Microplane.com Reviews & Articles, Robin Edward Trudel

Microplane A Product of Grace Manufacturing

last updated 1.22.99, 9:30 am

July 1997

First, so I don't repeat myself 10 times, the surform tools do not compare favorably with these tools. The structure of the teeth of the microplane tools seems to take 5-10 times longer to clog and then a mild tap and the shavings fall away. Their process produces consistently sharper teeth.

Using these tools on Eastern White Pine gave me a feeling that I was molding the wood like clay, rather than scrubbing it away as the surform tools do.

30001 Rigid: This turned out to be one of my two favorites of the non-handled kind. It was very easy to use without a frame. I "tested" this one the most last night and was delighted with its ability to remove wood cleanly. The ability to use it without a frame makes it very versatile.

30002 Flexible: Works excellent in the frame, not very effective free-hand. I rigged up a bow sander to use the blade and found its ability to conform to a surface very handy. I wish I had one of these when I was making the carousel horse rockers. It's just what I needed to shape the seat. It works fine in the hacksaw, but better when it can flex a bit.

30004 Surform Replacement: Installing this in the Surform handle I owned was simple. You can really lean into the tool and remove tremendous amounts of stock quickly, but the handle does fill up with shavings quickly. As far as comparing it to the surform blade that was in the handle, well that blade is in the trash...

30010 1/2 Round: Surform also makes a shape like this and I have found it useful in the past. I liked this blade because it was another blade that could be used without a handle. The sweep of the blade is very much like a #3 gouge and is very useful. Again, the open design of the teeth allow the shavings to fall away quicker and not get clogged.

I think I can address the handled tools with a few general comments:

The handles are on the wrong end for carvers. I'm not sure how these are used in the body shop industry, but carvers prefer to cut with these tools on the "pull" stroke. To get the carving market, you could offer these tools with the handle on either end. I inspected the blades carefully and it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. And by offering tools that cut on the pull and push stroke, perhaps folks would buy one pull tool and one push tool...

The good news is that these tools are delightful to work with. I had some small carvings that I shaved down very quickly with these tools.

The square tools are very useful because there are actually two different angles: The front angle is at about 90 degrees, which is useful, but the sides are at a more acute angle and this is the typical shape of a v-tool.

I used the larger round tool to rough in the eye sockets on my large statue of Joseph.

One last comment before I send this off: Carvers are always looking for ways to get children involved in carving. Either of the two smaller sets would be an effective and safe choice for teaching children carving. Typically folks will cut a blank out for a child and give them some sandpaper to shape it. Although this process is extremely safe, not enough progress is made to hold a child's attention.

Using the medium tools a child could create quite a complex carving in a fairly short amount of time.

I did also try to use the surform replacement tool to surface a piece of rough sawn stock and it took no time at all.

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