Tom Sterling
Carving Netsuke
for detailing, and can also be used for general carving over areas with broad curves, since its edge curve isn’t as pronounced as a ball cutter’s. The inverted cone can be used for less than 90 degree sharp corners and shoulders, and for undercutting. There are also abrasive ruby cutters available through wood carving supply firms. These are available in similar shapes and sizes as the cutters above, and in two grades: coarse and fine. They work quite well for a number of types of wood, and can be used for smoothing and texturing as well. They are especially useful in tight and delicate places where controlled cutting is required. The coarse versions cut surprisingly quickly. The ball and flame shapes in 1/4 and 1/8 inch sizes are the most useful. I survived for years on cutters from 1/4 inch diameter and less, and so can you, at least during your early experiments carving netsuke. The following cutters are useful, but fairly expensive and not essential. I would wait to buy these as your skills increase, and your pocketbook can stand the strain. I’ve found that the 1/4 inch shafted carbide cutters (same shapes as the cutters above), with up to 3/4 inch diameter cutting heads are useful for early roughing out, as well as the structured carbide burrs with hundreds of needle-like teeth. They both remove waste wood very quickly.
WARNING Structured carbide cutters make huge clouds of dust, so definitely wear your dust mask! Many of the exotic woods you may be carving are toxic, and the structured burrs make large quantities of extremely fine airborne particles.
WARNING Rotary Finishing I use a great variety of rotary finishing aids, many of them homemade. Some of them are adapted from jewelry making tools and techniques. First off, however, let me say that with careful carving you should Copyright © 2006 Tom Sterling