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Great video. I have a hand carved church likely 60 plus years old that is still in great shape. Can it be replicated using machine tools or would it need to hand carved ? It reminds me of a cuckoo clock in terms of its carving and hence how I wound up at your post on youtube

Hello from Alaska! The video is very cool and informational. Love the wand. Thanks for the inspiration :)

Thanks for informative video. I am debating between OZ Plus and OZ Elite. Do you have any knowledge or experience between the two. I'd really appreciate your input. Thanks

Iowa Veteran, Great Job ,You have great talent and I enjoy watching your channel Jim's wood shop.

🏠🏠🐤🐤🐔👍🙏🙏🙏

The exploded parts diagram shown @ 9:35 anyone know where it comes from?

quick question, can all of the carving be done using only a dremel?

great work!

Nice video!!!👌👍💯

Your loons are awesome!!! Do you sell them?

I couldn't seem to get these tools to carve with a darn

You got it off of ebay? I do not even trust on ebay because there is some people scammers off ebay.

Miss you Ben. Hope everything is well.

I like it. Thank you. Great channel.

Very well done. Inspiring. Thank you.

Looks great, Ben😊

Spirit bird, who would have thunk it.

Such a beautiful gift. The little Dwarf ♡ loved it I am sure. I know I would treasure it.

Great channel, thanks for your work and sharing.

Thanks for the advice.

What is the saw called that you used on whale tail? 🐋 first time trying this. Love!

I make wood spirit bird houses but seem to struggle with the nose any advice would be appreciated ❤

Hey Ben what’s the best burr kit ( Kutzal ) for character carving and stick carving wood spirits ?? Thank u brother!

What a wonderful place you have to do your carving

You explain it very well. I use the sabertooth and Kutsal with a Fordem and a Dremel but I’m just a beginner

A great inspiration as always ❤

The wand is gorgeous 💗thank you for the video😘

Wow!💗 Just beautiful!💗

Ben hope everything is okay. Looking back at previous projects....I wish you would get back on the cuckoo clock if you didnt lose it in the fire. Thanks for the content either way. Best wishes.

Gotta love the star trek enterprise playing in the background. Respect!

Thanks for the advice Ben very helpful ,ive liked and subd you ,greetings from Wales UK .

Learning much from you..thanks

Hi Ben, My Micro-Motor was delivered yesterday and I gave it a brief test. In the ebay listing it was referred to as a Marathon III, but the labeling on the machine only says "Micro-Motor" although it looks identical to the Marathon III branded machine, except the foot pedal, handpiece rest, and cords are all black on mine. Also, no actual instructions are included. There is a one-page color brochure with photos of different models. I don't really know what I actually received, or if this one is substantially different than a Marathon III. Apart from those minor deviations, the case and handpiece look identical to yours. I did notice something worrisome though. The speed dial on the control box doesn't seem to change the speed from the one o'clock position through the highest setting. On all the other settings I can hear a difference in the sound as the speed changes. I can also feel and see a difference in the engraving (diamond bur on glass), but from one o'clock to five o'clock positions (full-speed) there is no change at all. That doesn't seem right to me. Does your machine have a discernible change in sound & speed in those positions? What do you think? The first 2 lowest positions have very little power even with a diamond on glass and they are pretty rough and chattery. It feels like the handpiece might stall at those low speeds. I don't know if that's normal or not. I have a very light touch, but even with that those positions aren't workable on glass, so it probably would stall on wood. I'm thinking maybe I should return this machine and see if a replacement is any better. What's your opinion on this issue, please? Thank you for any advice you can provide. Shirley

can you fit an 1/8 inch bit on a marathon 3 ? is there an attatchment so i can use dremel 1/8 inch bits in the micromotor.

Hi Ben, Thanks for the review on this one. I've b'een looking at these for a different use than wood carving. I want it to tool leather. I watched one video that showed a very similar motor from Ali-Express and the guy said he got an additional handpiece to give him the reciprocating action that is needed for leather tooling. I looked on their web site, but couldn't find a separate reciprocating handpiece. Have you seen anything that would fit my needs on the import market?

got my widdler taken by my principal last week because some light loaf ratted on me when he saw me sharpen my pencil lol

