Questions on Making Tampers

Perique · Feb 2, 2013

So I read the Ole Cajun's thread, saw the pictures, and thought - hmmmm, I need to make tampers. As a (very) amateur whittler I have a number of carving knives and a bunch of basswood. So a few questions for those in the know:
Any reason I can't use basswood?(especially in the beginning to practice)

What's the best coating?

Can one buy small blanks of various woods in the appropriate size? (I don't have the right equipment to make my own)
Any other tips or links welcome. Thanks.

thesmokindragon · Feb 2, 2013

Hi Brother, no reason you couldn't use that wood while starting out,

put ends on like casing or other metal discs to protect the end going

into the bowl, I use an high-temp / strength epoxy for joining ends
You can buy blanks, but depending on the wood ( check online for

ones that might have toxic dusts) it can be much more labor intensive

without the right shop tools.... I make all my briar and bamboo ones by

hand with just a file/sand paper...but really enjoy all the hard work

and end results

Finishes can be endless, but I tend to keep it simple, alcohol-based

stains/wax..done (I will post a few examples of some briar & bamboo

ones I have made myself)

robusthermit · Feb 2, 2013

I usually buy hardwood dowel rods at a hardware store and cut to size. I usually stain with shoe polish and buff in some carnauba wax. I have few tools and little skill but I make it work.

winton · Feb 2, 2013

A tamper could be a piece of dowel rod, a stick from the back yard, a roofing nail, or one of those three way pipe tools. Anything better than these is an improvement. Some of the best ones are made with simple carving tools. Bass wood is a great carving wood. The fun of tampers, is that anyone can make one. Lots of carvers use a metal cap of some sort, but is certainly is not required. Basically, if it has a reasonably flat surface on one end for tamping ash, and is fun to hold, it is a successful tamper. But there is nothing stopping you from making it from really cool wood or carving a face on it.
Winton

gmwolford · Feb 2, 2013

The one I made and posted for the trade is from a fruitwood root we found walking to see "something" in the Smokie mountains. I think it's fruitwood because of the smell it gave off during sanding with the Dremel, which is all I used with sandpaper to make it.

trailspike48 · Feb 3, 2013

I don't know your location, but if you have a Paxtons Lumber near your location they sell small pieces of ebony. After you perfect your carving you could try an ebony one. Let us know how the project comes out.

metarzan · Feb 3, 2013

Ooh Paxton's... Used to work near one in Austin. They always had a few bins of irregular chunks ox exotic woods at bargain prices. Still got expensive real fast.

dragonslayer · Feb 3, 2013

There are many exotic woods that can be found, I’ll probably grab some zebra, leopard and ebony. Some of the others might be awesome.
http://www.woodworkerssource.com/turning_stock.html

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Questions on Making Tampers

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