the relief.
Drills are used for drilling holes of various diameters, and for grinding - rollers and circles with sandpaper. Most of the necessary nozzles come with the tool. They are suitable for working with both wood and metal. But nevertheless, for full-fledged work on wood specific milling cutters are required. For example, to create semicircular recesses, special milling cutters are used - the so-called “hedgehogs”.
Precautions and arrangement of the workspace
Before starting the device for the first time, you must carefully read the instructions. In order for the wood carving to be comfortable, it is necessary to equip the workplace. First of all, you should make a hood. As this, you can use a conventional vacuum cleaner. A hood is necessary as fine wood dust enters the lungs, which can lead to health problems.
If hood equipment is not possible, then you can protect the airways with a medical mask or gauze bandage, but this is not very convenient, especially during prolonged use. Also, do not forget about eye protection. It is better to use construction or joiner's goggles.
Where to begin?
Wood carving lessons with a drill must begin with simple things. To do this, take an unnecessary cut of the board or bar. Use a simple pencil to write any word on wood. No need to make it too thin and small. You need to learn the basics of using the tool.
Choose from a set of milling cutters suitable, with a round head and fine grain. Pressing the tool during operation should not be too strong, otherwise chips, strong bumps, burrs may result. With smooth movements of the hands, wood carving is carried out with a drill. The photo clearly shows the milling process of a simple inscription.
After that, you can experiment with different cutters, making different depths of the selected pattern or pattern.
Create relief
When working with a more complex pattern, which has many levels and relief elements, it is necessary, first of all, to choose the right material. For this, rocks whose wood does not have pronounced coarse fibers are suitable. Such, for example, include beech, alder, linden, birch, aspen. But oak, pine, larch have coarse fibers, and their processing can be fraught with some difficulties.
After the sketch of the future product is ready, it must be transferred to a tree. The sketch can be redrawn manually or use tracing paper. Further, wood carving is carried out in several stages:
- Firstly, with the help of thin mills, the borders of the picture are set.
- Secondly, if there is a dull background, then it is removed using the nozzle-limiter.
- Thirdly, sampling of a large volume of wood with a large depth of relief is carried out by coarse-grained nozzles.
- Fourth, the larger elements are cut first, then the smaller ones, and large ones are detailed.
- Fifthly, after the woodcarving is finished, it is necessary to remove traces of cutters and minor defects with fine-grained emery paper, and to bring everything to smoothness with nulling.
Draw conclusions
Everything will not turn out the first time, so please be patient, with a tree and an instrument. Train along the way by creating some small souvenirs or crafts. In the process of mastering the craft, an understanding will come of what needs to be done, how to do it correctly, and what adaptations are still needed.