Homemade Tools of the Trade

[Ray]

I thought it might be interesting, maybe even useful, were we to share some images of the tools we each use for sculpting. The selection here are those that I've made over the years for my own use. Those to the left labeled Flat Wedges are just that, flat on two sides tapered to a point thus forming a wedge. The next is a simple handle with a bit of wire in the end of it used to mount a sculpt in progress for easy holding (and to keep my fingers off the piece). The following selection are simple tapered round tools, and more rounds, this time made from sewing needles soldered into turned brass handles, follow these. The longest of these tools (needle second from left) is 4" (app. 100mm), the shortest, also the oldest of this selection (Center round) is about 2" in length (50mm). The main reason for the smallness of the tools, besides being used most on small-scale figures, is that I tend to have what draftsmen call a heavy hand. Smaller lighter tools for me result in smaller more controlled movements and a lighter touch.

All of these tools are of course homemade, being turned in a lathe and/or cut on a mill. The latest flat/wedge was made with a grinding attachment on the lathe. The tools I used to make these are not at all necessary as a drill motor and a couple of files could be used to easily (though more laboriously) achieve the same results.

Of course I also own the usual selection of dental picks, which in fact I hardly use at all not liking the size and weight of the things. There are also some few other homemade tools not illustrated here that are of a too specialized nature to present as indispensable.

Any suggestions for possible improvement of these tools, or perhaps the addition of others would be welcome, as would a view of those that others have made and use. I suspect that in shape if not material or manufacture, that most of us use tools of similar types though I am ready, eager actually, to have this assumption corrected.


Ray

 

[Jeff]

Well I started out using tools made out of tooth picks soaked in superglue. Bill Horan showed us how to make them in a demo at a SCAHMS meeting years ago. But I found it very frustrating to have a tool I had gotten used to break as I was working. Bill always said it was the fact that you could make a new one up on the spot because the materials were usually at hand is what made him stick with them.

I did not want to have to stop and make a new tool especially if I was in the middle of working on something. So I made some new tools out of brass. They were about the same size as the tools Bill had taught us to make and that I had gotten used too, but they were very hard to break in the middle of a project. Most were made from scrap brass I had in my tool box. Some are steel, some are aluminum. We had a knurling tool for one of the lathes at 21st Century toys so I used it to make them less slippery.

 

[Ray]

Jeff,
Nice set of tools, I wondered if anyone else made theirs of metal. Am I mistaken or are yours all rounds, no flats? I use the flats mostly to apply putty with only a little bit of rough shaping. The rounds are for final shaping the way I use them anyway.

Not being a figure modeler when I started out in this I really had never heard of Bill or any other sculptor for that matter, so I simply made the tools I thought would work and from a material I was comfortable with. Initially I made my tools from 16-penny nails just because that's what I had on hand and, perhaps mistakenly, I thought brass might be a bit less durable. After all these years I'm sure that brass would make a great long lasting tool except for the flat wedges I'm fond of and of course the more pointed rounds. I doubt I'll ever machine another fine pointed round because needles are much nicer for this and putty doesn't stick much to the nickel led needles.

Coming up with tools was actually quite a bit less of a challenge for me than discovering an appropriate medium for sculpting in. Looking back the choice of epoxy (AB in my case, Magic Sculpt now days) seems obvious, but at the time, I hadn't a clue. All was reveled to me, as is often the case, by a single off hand remark made by a friend who apparently knew more about the process than me. lol

Thanks for sharing Jeff some of the shapes of your tools have given me ideas.


Ray

 

[Totenhosen]

Those are some nice tools.

I'm not quite as modern, though. I have found a box of toothpicks to be indispensable. They can be carved into almost any shape I need and they are super cheap.

 

[bonehead]

Here are my tools. I don't remember where I first learned to make those toothpick tools, from a Shep Paine book or article I think. I am not tool happy and I do 95% of my putty sculpting with these tools. Only a few of the toothpicks do most of the work. Those are the ones that are less crusty. You can see I use them a lot and most of them are many years old. I don't break them very often. I generally only replace them when they become too encrusted to use effectively.

