Work in progress! will be updated over time …

If you’re totally new to this, check out this great video for learning to carve with dremel:
Power Carving a Wooden Bear with a Dremel – YouTube
or this one about relief carving (more 2D-like): How to Wood Carve with a Dremel Tool – The Basic Beginner’s Guide

What’s a dremel?

  • Rotary tool – like a drill, but smaller, with a greater variety of bits.
  • Easier to use with a flexshaft – I got both for $200
  • How to use flexshaft – make sure dremel is hanging down from something (as opposed to lying on a table), and keep the flexshaft “hose” is as straight as possible, no bends in it.
  • 1/8″ bits (not 1/4″ –they’re for drills)
  • How to change bits on a dremel

Watch this video to find out how to attach the flexshaft to the dremel, or just to see what they look like 🙂 …How to Quickly Install and Use a Dremel Flex Shaft

Dremel “bits” or “burrs”

Bits come in different shapes, textures and materials. Much cheaper to buy in sets, where possible, than as single ones.

Tungsten carbide is much harder than “high speed steel”, which will get blunt pretty quickly

I mostly use double-cut tungsten carbide bits ($23), which cut away a reasonable amount but still leave a fairly smooth surface. I also do a lot of “carving” with the sanding drums (listed under sanding, below).

You’ll need to experiment with the different bits to see what each one does … I was often surprised! Experiment on scrap wood rather than a work in progress – ask me how I know this.

Types of burrs and how they're used
Click to view larger image

Stages of carving

Finding patterns

You can get free patterns on the web that you can print out and glue to your wood, and cut around, or you can make your own. Do a google image search and you’ll find anything. The hard part is finding ones that are completely “side-on”, rather than at an angle. Here’s a bunch of patterns I’ve found and used – I find it easiest to put them in powerpoint slides, cos then you can move them around, resize them etc.

Cutting out the shape

We start by cutting off as much wood as possible, so there’s less to carve off. Generally this means using:

  • a scroll saw (limited to 5cm deep timber)
  • a bench-top bandsaw with a narrow blade (can cut larger pieces than scroll saw), eg PROXXON ~$800 or Ryobi $400
  • a coping saw, that lets you turn corners and cut shapes, and a japanese keyhole saw like this one, which cuts faster than a coping saw but can’t cut around corners.

I mostly use a scroll saw – that’s a whole other training 🙂.

Roughing out

Roughing out means cutting away the excess – if you’ve cut a dog or bird shape on the scroll saw, for example, you’ll want to round off the edges, as well as cut away the excess width at the head and tail, which are narrower than the body. I use coarser/rougher dremel bits for that, such as the Saburtooth or Kutzall, which cut a lot at once, but leave a very rough surface.
I bought these, for $83 – Kutzall Original Burr Kit for 1/8” Grinders – 4 Piece Coarse Kit | Carbatec. You’ll need to turn the dremel speed down a bit, try 15,000 to start with.

Interior cuts

e.g. between the legs of a dog
Mini Circular Saw Blade $10

IMPORTANT:

  • Make sure you use a vice to hold the piece you’re cutting … those wheels are pretty vicious!! They’d take a finger off in a heartbeat.
  • Turn the dremel speed down to NO more than 15,000

Carving

BEFORE YOU START!! The most important thing to know when using a flexshaft on a dremel is to keep the cord/shaft thing as straight as possible – pull the handpiece away from the dremel itself so it’s stretched out. If it gets a kink in it, you’ll kill your dremel.

Fine details (or engraving)

DRE105, 106 and 107 (around $16 for sets of 2)

T-shape burrs for undercuts (or “straight down cuts” in relief carving) $16

… or better quality ones for $28

Sanding

Finishing

I finish my carved pieces with orange oil (non toxic, good for kids), “board oil” (wax and oil), or Tung oil. There’s a million other options though.

Other

PPE

You really, really don’t want wood dust in your lungs … you’ll cough for months! It’s very much worth getting a decent face mask, and using it any time you’re using the dremel, or sanding.

Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator Mask $30

Hand carving set

I just could NOT get my knife carving to work, even though I’d read a lot – it took someone showing me face to face how to do it, and properly understanding the grain. If you’re ready to give it a go, this is a cheap set that pretty good.

Ninonly Wood Carving Tools 18pcs Wood Carving Kits $46

Books

As far as I can tell, this is THE ultimate dremel carving book.

Power Carving Manual $33

Suggested buying list

(Listed specifically for the Ferny Grove women’s shed, in order of importance!)

If we want a new dremel, I’d get this one with the free flexshaft for $200

The more expensive kutzall bits can wait until you see if people get into it. You don’t absolutely need them, they just make it a bit quicker to remove lots of wood more quickly.

My dream list includes a mini bandsaw like PROXXON ~$800 or Ryobi $400 – they come as cheap as $150 but those are pretty cheap and nasty. They have a really narrow band so you can cut curves, unlike the big bandsaws we have that really only cut straight.

Tips

  • Generally for carving set speed to 20–25k. Coarse bits and cutting blades need to be slower, about 15,000.
  • Don’t use gloves!!! The bits get caught in them and break the dremel and/or flexshaft! (Ask me how I know!)
  • Some bits really bite into the wood and jump around … be careful whilst you’re learning to play with them.
  • If you’re holding the dremel in your right hand, so with the bit to the left, it’s spinning in such a way that it cuts into the wood as you pull the dremel towards you, NOT away from you. Also, if you start with the bit at the far end of the wood you’re holding, it often “rolls” down the far side, away from you … so be careful.
  • Sanding past 220 grit MIGHT make it harder for the finish to sink in! See: Sanding Past 220 – How Smooth Should You Go? – YouTube
  • Wood has grain, and the bits will cut differently depending on the direction of the grain. You might find it cuts well one way but not the other – trying turning the wood the other way around. You’ll learn a LOT about grain if you try hand carving (i.e. with a knife) – with that, you HAVE to get the direction right or it just pulls chunks out of the wood.

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