"Captain Toothless Tom"

[mpounders]

It's basically a stationary jigsaw. You move the work piece against the blade, rather than with a portable where you move the blade around the work piece. You will probably only be able to cut out one profile, rather than cutting side and front on a band saw by sticking the pieces back together. The...

[mpounders]

I only have experience with a couple of off brands and they both offer very fine control, in that barely putting your foot down spins the burr very slowly. All the way is full speed. I bought my first flex shaft tool from Harbor Freight, getting motor, shaft, foot pedal, and hand piece with a chuck,...

[mpounders]

You might try this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LFCarving/ for the Leipers Fork Carving Club which includes Vic Hood and the Brashers as members. They are still active no matter what their web page may indicate. And Steve Brown holds carving seminars twice a year in Lebanon.

[mpounders]

It looks like it is going to turn out fine. When I carve multiples of similar things (Santa ornaments), I get bored unless I can make them each slightly different, so embrace that. I understand your concern that it isn't a duplicate of your previous piece, but let the customer decide if they want it...

[mpounders]

This is from a Rich Wetherbee rough out, but I'm not sure if he still sells them? I don't think its real old, but I didn't see any on his web site. I really enjoyed carving this one because it offered a lot of challenges with all the details and the piercings in the carving. And deciding on the colors...

[mpounders]

It really is a matter of preference what size you like and the handle size/style. The key is that whatever you get will work better if it is sharp and you can keep it sharp. When I first started, I really didn't understand how sharp a knife needs to be for carving, until I purchased a knife that was...

[mpounders]

Ron Wells made knives very similar to the OCCT knives made by Mike Shipley. Mike Shipley is a carver and he bought Ron's knife making business and made his knives from the same materials and style, but some older carvers still say the RW knives were better. Mike had to change his knives a bit after...

[mpounders]

Just my 2 cents, but I would recommend going with something thicker to join the pieces together. I used to use allthread, but changed to using 1/2" dowel to join the handles. I have had to repair a cane where the allthread broke and it involved quite a bit of work to get to the point where I could...