Reciprocating saws, like the Milwaukee Sawzall, are used for making the first initial rough cut on the wood that is being sculpted. After outlining the basic shape of the piece, the reciprocating saw is used to cut away large chunks of wood that would be too time consuming to use a sander or rotary tool on. Blades available for reciprocating saws include rough-cut blades as well as finer tooth finish cut blades. Cutting two-dimensional forms can be accomplished using other types of reciprocating saws, including scroll saws and jig saws.
Rotary tools come in a variety of sizes, and use different bits for the removal of wood from a sculpture. A rotary tool also effectively replaces a power drill when fitted with high-speed drill bits. Small rotary tools, such as a Dremel tool, are used for intermediate wood shaping all the way to fine detail work, depending on what type of bit is being used. Large rotary tools include die grinders, which accept larger bits. Die grinders can be corded, battery-powered or air-powered.
Electric sanders such as belt sanders and even random orbital sanders are used for smoothing and polishing sculpted wood. Bench mounted disk sanders are also useful sculpting tools, providing a large vertical plane to sand the workpiece with. The range of capability of these tools is limited only by the grit of sandpaper used. When used with 36-grit sandpaper, they become efficient and quick material removal tools. When used with 1,000-grit sandpaper or higher, they become excellent polishing tools. Dremel tools may also be used for sanding purposes, as they can be fitted with a wide range of sanding bits.
Power chisels make the work of chiseling much easier. The tool has a brisk back and forth movement that helps prevent slippage of the blade even when cutting with the grain of the wood. Power chisels can be fitted with a variety of blades, and they work well for carving lettering or engraving patterns into wood. Power chisels are not only limited to light chiseling, however. Changing to a heavier chisel blade when working with hardwoods such as walnut or ebony reduces the chance of splintering the wood during heavy material removal.