The crusty knife is for soft putty. The other knife is used for carving, scraping and clean-up of hardened putty: sharp blades are only put on this knife. When the blades go dull, they are switched to the putty knife since sharpness is not an issue when cutting soft putty.

I have an ancient box of toothpicks that I must have bought 25 years ago or more. It may last me another 25 years. Sometimes I find interesting toothpicks at restaurants. The long pointy toothpicks were bamboo ones that I found that way. I tend to think less is more.

 

[Ray]

Ken, Mike,
When starting this thread I had a suspicion that most would be using tools made from toothpicks. In fact I was surprised that the first respondent-Jeff-would have tools made from metal, interesting. The material chosen to make our tools is really only of academic interest to me however, as most of my interest in this thread is to have reveled any unusual shapes and applications people make of and with their tools. For instance Katherine Dewey, (http://www.elvenwork.com/index.html) who some of you may have heard of, and who works in polymer clay to larger scales (1/12-1/6), has made tools specific for eyelids, fingernails and hair. These are all very interesting tools though I haven't yet found application for them in the small scales I've been working in.

Have you guys ever considered wood dowels for making tools of a larger diameter than a toothpick, or do you simply have no need for anything bigger. As a thing of possible interest, most of my tools are made from material of 1/8-3/16" (3.18-4.75mm) diameter, most probably because the 16 penny nails I made my first tools from were about 1/8" diameter, though the nails themselves were chosen more for length than diameter.

It seems I'm still in the minority in the use of a flat wedge shaped tool for applying putty and rough sculpting. Unless, that is, you are using your modeling knife for the purpose Mike.

Being something of a tool collector, though without real purpose-more as an addiction-I'll probably continue to add new sculpting tools to my collection. In this way I'll probably be adding a greater number of tools to my 'I almost never use' collection than to the favorite’s collection. Even so, for me it is all part of the fun and learning, so if you have anything really unusual that you favor I would be very gratified to see it, or have it described to me.

Thanks for the replies,

Ray

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Hi Ray,
i made some 'points' type tools out of some brass rod, bought it in the local hobby shop, and shaped it with the aid of the hobby standard miracle device, the Dremel.

I grabbed a Games Workshop doubled ended wedge type tool. has a blunt blade on end, and a small circular flat on the other.

Given I am still a newbie, those tools, plus a pair of blades, suit me fine for sculpting.

I have a selection of El cheapo dental style picks, work fine for some detail.

As for making tools, most sculptors would rather push putty then manufacture a tool for a specific purpose, unless that particular tool was going to get a lot of use.

Materials; Well, I have access to the shed, the local hobby shop stocks some basic brass rod, so I can make a racket and a mess in the shed pretty much when I please.

Others, who may have an apartment type living arrangement may not have the luxury of such semi anti social activities...

Some of my smaller pieces I am thinking of mounting to a wood dowel, if I start sculpting 1/4 scale busts, for example, I might duplicate some tools up scale, for ease of use...

As for unusual tools (relating to the hand craft use, rather then an industrial tool) there is the occasional book that describes tools from Victorian era craftsmen, that should help feed your 'habit'

rereading this thread, I may investigate the making of a broad flat, like a kitchen spatula, for smoothing large areas. (and by broad, I mean 15mm across)

Interesting viewpoint on tools though.

cheers

PS - I think many of us here are hoarders of grey army, with nifty tools somewhere behind references, paint schemes, and barely used paints...

 

[Ray]

Jamie,
I'm assuming that you use the doubled ended spatula for putty application the way I use my flat wedges, yes? I actually have one of those in a drawer with all the other hardly ever use tools I've made or purchased. I haven't had much success smoothing with a flat tool not being able to get the pressure applied consistent enough to keep from raising ridges at the tools edges. Instead I resort to the largest diameter round appropriate to the area and scale I'm working on. Perhaps a not quite flat tool with convex working surface would serve well in this application (might be a new tool somewhere in this sentence). lol

For me making new tools for sculpting is very much the same as actually sculpting, it's all about creating something new after all. Besides, I'm always looking for that magic bullet that will help me improve my skills, and just maybe, maybe, finally achieve that ever elusive 'Master Piece' of a sculpt I've been pursuing so long.

