*cue shaft of light streaming down from heaven and the angelic chorus*

I'm working on a very detailed stamp for the Things with Wings ring (try saying THAT fast three times!), and for the first time I'm using a needle to do the smallest parts. I have a magnifying glass jerry-rigged over the carving medium and the results are amazing! I'm able to see so well it's incredible. I can't wait to get a decent magnifier with a light.

Seriously, if you haven't tried it, do so. It's a whole new level of carving! (And for those of you wondering what the heck I'm talking about, you can get hypodermic needles for large animals at a farm co-op for about 50¢ a piece. They're large-gauge needles with the tips cut at a large angle. You use that angled sharp edge as your cutting edge).

-AG

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I'm using a needle to do the smallest parts......It's a whole new level of carving!
-AG

hehe gives a whole new meaning to 'using' needles... enjoy AG! I like the end 'results' too makes for some amazing creations!
~C~

I just got my pin vise this week and hope to get some carving needles sometime soon (as soon as I find a place in the Manchester area that sells horse needles that is....)

MW

I gave up very quickly on needles, but I'm completely lost without my magnifying light. You can tell if you look at any of my stamps whether they came pre- or post-magnifier.

Out of curiousity, is there anyone out there who uses needles and the Staedtler tools? If you do, are you able to get any more detail with the needles?

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...you can get hypodermic needles for large animals at a farm co-op for about 50¢ a piece. They're large-gauge needles with the tips cut at a large angle. You use that angled sharp edge as your cutting edge...

I bent one recently. It might be helpful to know how that happened: First off, besides being excellent at slicing details, I've found needles helpful in removing chunks of rubber after all the slicing is done. As a razor knife carver, I typically used gouges for rubber removal, but I've found that on detailed images the needles work better. When there's a chunk of rubber in the middle of an image somewhere that just won't let go, you can slip the point of the needle into an existing slice along one edge, work the tip all around under the block of rubber to cut it loose, and then pry it out. The needles are so strong -- much stiffer and stronger than the razor knife, thanks to the tubular construction -- that I tend to get carried away and pry really hard rather than spend more time carefully cutting underneath.

The problem with that, it turns out, is that my 12 gauge needle is nowhere near as strong as my 16 gauge. It's, like, twice the size, so you'd think it'd be much stronger. But the 12 gauge is made of really thin-walled tubing, and may actually have less metal in it than the 16 gauge. And because it's so much larger, the tip itself -- which only consists of a few degrees of the circle forming the tube -- is much flatter than the tip on the 16 gauge. So, the very tip bent backwards on me.

I then found I could bend it back straight -- or even beyond straight, giving it a bit of a curl -- with ease; just press the back side of the tip against the table. Now that it's been bent once, it seems to bend easily -- which I suspect is because the curvature of the tube wall has been flattened by the bending.

It still works, but nevertheless I may spring the 35 cents for another 12 gauge needle the next time I find one in the feed store. I'd actually kinda like to find one that's heavier duty, but that's probably not going to happen.

ArchimedesScrew wrote:

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Out of curiousity, is there anyone out there who uses needles and the Staedtler tools? If you do, are you able to get any more detail with the needles?

The use of Staedtler tools implies a gouge carver, while the needles are used like a razor knife. There's no doubt that much, much finer detail is possible with the needles than with the Staedtler tools, but one would have to completely relearn how to carve in the razor knife style.

I'm a razor knife carver, and I keep telling myself that I want to learn how to carve with gouges -- but every time I prepare an image for carving, it seems an image more suitable for the razor knife to me. If a gouge carver has the same issues trying to carve with a razor knife (or needles), they'd have to push themselves really hard to develop skills with them. It's not just picking up the razor knife or the pin vice instead of the gouge; it starts with the selection of the image itself, the sizing of it, and the mental preparation for how you're gonna go about carving it.

Since ArchimedesScrew is one of our most accomplished carvers, I'd be willing to bet that most boxers would suggest "Forget about it, you're doing fine the way you're going!"

Where might on find a farm co-op or feed store?

This area used to be covered in alfalfa and corn when I was growing up, but for some reason they decided houses and shops of every sort would look better on the land.

...sigh...

I do know of a great Tack shop that's still around...I'll start there maybe.

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is there anyone out there who uses needles and the Staedtler tools?

My favorite tools are also the Staedler tools, non-modified. And, I have tried the needles, and managed to make a big mess (and my daughter ended up stabbing her finger deep). :-(

So, no more needles for me. Bandaid uses them with success, but I'm not sure if she uses the Staedlers with them.

~SHH :-)

You can also get needles online. I got some from Valley Vet. I never did get the hang of using them, though.

DebBee