Tools for Rock Maple?

[Jamie Sharp]

Hi. I am wondering what tools and bits you guys would suggest for general rough shaping of rock maple? (Hard Maple)

The stuff is so hard its making a mockery of my hand tools. Iv used 40 grit belts on my sander on it only to get amazingly smooth finishes lol. Kinda looking for tools/bits that will do 1"+ inside radius corners and let me smooth out shapes.

[DrMikeL]

Having tried to work hard maple in the past, I'd suggest... dynamite.

[Just Carving]

I've carved small carvings using a knife and/or chisel from branches off a rock maple. As with any harder of the hardwoods, I just take smaller chips and strop often. Make sure whatever tool you used is god steel. I definitely found out which of my tools stands up to the test.

BobL

[Buffalo Bif]

Rough out as much as you can with a saw- bandsaw first choice, coping saw will give you Popeye arm. Power carving good. Any tool you can use with a mallet good.

[mpounders]

might try something like this in a foredom or a die grinder?

[pallin]

Your gouges will require a steeper bevel - 30 to 35 deg. - driven with a mallet. Do not expect to drive a 20mm wide gouge through hard maple. Small cuts, slow progress.

[Brian T]

Power tools all the way to very close to the finish.
Regrind a few gouges to have enough steel behind the edge.
As Pallin suggests, 30-35 degrees up from 20 would help a lot.
OTOH, people have been carving ebony since time immemorial.

I suggest you consider another wood such as birch.

[woodburner807]

Is there a reason for carving hard maple? Curious, because easier woods are out there.

[Jamie Sharp]

might try something like this in a foredom or a die grinder?

I tried my carbide metal cutting burrs. they burned the crap outta it and hardly made a dent lol. Might get some proper rasp burrs.

re: Gouge bevel angle: Hmm, Sounds like some of those cheap ones I saw online with wayy too steep a bevel for 'typical woodworking' might be the ticket.

Re: Why maple?: Adze handles. And they didn't have softer maple in over 1" wide.

Guess I'll rework my power sander/try my smaller power sander.

[woodburner807]

I'm out my league here on maple, but many tool handles are made from hickory? Easier...don't know.

[Jamie Sharp]

Iv heard people actually do snap these handles. And most people charge like $50~150 for these handles so I thought I would use the hardest toughest wood I could get my hands on.

Admittedly, I didn't know exactly what I was getting into. I had only played with soft maple before and thought it would be similar. Not even close!

[Brian T]

Hickory and Ash have ring-porous anatomy in each growth ring. This gives the woods the elastic performance of a leaf spring. 90 degrees to that is nearly impossible to break.

Adze handles? I take my cue from the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest.
Alder branch joints if you can get them. Google UBC/MOA for examples in the online collections.
I just happened to have a good supply of flat-sawn cured birch so I used that for all the adze handles.
Plus, I'm not swinging an axe chopping firewood.

[Jamie Sharp]

Got this done. Stuck with the sanders.. and a little drum sander for my drill. And a very small amount of chisel work to flatten some areas before going over them again with sanders. Oh, and lots of bandsaw.

Thanks for the tips guys. Wanted to make sure I was not missing something obvious lol.

0113211552a_HDR.jpg

[Brian T]

I see that you have already cut the blade seat.
There's another way to determine where the blade should sit on the handle.
Don't cut the seat. Strap the blade on the handle with a couple of pipe buckles.
Turn the screw heads under so they don't bang into your carving.
Work for a while then move the blade in/out by 1/4 to 3/8" at a time.
You'll know the "sweet spot" as every strike cuts very cleanly.