Recent Comments

Hi Rob,
I am in SC and the humidity is bad here in the summer. I tend to leave my gouges hanging on a magnetic strip, but I take a cloth and rub them down with oil (any kind of oil will do - it just depends on how smelly you want your tools to be). I have used olive oil, mineral oil, camellia oil, and even a silicone lubricant - you can probably even use W-D 40, but I'm not sure there (can't that be used for anything??). Just something to protect the metal. If I do discover some rust spots, I rub them down with fine steel wool with oil.

Ideally, keep the tools in a conditioned place. I have an air conditioner, so I don't really need to worry about humidity that much. I have also heard of using paraffin on your tools and also putting some paraffin in your sealed toolbox with your gouges. The paraffin evaporates and gives a thin coating on your tools. I have not tried this, but I think there are a lot of references to this on the internet in the exact process.

I would NOT recommend storing them in a tool roll with humidity in the air. You will discover some pretty nasty rusty tools if you leave them closed up like that for several months - especially if the tool roll is leather. Been there, done that. Not nice!

I tend to use the brass or steel mallet - mostly because this is the kind I started out with. But some benefits - it hits solidly against the chisel handle and doesn't bounce like wood or plastic will. It's small size with a lot of heft. I keep within 1 to 1.5 lb. One of the things to consider - if you are going to be doing a lot of really heavy mallet work (rather than light tapping for guiding the gouge gently along), you may want to consider a wooden mallet. The metal mallet will eventually do some damage to the handle if you are doing some hefty pounding.

I have brass and steel mallets for sale on my online store. Or you can turn your own wooden one. To add weight to the head of the wooden mallet, drill a hole in the mallet head and epoxy in some metal.

Have fun!

Hi Karey,
You can also try Stubai tools (www.stubaiusa.com). But if the gouges they have available are slightly larger or smaller, that will work also. As you will see on many of my videos, I don't necessarily stick with "this is the only tool that can ever be used to make this cut". Many options. You may want to order them online also, as they will have better inventory.

Happy shopping!

Great David! Keep on having fun!

That would be a fun carving to do. I will try and set something up for this.