carving with water

[Ken Barnes <barnestrav@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'll weigh in on this subject as well.  95 percent of
my carving is with water.

I live in a very urban environment, only two miles
 from the downtown high-rises.  My only carving retreat
is a partially subterranean two-car garage.  All of
the garage is my studio, and part of it has been
segregated with one of those thick refrigerator
curtains (multiple strips of plastic hanging in an
overlap pattern).  I repoured the concrete floor to
slope to a sump.  The sump pumps the water into a 35
gallon drum, and another pump sends it through my
water lines back to my center water feed grinders or
saw.  I reuse the water for weeks or months before
changing it.  It gets pretty brown or grey, but I have
not had a problem with reuse.  I do use clean water
when at the polishing stage for a light-colored piece.

I have several GFCI outlets with outdoor rain covers
and a couple holes to bring through my air hoses from
the next room.  The carving room is 8 feet by 9 feet.
I tried carving dry in the studio once, but the
resultant dust in an enclosed place hung in the air
for hours.  There was no way I could vent this dust
into the neighborhood.

When I first started I always sprayed water in my
face.  But now it seems not a problem.  But I do get
it most everyplace else.  Nothing a good hat and rain
slickers cannot take care of though.

Happy carving,
Ken Barnes