I bought a Boxer Congress Carver Whittler for my first knife as I was intending to learn how to whittle ... To make a long story short I bought some basswood and just wanted to learn how it felt to cut the wood. The knife came sharp enough to remove hair of my arm... But when I go to cut the wood it's like I'm struggling compare to the guys in the videos I've seen... Could it be that my knife still isn't sharp enough or is it probably my newbish technique?
Beginner Carving Question - knife?
- Thread starter MrCPA
- Start date
Most dedicated wood carving knives have full flat grinds or Scandi grinds and very polished blades to help carve through the wood. If you want to whittle and mess around a traditional folder can work but in my experience the more I carved the quicker I switched to dedicated carvers. Check out a Mora 106 or 120 carving knife; a Scandi ground Sloyd knife for the exact purpose of carving wood.
Tilley Knife
I'm Daniel, I make stuff
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- Jul 6, 2011
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I whittle with a congress or stockman. An edge can be sharp but still not the correct angle for carving. A lot of knives come with a 30 or 25 degree edge. I reprofile mine to 20 or less and put a high polish on the edge. Also, be careful not to use to much force or pressure with the cut. It can cause the blade to bind even in softer material like basswood.
I have very rarely seen a traditional pocketknife that was ready to whittle right out of the box. You do need to flatten out that edge.
Hold the blade at about a 10 degree angle on the stone. Work it until a burr (wire edge) is raised on the side opposite to the stone. It is absolutely essential that you get this burr all along the entire edge. Not just one or two spots. I repeat - do not quit. Then turn the blade over and do the same on the other side - again until the burr forms. Do not "cheat" on this unless you really don't want it sharp. Then come back to the first side, and give it a few light strokes, at that 10 degree angle, which will push the burr over, then back to the other side. Do this several times taking care to not touch the blade to the stone at any angle steeper than the 10 degrees until you can't feel a burr on either side of the edge.
Now you need a strop. Simple way is to glue some denim, as in a piece of those old blue jeans that should have been tossed long ago, to a flat stick. 2x10 inches will do, but exact size is unimportant. Put some green or white buffing compound on the denim (available at that discount tool store). Don't bother trying to use red jeweler's rouge - it is designed for soft metals, not steel. Now with fair pressure drag the edge, fanatically maintaining the 10 degree angle during the entire stroke. Do NOT flip the knife at the end of the stroke and come back the other way. If you do, you will start to anticipate that flip, and change the angle to almost 90 degrees and destroy all your good work on the stone! (I have seen this done many times). Just carefully and slowly enough to see what you are doing stroke that blade with fair pressure, about 100 times. Seriously. Then turn the blade over and do 100 on the other side. Take extreme care to not run off the end of the strop, and to NOT give a little flourish or flip at the end of each (or any) stroke.
When you get done with this procedure, you will have a knife that you can whittle with. When the edge needs a touch up, just give it 10 to 20 strokes per side on the strop and the edge will come right back. When you find that you need to re strop every 5 min., its time to use the stone again.
There are great books out there that can help you learn to whittle, and sharpen too. One recently came out: Classic Whittling is the title.
Hold the blade at about a 10 degree angle on the stone. Work it until a burr (wire edge) is raised on the side opposite to the stone. It is absolutely essential that you get this burr all along the entire edge. Not just one or two spots. I repeat - do not quit. Then turn the blade over and do the same on the other side - again until the burr forms. Do not "cheat" on this unless you really don't want it sharp. Then come back to the first side, and give it a few light strokes, at that 10 degree angle, which will push the burr over, then back to the other side. Do this several times taking care to not touch the blade to the stone at any angle steeper than the 10 degrees until you can't feel a burr on either side of the edge.
Now you need a strop. Simple way is to glue some denim, as in a piece of those old blue jeans that should have been tossed long ago, to a flat stick. 2x10 inches will do, but exact size is unimportant. Put some green or white buffing compound on the denim (available at that discount tool store). Don't bother trying to use red jeweler's rouge - it is designed for soft metals, not steel. Now with fair pressure drag the edge, fanatically maintaining the 10 degree angle during the entire stroke. Do NOT flip the knife at the end of the stroke and come back the other way. If you do, you will start to anticipate that flip, and change the angle to almost 90 degrees and destroy all your good work on the stone! (I have seen this done many times). Just carefully and slowly enough to see what you are doing stroke that blade with fair pressure, about 100 times. Seriously. Then turn the blade over and do 100 on the other side. Take extreme care to not run off the end of the strop, and to NOT give a little flourish or flip at the end of each (or any) stroke.
When you get done with this procedure, you will have a knife that you can whittle with. When the edge needs a touch up, just give it 10 to 20 strokes per side on the strop and the edge will come right back. When you find that you need to re strop every 5 min., its time to use the stone again.
There are great books out there that can help you learn to whittle, and sharpen too. One recently came out: Classic Whittling is the title.