Last year sometime, someone (I think it was Einion) posted a thread, with link, about tools made from PTFE (Teflon). If memory serves the thread was something like 'The Holy Grail of Sculpting Tools'. Interesting stuff PTFE tools, however, after giving them a try I found the material not nearly stiff enough for my heavy hand-mentioned earlier-so I tried making tools from Delrin, which worked but didn't seem any more beneficial than tools made of steel. With that I gave to PTFE and Delrin tools I had made to a friend and my son to play with. Having said all that I think it just as well to point out that several others who have made tools from PTFE were really very satisfied with them.

Ahh, the 'Old Apartment', I recall well the days of renting, and all the annoying restrictions to the hobbyist in an apartment environment. Though I tried to be as quiet as possible-we had a saying at the time, 'walk softly or Bill is going to be mad', Bill being the old guy that lived below me-I never quite managed total silence. As evidence of this fault of mine I was even ticketed once and had to make an appearance in court to plead my case. Fortunately, after explaining to Bill (he's the one called the cops) that I had been reloading rifle cartridges he forgave me the noise and withdrew his complaint (must have been something of a gun guy himself). I still had to go to court, just to plead and have the ticket dismissed, lucky me.

Dremels are nice little tools for turning small stuff, but I would recommend a cheapo-cheap by comparison-1/4" drill in its place as I burnt up my first one, before I had a lathe, using it to make turnings. I've also burnt up a couple cheap Black and Decker drills the same way but with fewer tears shed and fewer dollars lost.

There's nothing cooler in my opinion than old Victorian tools, those guys were amazing the things they achieved in creating an industrial society from scratch.

Best Regards,

Ray


P.S. Long winded as always I know, sorry about that.

 

[Jeff]

double post

 

[Jeff]

I did not post photos of all of my tools just the ones I made myself. I do have some flat tools I have a dental tool that I use a lot. Toy and film industry sculptors call it a #11. and when you work in a big shop you guard them because they get stolen all the time. I got a new one at the SCAHMS show last year. I had to buy it as part of a set. It had a lot of flat tools in it I thought I would never use. Then I started mold making and I use them all now. They work great for preparing molds so you never know. I also use a hobby knife a lot.

The thing I like about the metal tools is that I can clean and polish the metal tools when they get crusty, and they never break.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Hi Ray,
Yep, crafting a tool can be as pleasing as crafting a figure. Most of us are putty pushers and/ or paint slappers, so tool making isn't front of mind

Jamie,
I'm assuming that you use the doubled ended spatula for putty application the way I use my flat wedges, yes? I actually have one of those in a drawer with all the other hardly ever use tools I've made or purchased. I haven't had much success smoothing with a flat tool not being able to get the pressure applied consistent enough to keep from raising ridges at the tools edges. Instead I resort to the largest diameter round appropriate to the area and scale I'm working on. Perhaps a not quite flat tool with convex working surface would serve well in this application (might be a new tool somewhere in this sentence). lol

I probably use the double ended slightly over priced GW spatula the way you use your flats. Really, its a piece of steel wire, shaped en masse, and churned out by the bucket load. Works though

As they say, if its simple, but it works, whats the problem?

As for large areas, I have a piece of brass pipe, cut down to about 3 inches long, and just under an inch in diameter. It serves the dual purpose of keeping most of my long narrow sculpting tools together, as well as serving as a rolling pin, and 'smoother'. A polish with brasso every now and then, clean tool.

I'll add the 1/4 inch drill to the list, next time I need to turn something, rather then the mind blowing speed of a Dremel at minimum...cranking it around to half way , exciting watching resin/ putty fragment at that speed.....fun in the shed!

Besides, I'm always looking for that magic bullet that will help me improve my skills, and just maybe, maybe, finally achieve that ever elusive 'Master Piece' of a sculpt I've been pursuing so long.

As a tradesmen who was actually closer to a craftsmen advised me once; "When all you have is a hammer, everything resembles a nail"

So while a few tools are handy, there is no one single tool. Having said that, I have seen photos of Japanese carpenters, and one fellow had something like 300+ planes of various sizes and contours. You would love that workshop!

