tools of note

After some small scale ice carving practice last night, I have three new favorite tools:

• miter saw

  My power miter saw makes clean cuts through ice as easily as it cuts soft wood. I'm now considering using a circular saw in my gear tooth cutter instead of an angle grinder, but I'll have to wait and see how the angle grinder (on order) performs first.

• spade bits

  Drilling through ice with a plain old twist bit works okay, but you have to clear hard packed snow out of the bit after every inch or so of depth. Spade bits, on the other hand, zip right through several inches of ice in one shot. We may need to make our own adjustable spade bit that goes up to 10 cm diameter (I can't find one for sale larger than 3 inches).

• pruning saw

  I had no idea that a hand saw could be so incredibly effective. My crosscut saw is terrible on ice, but the pruning saw I got for Christmas (thanks, Charlie!) rocks.