The use of machines for the production of carved subjects is commonplace in continental Europe.  The demand for machines of this nature, affordable but of robust construction and designed from a users viewpoint led Wivamac, in Belgium to design such a machine and put it into series production.  The runaway success of that machine is obvious from the impressive range of models now included in their line-up, as listed below.

These are machines engineered to last from a maker who is dedicated to the production of high-quality woodworking machinery. 

In use for three-dimensional carving the "master" copy is placed between centres in the machine and a block of timber is centred in the second axis.  A router head is mounted in parallel with the tracing stylus and, by moving the stylus over the work, the router accurately mimics the surface traversed by the router.  As work progresses, the workpiece is rotated in its centres which are geared to those holding the carving blank: thus the figure is progressively rotated and the whole piece can be carved.  The angle of approach of the stylus/router can be adjusted such that a significant degree of undercutting is possible without the need to remount the figure.  Setting up is quick and simple and these machines should be looked upon as production machines first and foremost.

In addition to their use for three-dimensional pieces, the Wivamac carvers can also be used for two-dimensional carving (for instance, door fronts or relief carving) simply by mounting a flat carrier in the holes provided on the bed surface.  Additional technical information continues, below.  For further details, not covered on this page, please drop a note to us at The ToolPost.  Replacement and alternative cutters and matching followers (stylii) are listed, for ordering, below.

N.B. - Finishing Cutters: These are to be used only for finishing cutting and not as bulk mass removal bits - for mass removal we recommend the 8mm cutter. The 12mm - 16mm finishing cutters are designed to be used for plunging to the final depth over the 'ground' area of the carving and can then be subsequently used laterally to remove very shallow cuts thus flattening the 'ground'.  They should not be moved laterally under significant load.

Additional Technical Information:  The units are supplied as standard with an 8mm cutter in HSS (HSS performs much better than carbide tipped cutters in this application, leaving a much cleaner surface.  It is widely accepted that HSS can be sharpened to a finer edge than can tungsten carbide.)  The follower is a double ended 8mm/4mm size. The reason that only a single cutter is provided as standard is that experience with this machine in heavy commercial use in Belgium and Germany has shown that this allows far faster material removal with no loss of detail than is the case when using multiple cutters in sequence.  Of course, this also means that tool and follower changing and subsequent re-setting can be eliminated, considerably increasing the duty cycle (available working time) for the machine: this is a vital consideration for commercial applications.  Other sizes of cutters are readily available but, quite frankly, experience with over seven hundred machines in commercial use has shown that very, very few users ever feel the need for these.  There are no other wearing/consumable parts required to operate the units.

These machines are also designed such that by fitting a flat bed into the support frame using the fixing points provided, they can be used to carve flat panels (bas-reliefs, linenfold cupboard doors or furniture fronts as an example) considerably widening the range of work that can be undertaken.

Turning to the router motors themselves:  these are supplied by the well-known German firm of Kress and have a 43mm body to fit into a standard router/drill collar.  The speed range provided by these motors is wider than actually needed for the application when using the preferred HSS cutters, which perform best at speeds in the 12000-18000 rev/min. range.  This factor also explains the apparently limited range of speeds provided by the HF system.

These machines have recently been tested by Woodcarving Magazine (GMC Publications) with tests appearing in the August 2001 and April 2000 issues of the magazine.

©1997-2006 P. Hemsley.  The information on this website is the copyright property of Peter Hemsley. 
Coeur du Bois and The ToolPost are trading styles of Peter Hemsley.  Whilst reasonable efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, no liability can be accepted for errors in this information nor for contingencies arising therefrom.  If you are inexperienced in any aspect of woodworking, we would strongly counsel that you take a course of formal instruction before commencing to practice