Using Micro Stump cutters to cut out small pattern wood pieces

[woodartist]

I am a novice ship builder!!! But a very experienced wood carver for 35 years. When I started carving all we used were full size traditional chisels, then palm tools became popular, essentially micro chisels, that could be used with one hand. Then came power tools with a cable and handpiece with carving bits, then brushless handpieces came without a cable and both large and micro bits. I do not have a scroll saw so I started using my micro stump cutters to cut out small pattern wood pieces. These stump cutters are  high carbon steel cutters on a 3/32" shaft. The cutters can get as thin as 1/64" and as large as 3/32". If you get 1/8 shaft bits they can get as large 1/4". They are US and German manufactured and cost about $1.15 each from US and $2.25 from Germany. They last a long time if you do not overheat them.  My handpiece can run up to 50k rpms without any vibration and is essentially noiseless. It has adequate torque at low speed as well. On 1/32" wood I can run at 3k rpm; on 1/16" at 6k rpm, at 1/8" I can at 12k rpm and at 1/4" at 30k rpm. There are micro sanders at 120 and 180 grit. They are cone shaped and as a they ware out they get smaller but still sand. The bits will work in a Dremel but not very elegantly.  If you do not have a scroll you should try it. Pictures of the tools and my home shop below.

[wefalck]

I was wondering what 'stump cutters' were ... I gather they are called 'burrs' around here and in the jewellers trade.

 

The carbon-steel ones come in dozens of different shapes and sizes. There are also carbide ones, but the size and shape range is smaller.

 

It can be worthwhile to also look into the dentists' and related range. They come from the same manufacturers, e.g. Busch in Germany.

 

[Bob Cleek]

28 minutes ago, wefalck said:

I was wondering what 'stump cutters' were ... I gather they are called 'burrs' around here and in the jewellers trade.

 

That makes two of us. Apparently, they are indeed what we call "burrs." I wasn't able to find any reference to them as "stump cutters." All Google gave me were advertisements for tree stump removal and tree services.  

[woodartist]

Wood carvers, call them stump cutters, and they are listed as such in all the bit/burr catalogues from dealers.