Trusco AUTOMACH Power Carver

The AUTOMACH carver is the best power tool purchase I have made in a long time. I've put about 50 hours on it since I received it, and found it to meet most of my carving needs. It works on both green and seasoned wood-- differently, of course, but equally well. The piece in the photo is a mask on a seasoned pine plank. Clearing the negative background took minutes, and going around the drawn lines was easy.As with any wood carving project, attention has to be paid to grain direction, but not nearly as much as with standard hand tools. The AUTOMACH will change direction pretty much as you wish it to do, without much--or any--tear out.Another major benefit of the tool is the lack of stress on hands, wrists, and arms that I, as an older carver, have found to be an issue with manual carving tools. It's not that the tool doesn't get heavy after an hour, but it's not like using a mallet and chisel, or even a hook knife. Learning to handle the tool equally well in either hand is helpful.Because of the length of the tool, it has its limits if you are trying to carve, say, a deep bowl. There will be a point where you will have to switch to another type of gouge. I have done a couple of spoons, though, and except for a few turns with a hook knife toward the end of bowl shaping, the AUTOMACH works very well. If you have a spoon blank ready to go, the tool can make quick work of almost all of the shaping.Another benefit of the reciprocating action of the blade is the lack of dust. The blade slices, and there is virtually no dust. I particularly noticed this when working on a piece of seasoned walnut lately. As walnut dust is very toxic, I was concerned that even using the AUTOMACH would offer a risk in cutting. After making a series of cuts in the piece, though, I removed the dust mask I was wearing, ran my finger along the cuts, and, when I saw nothing, smelled the wood--only a very faint smell was present (and dry walnut, to me, stinks).I bought a set of Flexcut roughing gouges to go along with the set of blades that come with the tool. Some of the blades that came with it were sharp, and some weren't. Adding the Flexcut blades greatly expands the use of the tool, and they fit the AUTOMACH just fine.The AUTOMACH is not the same tool as an angle grinder with a lot of cutting wheels for major sculpting of larger pieces of wood, but it is excellent for small pieces of sculpture, utensils, and relief carving.

power carver, seems to work well

I'm new to carving, with most of my woodworking done on the lathe. I got this to add embellishment on some of my turned items, and it's going to be a bit of a learning curve for me to get any good at it. The Automach was recommended to me by friends who are professional woodworkers, and I'm quite pleased with it so far. Any shortcomings in the final pieces are definitely the fault of the guy holding the tool, not the tool itself.The tool is rock solid, not terribly heavy, but you know you're holding it after a bit of use.One thing to consider is that you will need to find a way to sharpen the chisels, and a way to hold them while you're doing so. They are reasonably sharp out of the box though, so work with 'em to figure out what kind of sharpening gear you're going to need.Not sure why the review form is asking me to "help customers find the right toy" looking for an age and whether it was suitable for that age or not. This is not a toy. It's a power tool that can cause serious injury if used incorrectly, so take appropriate safety measures.

Very well made tool. I have paired it with Flexcut blades and brass shims. This thing really removes the waste very quickly. Surprisingly ergonomic given its shape. I have not experienced any hand fatigue using it for extended periods. I bought it for waste removal, but I think it is more versatile and can be used for fine/finish work as well. Based on 5-6 hours of heavy use on yellow pine, I would highly recommend. I much prefer this to a rotary tool since this doesn’t produce any more dust than chisels/gouges. Frequent lubrication changes are recommended and very easy to do.

This is an outstanding tool works extremely well for carving makes it a lot easier than sitting there with a hammer and a chisel trying to cut into wood. I would recommend this for anybody that likes to work with wood.

I went to undergrad for printmaking at a school that had one of these, and I fell in love. I work on big slabs of wood for printmaking, and my wrists aren’t great - this carves through wood like butter. Finally bought my own, 10 years later. Still fantastic equipment. Would not recommend for kids or teens.

So far, so good. This does a good job as long as you know you will need to detail with hand tools. It carves the wood easily although the enclosed tips require sharpening more often than I would think they should. If you do constant production, you will need two - they get too hot to hold comfortably after a little while. With two, you can let one cool while using the other. Is it worth the price? Time will tell. I haven't had it long enough to know if it will hold up, but it seems very well made. I also haven't been working constantly since I bought it so it has only seen moderate duty thus far.

Ive owned this autocarver for quite a while now and it is completely worth it to come back and do this review! It runs great, and makes carving SO much easier. Quick tip; I buy the 'FLEXCUT RG100 Carving Tools set of 12' and buy some 'Automach adapters' which are collet shims to help the flexcut gouges fit into the autocarver. This setup is extremely helpful in removing lots of material quite rapidly. The only downside to this autocarver is that it heats up until you cant hold the tool anymore. I use it for about 20 mins then cool down for about the same time. But that reset time beats any other method I have used in terms of efficiency and ease of use. Always be very careful and attentive using this tool!