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CDHM The Miniature Way
September 2010, Issue 8
Tools
Page 20

Now since I am a bit of a tool fanatic, I am constantly surprised by the tools other sculptors use. Some are pure genius (and I have been known to scurry home to make my own version) and some are mind bogglingly simple. Mine fall in the middle between traditional wooden tools and more inventive job-specific ones, wooden tools can be really simple paddle shapes, curved shapes, etc., or they can be purposed to make a particular shape or texture, or just to get that angle or get in those tight areas that no other tool seems to be able to do quite like it.

I like making my own tools because to me it falls into an almost art form area as well as doing the specific job I need it to. I make metal ones by taking generic ones and re-shaping them on a sanding belt, maybe after I have had my way with them with the hammer and the flat spot on my vise. I buy and often times make my own loop tools using guitar string, some needle nose pliers, a hand-shaped handle and epoxy putty or glue. Coping saw blades heated with a propane torch and bent into little rakes for scraping the clay smooth... ah the list goes on, because when you make your own stuff and it works, boy is it gratifying.

For now let's stay with some simple wooden shaping and smoothing tools. For those all you need are hand tools. If you have power tools all the better. I don't feel the need to go into those right now though, because if you own them you probably know how to use them and can take what I present here and use them to speed things up. So for the creation tools all you need are a couple of files - flat and round; a coping saw (the kind that looks like a bow with a skinny saw blade in replace of the string with a round wooden handle coming off one end); sandpaper; and/or sanding sticks if you have any; paste wax for sealing the wood when you are done; also infinitely helpful is a vise or clamp of some sort for sawing the wood.

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