Frugal Woodworking

For under $20 I am very impressed with the Bad Blade Carver by Kwik Tool.  Mounted in a 4.5″ grinder, it removes a ton of material quickly yet allows a fair amount of control.  The disk has only 6 teeth so the carver is mainly a solid disk with very few teeth to bite and create kick-back or dig-in. I found I had the best control when engaging the blade between 12 o’clock (top of the grinder) and 3 o’clock. When in that range it was not overly aggressive and left me in control.

This carving blade competes with

• King Arthur’s Lancelot Chain carver  – The Bad Blade Carver is half the price and has pretty much identical capabilities.  Both leave very similar surfaces. The simpler design of the Bad Blade make it more reliable and less scary.
• Arbortech Tuff Cut – Nearly identical in design to the Bad Blade Carver.  The Tuff Cut has only three teeth. Half the number of teeth means the Bad Blade wins for a smoother finish AND is 1/4 the price.
• Arbortech Turbo Plane – The turbo plane is more than 7 times the cost of the Bad Blade Carver, however The turbo plane is kind of a more refined animal.  It probably isn’t fair to compare the two. The Turbo Plane leaves a better finish and can be used in a different way,  but for bulk removal and heavy shaping, I think the Bad Blade Carver wins. If you want the scalloped and smooth surface, then the Turbo Plane wins.
• Kutzall Shaping Disc  – The Bad Blade Carver compares closest to the Kutzall coarse.  The Kutzall leaves a little better finish , but is a touch slower at bulk removal (that could be  pro or con) than the Bad Blade Carver.

Before Bad Blade Carver. This is straight off the chainsaw.

This is not fully sculpted yet, but you can see that the Bad Blade Carver has been very effective at sculpting, shaping, bark removal, and smoothing

I am super happy with the Bad Blad Carver.  It does what I need it to do (removing and shaping wood) and does it in a fairly safe and controllable way.  I choose it above the other four products I referenced above.