Harbor Freight. Well... I have a LOT of HF tools and such and -- at first glance and first use, it's easy to want to toss them away as "crap." But, there are some 'secrets' to making some Harbor Freight tools into reasonably decent tools that can save you tens and hundreds of dollars over a year or two. I do a lot of wood carving and have quite a few knives and chisels that came from some of the "top" carving tool makers. Most of them are NOT sharpened to my satisfaction when I unwrap them. And these are the expensive tools! On the expensive stuff, the blades are good, hardened, carbon steel, and the 'profiles' are always ground correctly. They just don't have the 'finish' sharpening and polish put in them yet, because the actual sharpening angle will depend on the type of wood you're carving. Hard woods require a bit 'beefier' edge with a micro-bevel finishing out the sharp part. This helps keep your tool sharper and for a longer time. For the softer woods -- say basswood, limewood, linden or whatever you want to call it -- you can have a longer beveled edge. Generally, it's a 20-degree bevel for the hard stuff and 15-degree bevel for the softer woods. Some carvers just shoot somewhere in the middle at 17 - 19-degrees and work from there. This has proven to be the best 'all-around angle for me and I work mostly in basswood because I have a sawmill that's always on the lookout for it and they'll call me when they get such a tree. I "barn dry" the stuff allowing about one-year of drying per inch of thickness and, of course supporting the planks liberally with plenty of 'stickers' to support it while it's 'seasoning.' Now, to the Harbor Freight knives, chisels, etc. They really are 'junk' in the sense that they look like a tool but aren't really a tool -- YET. Much of the 'knifey' stuff at H/F is made for the speed of making them and not for the ease and artistry of using them. That's why they're cheap as hell in comparison to those really expensive carving tools. But, those H/F knives and chisels are, indeed, made of the right stuff and -- with a little bit of knowledge and elbow grease -- you can make a doggone fine set of carving tools out of them. The first thing to do is to grind them to the proper shape with a wet (and slow) grinding wheel or more 'elbow grease' and some wet/dry sandpaper. Start with 80 to 100 grit and work smartly and patiently. Treat that tool at least as well as you plan to treat one of your carvings. What you want to do is correct the bad angles on the outside edges of the "V" and "U" gouges. Find a picture online of an excellent example of an expensive tool (Swiss, German, etc.) and sand in that profile. When that is done, it's a good time to do what didn't get done correctly when the tool was being made. And that is to HARDEN and TEMPER it. You can do this with a propane torch, but a MAPP torch would be a lot quicker. I harden and temper these kind of tools in a 2-step process -- heat and quench. Because I don't want to heat the whole damned thing (no reason to, really) and because I don't want to be "F'n" around taking handles off and putting them back on, etc. I wrap the tool in a wet rag.and I only heat about 1/2 inch of the cutting edge. That's all you need to heat. So, I heat it to the 'color' I want. Generally, red to bright red is about 1400 to 1500 degrees and when I get the color I want, I quench it in a soup can (metal, get it?) full of any kind of cooking oil. That's it. Wrap it in wet cloth to help keep the heat from spreading too far up the tool and end up burning the handle; heat the cutting edge to about 1/2-inch back; when the heated patch starts getting bright red, look for the actual cutting edge to be heading for an orange to yellowish color (yellow is about 1,800-degrees). At that point, stick it in the oil and move it around slowly until it cools enough that you can touch it without burning yourself. Doing it this way allows you to skip the part about "drawing down" the temper. Now, at this point, clean up the tool and polish it with some higher grit wet/dry sandpaper. Once you can see polished steel, you go for establishing the bevel and sharpening the edge. You're basically -- at this point -- about where you'd be if you bought that $40-50 carving tool and were beginning to sharpen it. So, you saved a bunch of money and you actually have a good tool. Sharpen it to your satisfaction with the higher grit (600 or higher) sandpaper, then put some 'grit' onto a piece of leather and strop it. For 'grit' I've found that the solid yellow 'stick' produced by Flex-Cut is hard to beat. You don't want to use any of the waxy/greasy "Tripoli" or "polishing compounds," for this because they are made for use on motorized polishing wheels. The Flex-Cut stuff is made to use with a leather strop or even the cardboard backing from a writing tablet. Use the leather, though. Just find a piece that isn't too thick. Why? Because thick leather will compress under the knife and likely round that beautiful edge you're trying to keep scalpel-sharp. So, thinner leather is how you want to go. Why leather? because the backside (rough side) holds the 'grit' that puts the scary-sharp edge on your tool. Now, for the "insides" of these "U" and "V" tools, you just polish any "wire edge" a tiny bit. If you start trying to put an edge on the inside of them, you'll ruin them. Only sharpen the outsides. For my knives, when they're sharpened/polished, I'll bring them up close to my eye and catch the light in such a way that it gives me a seemingly microscopic view of the edge. When I'm looking at an exact and crispy sharp mirror image of my eye, etc. being reflected back, I know that knife/chisel, etc. is extremely sharp. As I said, I have some expensive carving tools, but I also have a couple sets of the Harbor Freight carving tools and they are quite fine for wood carving after I've "trained" them. Once you learn how to sharpen your carving tools, you'll be amazed at how dull those "razor-knife" utility knives are. You can sharpen them, too. No sense buying pack after pack of semi-dull blades just to throw them away after a few cuts. Good luck and happy carving!

I reworked the set i got from harbor freight mostly with a harbor freight tiny file set and emery cloth. The steel seemed good and hard but the shapes were clunky. I carve old bearded faces on walking sticks and pencils so V gouge of various sizes gets used a lot.

Sir is it totally wrong to use pine for a gnome carving?

I started carving approximately 1994 Internet searches were very sketchy. I’ve carved a lot of styles and gotten away from carving and came back. It is so refreshing to see other wood carvers recommend other wood, carvers and supporting each other. It’s the next best thing to go into a live meeting.

Elder wand

Beautiful

Thanks for the basic information. I'm just dipping my toe and videos like this help to not waste money on the wrong tools.

Just started up with carving after about a 9yr hiatus & found your channel. I haven't finished watching this video yet, but I HAD to pause & agree with you on the amazing skill of Grinling Gibbons. I'm forever in awe of people who can do such beautiful stuff w/out modern technology. I wish I had the patience to do that, but I know it's just not in me 😂

Great Talent.😁 Jim's wood shop.

I like it and you have convinced me to try it. I have an old quail cuckoo clock and can't find the carvings for it this seems like my only option at this time. Is there somewhere a person could obtain a pattern or is this something you just do from a picture?

Ben love this little owl series hope to see more recent ones

Hey Ben, I forgot to tell you how much I like your thumbnail for this video! Thanks.

Awesome! Learned a lot from you this time. Plan to give you some credit on an upcoming video. Thanks for sharing this.

Excellent! Just what I was looking for. I enjoy all your videos.