AdamTill Report post Posted August 3, 2010 (edited) Hi folks, I recently completed my first tree, and guess what...doesn't fit anymore! Shame too, since I think it would have made a pretty saddle: Not sure if my horse has managed to get wider or fatter since I first measured him , but there's about 3/4"-1" or so of rock that needs to be in this tree that just isn't there. This one might fit when I can get some of his weight down (we've had SO much rain that it's been a losing battle this year), but really doesn't right now. Sigh. At any rate, since this one took me almost 6 months to make, I'd very much like some advice on how to properly shape bars WITHOUT it taking another six months to do. Granted, I learned lots doing this one, and a lot of the previous time was taken in figuring out the shapes required, but clearly there are some economies of time to be had. Since I live in a townhouse with a single garage, my large power toolset is relatively limited, and needs to be portable so I can make room for the truck to live indoors (car on the drive). As such, I have a 4x36" belt sander, 57" bandsaw, and dremel tool that did the majority of the work on this one. From reading I've done online, it seems a lot of folks to the large sloping cuts with a significantly larger bandsaw. That said, I've seen pictures of spokeshaves and such as well. Any helpful pointers? Thanks folks, Adam PS - hints on carving forks would be welcome as well. I suspect 15 bands for my dremel isn't the most efficient way of doing this. Edited August 3, 2010 by AdamTill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rod and Denise Nikkel Report post Posted August 3, 2010 Adam, Rod does a lot of his shaping with a carbide carving disc (Kutzall) on a side grinder. He gets them from Lee Valley. http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=33253&cat=1,42524,42527 They sure send the dust flying so if you can do it outside, that is the best. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AdamTill Report post Posted August 3, 2010 Adam, Rod does a lot of his shaping with a carbide carving disc (Kutzall) on a side grinder. He gets them from Lee Valley. http://www.leevalley...t=1,42524,42527 They sure send the dust flying so if you can do it outside, that is the best. Thanks Denise! They're just across the street from where I work, so that'd be handy to pickup, and I have a grinder that would take that disc. Thanks also to you and Rod for the info you've put on your site - it's been an invaluable resource for me so far! Cheers, Adam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites