Welcome back to our FAQs blog series! In part two we look at Simon’s favourite Manpatools for creating texture on sculptures.
About Manpatools
Before we go into specific tools, a little bit about Manpatools.
They’ve been around since 1988. This means they have had over 30 years to develop their tools, and to still be in existence, clearly have a strong customer base. This in itself speaks of quality and customer satisfaction. They focus on attachments that work with an angle grinder, and in the UK are available through www.chainsawbars.co.uk. Incidentally, if you want to know more about buying through them, you can read our blog about our collaboration with chainsawbars.co.uk.
In general, Manpatools are a great quality product, with excellent functionality. They are nicely balanced, straightforward to attach, and come with different sizing rings so you can use different angle grinders. As a bonus, they are also neatly packaged, well presented, and come with an easy-to-understand user manual. Basically a winning product all round!
Favourite Manpatools for Creating Texture on Sculptures: The Belt Sander.
The first of the tools Simon has enjoyed using is the Manpatools belt sander.
As you can see, it is chunkier than some, and Simon reports “it has some beef”. For those who are uncertain, when it comes to power tools, that’s usually a compliment! That said, Simon reports there is minimal vibration when using the sander.
The size means it isn’t great for precision work when it comes to creating textured sculptures, but it’s great for creating contrast in larger areas. For example, creating a smoother appearance on the bones in the wings of this water dragon collaboration with Keiji during the 2019 Huskycup.
Favourite Manpatools for Creating Texture on Sculptures: The Rear Handle
Another of Simon’s favourite Manpatools products is the rear handle attachment. This is really great when working on a large scale, or with chunky pieces of timber. It transforms the angle grinder (Simon likes a Milwaukee angle grinder by the way) to a rear handle tool. It’s easy to put together, and holding the tool from further away means less vibration.
Although this may not seem to be a big thing, it’s actually super important for health. Vibration can cause changes in tendons, muscles, bones, and joints, and it can also affect the nervous system. Collectively, these effects are known as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), and it isn’t something you want! Minimal vibration helps prevent these problems from developing.
Favourite Manpatools for Creating Texture on Sculptures: The Multicutter
The multicutter by Manpatools has become one of Simon’s essential pieces of kit. It is absolutely brilliant for creating texture on sculptures, and extremely versatile because this attachment also comes with a range of attachments!
The basic kit comes with a side handle, wrench, pulley wheel, drive belt, sizing rings, a rounded carbide cutter, cutter housing, and – of course – the cutter itself. It’s extremely smooth with no wobble and has a massive amount of applications depending on the cutter used.
For those who have time, Simon introduces the tools in much more detail in this 20-minute video, as well as showing how to put them together…
Favourite Manpatools for creating Texture on Sculptures: Shaped Cutters
As we said, one of the things that makes the multicutter so versatile is the various attachments available. It comes with the round cutter, and Simon has also tried the square, triangle, v, hole, crack, and miniature cutters.
The round cutter is a staple and was used to create the scales on Maggon the Fire-Breathing Dragon, featured on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces. You can actually stay in this building, and see the incredible texture up close for yourself! Visit www.thedragontower.co.uk to find out more.
Focus on: Miniature Cutter & Crack Cutter
It didn’t take long for the miniature cutter to become one of Simon’s favourite attachments. He finds it especially useful for adding subtle texture and movement to a sculpture. For example, folds in clothing and other drapery, such as the clothing on this angel.
Simon tends to use the miniature cutter with very gentle, light movements. In this way, he takes very little off the wood and doesn’t dig very deep. He’s mindful of the direction of the fabric and uses it next to larger folds to create more subtle movement. If he does need to remove larger amounts to show a deep fold, he sometimes turns it on its side and scrapes, leaving a deeper cut and greater shadow. You can see both techniques demonstrated in this video.
Focus on: Triangle Cutter
The triangle cutter is absolutely amazing for creating fur and hair. It’s a unique tool, and is one of Simon’s top tools. The shape of the cutter allows Simon to create thin, sharp lines, such as the mane of this Sri Lankan lion.
A tip for using the triangle cutter in this way is that less is often more – especially in large scale sculptures. Simon will often add texture to very specific parts of the sculpture rather than the whole thing. For example, on the lion below, he added small sections of texture to show the way the fur lies on the chest, which helps add to the shape of the sculpture.
For those with time and an interest in how to use the tools, you can click HERE to watch Simon demonstrate.
Other Cutters
Simon has also used the hole cutter for deep holes and some shaping, and the square cutter in a similar way to the triangle. Although they haven’t had their own ‘section’, both are a useful part of his collection and are definitely still some of his favourite Manpatools for creating texture in sculptures.
Your Own Experience with Manpatools
If you try any of these for your own sculptures, we’d love to see what you create! If you got this link on social media, drop us a photo in the comments.
And if you would like to commission your own sculpture by Simon and watch him in action using some of these tools, use the form on www.treecarving.co.uk/contact/ and Simon will be in touch to discuss details.
Thank you for reading this week’s blog, and we leave you with this video of Simon in action with the Manpatools Multicutter…