Sculptor tools have been many and varied throughout human history, from sharp rocks used to carve petroglyphs in massive stones or cliffs to the mallets and chisels of marble cutters, the tempered steel blades of whittling knives, the calipers of clay modelers and the welding torches of metal sculptors. Each material responds to different sets of tools, limited only by the artist's imagination.
Tools for Sculpting Stone
Michelangelo might have used the same simple tools a carver of marble still uses today. Sculptors shape stone with chisels. The four basic types types, flat, round, gouge and tooth, handle everything from making grooves to refining detail. Rifflers and rasps are files for smoothing the surface of the stone. A riffler is a curved file used for concave surfaces. A rasp is any rough file used for flat surfaces. Soft iron hammers tap the chisel into the stone. Goggles and face masks offer protection from flying stone chips and marble or stone dust.
Tools for Carving Wood
Chisels and rasps or files work on both wood and stone and are selected based on the grain or the hardness of the wood. Wooden mallets have a better "give" for tapping chisels into wood than the metal mallets used for stone. Whittling knives with tempered steel blades remove large sections of wood, shape forms and create fine detail as the work progresses. Sharpening stones are essential for restoring the cutting edges of knives. Goggles and filter masks protect against flying wood chips and clouds of sawdust.
Tools for Sculpting Clay
An armature is a base holding a metal skeleton that supports the clay as the sculptor forms it. Sculptors use calipers to measure and calculate proportions from life models and translate them to the figure being created. Wire loops have sharp wire ends bent in various shapes that a sculptor uses to carve designs into the clay or the glaze before firing. Dental picks, ball- or round-end tools and piercing tools are used to mark, pierce, shape and decorate the clay. A potter's wheel, foot-driven or electric, is a spinning disk, supported by a base, that turns the clay as a sculptor shapes it. Kilns are brick-lined ovens used to dry or fire clay at extremely high temperatures.
Tools for Sculpting Metal
Welding torches and plasma arc cutters are standard equipment in metal-work studios. Welder's chalk marks metal for precise cutting. Safety gear is not optional when working in metal. Use goggles, heat-protective aprons and gloves, steel-toe boots, helmets, face mesh and other safety clothing. Metal wheel grinders smooth surfaces more effectively than sandpaper. Solid metal stakes are used for bending sheet metal. Various hammers and mallets are chosen, project by project, for shaping different metals. Engraving tools and metal stamps add design to the sculpture's surface. Molten metal is poured into casting molds to achieve the desired shape. One of artist Richard Serra's favorite tools is oxidation. The rust covering many of his giant metal installations is an organic part of his design.