Still, tools are of interest. I reckon I'll be looking at texture stamps in the future

cheers

 

[Einion]

For anyone that doesn't remember it there's a previous Tools of the trade thread. Some of the pics have been removed from posters' imagehost accounts but it's still well worth checking back to.

Einion

 

[Einion]

Here are my wet-sculpting tools, mostly same as shown in the above thread:

I have a few other wood tools but these show all the basic shapes I've made over the years. From left to right are three cocktail sticks with a range of different tips - quite sharp, a couple of rounds and a couple of wedge-like shapes. To their right are four made from wooden dowel, again with a range of tip profiles, made to make different marks I thought could be useful. I'm fussy about aesthetics, so early on I took to coating the wood down the entire length with superglue, to prevent gummy buildup in the middle.

The new tools to the right are three impression tools, for mail texture; the business ends are hypodermic needles ground to a C and the handles are cutoffs from old brush handles (coated in shellac - good enough for a tool used infrequently). The hooked tools on the extreme right were designed to come at something from the reverse angle; tips are sewing needles (heated to red heat to loose their temper), grips are from ultra-cheap brushes which had plastic handles. The shoulders are some old A+B, the strongest putty I had at the time because I wanted to be able to press hard with these if necessary as I work putty right through the setting period.

The two above are my bluntest wooden tool for big round marks (another cutoff from a brush handle) and underneath that something I made to be a spatula but found I didn't really need (ice-cream stick, obviously).

These mostly speak for themselves:

The three aluminium grips have round, pointed and needle-sharp steel tips; the pointed one (bottom) was in a set as-is, the two others were shaped from nails spun in a motor tool.

Now this last one might look out of place in this thread but both sets were so heavily modified they just about qualify. All three plastic tools had a big seam running down the long axis that needed to be scraped off for them to be of any use. The one I've worked with most, third from top, I thinned the spatula-like end and sharpened the opposite point; there was some slight reshaping of both of the others before smoothing. I now have them very slightly rough (0000-grade steel wool) as I discovered the plastic they're made from clings to putty when polished smooth.

The steel wax carvers, in common with any of the cheapie ones of this type, were very crude when I bought them, with 'flats' on the edges. They were reground completely and then polished (cream metal polish, rouge, stainless-steel polish, glass polish). I now do nearly all my work with these two, although I try new things like Colour Shapers frequently to see what might work for me. I've also made a point recently of picking up old tools and giving them another whirl every now and then so see if they suit me now.

Einion

 

[Ray]

Jeff,
Me too, I kind of figured everyone had already seen the commercially available tools already, especially Dental Tools.

I think I have one of those #11 tools in my collection. The use I put it too is digging putty out of the container though I can see how it would be useful in place of my flat wedges, especially on larger figures.

I clean my tools, if I let them get a little crusty, by soaking in acetone followed by a good scrubbing with a rag dampened with acetone.

Thanks for replying again.


Ray

 

[Ray]

Jamie,
Thanks for the post. It sounds like the wax/dental spatula is the go to tool when a flat one is needed.

I like the brass pipe idea and have several of my own, but for a different purpose. I taper sharpened the inside edges of various sized brass pipe/tube for cookie cutting hat rims and brims from semi hard putty rolled flat. I also have several small diameter brass tubes with their outside edges sharpened that are used for buttons of a uniform diameter. One end of each of these brass button tools has been filled with solder or putty then drilled out slightly to make a concave dimple; these are for making domed buttons. Smaller button tools are made from old hypodermic needles with their ends ground flat. All the button tools are used in cookie cutter fashion too; I role thin a patch of putty onto the figure where the button goes, cut the button with the button tool then, carefully pull away the excess putty with one of the flat wedges (usually the smallest flat).

There are those days when, no matter the quality of the tool, everything feels like a hammer, the putty won't do as it's supposed to and the tools don't work at all. On these days I grumble and moan, and find something else to do-sometimes I consider taking up a less demanding hobby like watching the TV, or drinking myself blind. lol

It seems many craftsmen are tool obsessed with huge collections of tools, many of them special with only a single purpose.

I'll try to get some pictures taken to post of some texture stamps and their products I've made. It would be interesting to see any from others of us, mine are few.