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Congrats on the new knife and welcome to the hobby! I'm glad you were able to track down some basswood to play with.
Adding to the excellent advice above from Mr. Chips, I've found it's much easier to do the initial reprofiling with a coarse stone. I use the coarse side of a Norton Crystolon coarse/fine oilstone for that, only moving on to the fine side only after the criteria explained above have been met, and from there on to a strop.
If you are having trouble visualizing what a 10 degree angle looks like, or maintaining a consistent angle, try putting a dime on your stone and then positioning the blade so that the edge is on the stone and the spine is just barely on the dime. The angle will vary depending on the width and thickness of the blade, but it should be in the right ballpark.
Another way to get close to 10 degrees is to fold a piece of paper diagonally to get 45 degrees, then do that twice more to get 22.5 and then 11.25 degrees. Use that as a starting point and then lower just a bit if you want to be closer to 10.
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Adding to the excellent advice above from Mr. Chips, I've found it's much easier to do the initial reprofiling with a coarse stone. I use the coarse side of a Norton Crystolon coarse/fine oilstone for that, only moving on to the fine side only after the criteria explained above have been met, and from there on to a strop.
If you are having trouble visualizing what a 10 degree angle looks like, or maintaining a consistent angle, try putting a dime on your stone and then positioning the blade so that the edge is on the stone and the spine is just barely on the dime. The angle will vary depending on the width and thickness of the blade, but it should be in the right ballpark.
Another way to get close to 10 degrees is to fold a piece of paper diagonally to get 45 degrees, then do that twice more to get 22.5 and then 11.25 degrees. Use that as a starting point and then lower just a bit if you want to be closer to 10.
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I also whittle with a Boker Congress Carver. I love the knife, and it did come "sharp," but, as mentioned above, it was nowhere near sharp enough for effective wood carving. It took me a good while to reprofile all four blades, but now it is the most frighteningly sharp knife I own. I ended up with angles that were approximately 9 dps on the sheepsfoot, 10 dps on the spey, and 7.5 dps on the coping and pen blades. The pile side of the coping blade is basically a zero grind at this point. You will also need a good strop and some good compound, like Flexcut Gold or Veritas Green. This is the real difference between sharp and carving sharp.
BTW, in January, I managed to plunge the coping blade right into the end of my thumb when a small piece of wood broke unexpectedly. It went about 1/2" in, and cut right through my fingernail like it wasn't there. Pretty ugly. But, the knife was so sharp, and the cut so clean, that it healed back without stitches in about a week or so, and now you can't even find a scar or any damage to the nail bed. Yeah, I have a good carving glove now.
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BTW, in January, I managed to plunge the coping blade right into the end of my thumb when a small piece of wood broke unexpectedly. It went about 1/2" in, and cut right through my fingernail like it wasn't there. Pretty ugly. But, the knife was so sharp, and the cut so clean, that it healed back without stitches in about a week or so, and now you can't even find a scar or any damage to the nail bed. Yeah, I have a good carving glove now.
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E.J. Tangerman's Whittling and Woodcarving is a classic. First published in 1936, still one of the best books on whittling.
EJ Tangerman's books are indeed classics, but he labored without the benefit of modern photography and printing. Current books are MUCH better in clearly showing how to go about holding knives, carving safely etc. Step by step photos are a tremendous help in getting people going in the right direction.
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I've wanted to get better at carving also, but haven't found that "magic" folder just yet. Has anyone tried the Flexcut Carvin Jack (or smaller model)? Is it worth the price? I've been really intrigued, but haven't been able to pull the trigger on a folding knife so dedicated. Also interested in their wood handled beginner sets, but the folder just looks so convenient to take out. Retail is over $150, but haven't gone looking for street prices yet. I'm guessing they're all under a MAP pricing being so specific in purpose. If the blades are quality and hold an edge, I'm sure the price would be fair.
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That thing is way overpriced!
It looks handy, but most people with a little experience can tell you that it will be a frustrating tool to use. The tools are very limiting, and with some sharpening, those L shaped things will quickly become totally useless.
For 150.00 you can get a good three bladed pocket knife and 3 or 4 SwissMade palm carving gouges that will be far more useful.
I have used some of the Flexcut knives, and they do not hold an edge as well (certainly no better), than the Rough Rider, Colt, and modern Schrade knives that I modify for my whittlin' students.
It looks handy, but most people with a little experience can tell you that it will be a frustrating tool to use. The tools are very limiting, and with some sharpening, those L shaped things will quickly become totally useless.
For 150.00 you can get a good three bladed pocket knife and 3 or 4 SwissMade palm carving gouges that will be far more useful.
I have used some of the Flexcut knives, and they do not hold an edge as well (certainly no better), than the Rough Rider, Colt, and modern Schrade knives that I modify for my whittlin' students.