Reddit reviews Set of 12 Stone Carving Chisels/Knives
We found 2 Reddit comments about Set of 12 Stone Carving Chisels/Knives. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Special knives for carving stone stamps, Not designed for large Stone sculpture used with hammer.Made of steel, long usage life.Comes in a box5-1/2Hand-Carving Tool. Great for details.
Depending on what type of stone you want to work with will define the tools you will need. No matter what you will need safety goggles and a half decent respirator especially if you use any power tools.
Soap stone is incredibly soft and easy to work with and chisel kits are inexpensive.
For harder stone you can look at some better chisels that are still affordable. You can move up in quality once you want to commit. A 3lb sledge and wooden mallet will come in handy.
A rotary tool with diamond bits can also be fun to play with. Goggles, respirator and a spray bottle filled with water are needed.
Start hammering away. You will make lots of mistakes but eventually you will start to see the grain in some stones that will show you what can and cannot be done.
Good luck.
When I started stonecarving I began with a pretty cheap generic chisel set like this (hopefully amazon link works here) as well as a similar multi-set of rasps of different shapes. That was over 10 years ago and I still use some of them today. I think perhaps one of those kits you linked as well as an under $20 chisel set of different sizes/shapes (some double sided, some flat on top to allow hammering) would be good to let you more easily get smaller details, and to have extras if one of them breaks or chips.
I don't live on the west coast so unfortunately I can't provide locations for stone but soapstone is definitely the way to start. Other tools that you may have around that could be helpful are a hand drill and a small saw (I use a saw that is part of a leatherman style multi-tool) and a towel to work on so you don't get stone powder everywhere if doing it indoors.
Also, some art/craftsman stores sell solid blocks of clear paraffin wax for cheap. I found that grating that wax onto a finished, sanded stone piece and then using a heat gun or hair dryer to melt the wax into the stone provides a very cheap, durable finish to soapstone carvings that I liked better than using the oily "liquid wax" bottled sealers that require multiple coats and sometimes still end up looking dry. It shows the color and pattern of the stone very well. It has to get hot enough to completely melt the wax into the stone (so the wax is a totally clear layer) and then blot away any excess with a rag or paper towel. I've had pieces still look new years later using that technique and it was much cheaper and faster than using oils or room temperature liquid wax mixtures.