Ray

 

[Jeff]

Actually the tool that Einion posted in his last photo, the tool at the bottom. That is the tool in question. The one I just bought is actually very nice. A lot nicer then the original one I bought.

 

[Ray]

Enion,
Thanks, I haven't been around long enough to have seen that thread when new. Guess I could have searched it out before starting this new thing, and if I weren't lazy by nature I might have even attempted it. lol

I'm kind of intrigued by your mail tools even though I haven't had occasion to make the stuff myself, yet. So far I haven't convinced myself that I really like bent tools though I sometimes use them to get into those otherwise inaccessible areas. My problem is that using them is awkward for me, similar in sensation to writing with the weak hand. Still if they could be mastered or if I could learn to be comfortable with them they would be immensely valuable.

It's nice what you have done with the wax carvers, refining the edges and shapes the way you have. It seems that your selection of needles and pins are probably used much the same as my brass mounted one. Mounting them in any sort of handle may be a bit superfluous but I find them easy to grasp, and-of no less importance-locate among the other tools when wanted.

What use do you put the cut off hypodermic needles to?

I guess it wasn't you that posted the thread and link about PTFE tools last year. I have tried to locate the thread but without success, probably my memory of the title is mistaken.

Best regards, and thanks,

Ray

 

[Ray]

Jeff,
I thought so, though I have both tools shown in Enion’s post. Mine aren't so nice but for the use I make of them the lack of quality is of no consequence. I have it in mind that working on larger pieces, tools like these, refined of course, might be just the thing.

Thanks for clarifying,


Ray

 

[Ray]

Jeff,
This place has a very nice selection of Dental/wax carvers with not unreasonable prices, including your #11. Hope it is of some use.

http://shorinternational.com/WaxCarver.htm


Ray

 

[Einion]

One of the things that's surprising I think, and threads like these are a great way of highlighting it, is how different people accomplish the same basic tasks, using tools that aren't the same.

But that aside, doing a lot with a few simple tools does seem to be the common denominator with most people who have sculpted a fair bit (excluding carving and other post-hardening shaping).

So far I haven't convinced myself that I really like bent tools though I sometimes use them to get into those otherwise inaccessible areas. My problem is that using them is awkward for me, similar in sensation to writing with the weak hand. Still if they could be mastered or if I could learn to be comfortable with them they would be immensely valuable.

That pretty much echoes my feelings on them - they sure seem good in theory but very hard to get used to.

It seems that your selection of needles and pins are probably used much the same as my brass mounted one. Mounting them in any sort of handle may be a bit superfluous but I find them easy to grasp, and-of no less importance-locate among the other tools when wanted.

I'm of the opinion that it's definitely a good idea to use longer tools (roughly pen length) as it helps prevent hand fatigue. I don't know if my experience is atypical but over the last 10 years or so if I were to sculpt for three, four hours or more using something the size of a cocktail stick or smaller I'd get cramps in my hand, quite apart from the wax carver-type tools working better for me anyway.

What use do you put the cut off hypodermic needles to?

Small round depressions - they give a slightly different mark, depending on putty type and depth, than a needle of similar diameter because of the flat tip and no taper. They can also be used for subtle (very small) rivet details.

I guess it wasn't you that posted the thread and link about PTFE tools last year. I have tried to locate the thread but without success, probably my memory of the title is mistaken.

No, that was me! A search for PTFE confined to just thread titles should locate it no problem.

I haven't bought any PTFE rod yet. It's a great idea but without an urgent need I just haven't bothered.

This place has a very nice selection of Dental/wax carvers with not unreasonable prices, including your #11. Hope it is of some use.

http://shorinternational.com/WaxCarver.htm

Those are actually pricey given the going rate online. They may be a higher standard than the norm but unfortunately it's usually impossible to tell for sure from online product photos, and one certainly can't assume price is a guide to quality regrettably.

For anyone considering giving these sorts of tools a try (and I'd strongly recommend it) it's usually possible to find sets of 12 for around $10-15 on fleabay, occasionally much less. And on one of my favourite sites for small tools, Widget Supply, they usually have 12s in stock for $10 (current link). These are cheap tools and will likely need to be refined; if your budget allows you can go the whole hog and look at professional dental wax carvers but these can run to over $30 each.

Einion