Blade Preferences In Regards to Whittling

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Dirty_Dan

Joined
May 9, 2017
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Hey guys,
I was wondering what blades you guys use when whittling, namely coping/sheepsfoot/wharncliffe vs pen/clip (basically straight vs curved edge). I have really only used sheepsfoot and coping blades when whittling and was wondering for those who use pen and clip blades, what are the advantages?

And if you want to include pictures of project completed with said blades, I won't be up set ;)
 
When working wood, whether whittling with a pocketknife or carving with a sloyd at home, I've found that narrow blades with fine points work best.

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My whittling experience is limited to a single project, with a GEC #33 whittler. I found its 3⅜" handle to be a little small, and my hands (arthritis) were a wreck afterwards because of the compromised grip.

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The fine edges of the 1095 steel were great, even in this pretty hard piece of wood. The fixed blade shown in kamagong's first picture has, in my opinion, the ideal blade profile: thin, with a very gradual curve to the edge. A sheepfoot or pen was used for some of the work, but mostly the clip main.
 
I prefer a small clip blade for most of my whittling. The curved edge works well for slicing cuts and for creating curved surfaces. It's pointier than a pen blade and can get into smaller places.

That being said, I do also like having a coping blade available and use that for three-cut chip cuts and some v-notches.

Here's a little cowboy bust I've been working on with a Camillus 72:

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The hat was carved with the small clip and the facets of the face were done with the coping blade. I'll use the small clip for most of the remaining work on the face and torso.
 
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I tend to prefer straight edges, as they seem to give me more control. Sheepsfoot for roughing out, and coping for detail work. My Congress Carver is equipped with pen and Spey blades as well, which do come in handy on some projects.
 
In most of my putzing around with whittling I've found that the small pen is far more useful that I would have thought and that short thin blades are great for small cuts and detail.
I've played around with everything from Mora to Rough Rider to Helvie and have found that each has a place and a mood.
My beas advice is to get a knife, sharpen it up and see how you like it!
Then buy another to try, and another, and maybe one more for the blade shape, oh and this one has a neat looking handle...
 
Yeah, I've mostly used the sheepsfoot and coping on my stockmans and congress patterns, but I'll have to dabble with the pen blade. I have used a spear point blade on my old camillus scout knife, which wasn't to shabby.
 
I usually use a coping blade, but will sometimes use a pen. I find the point of a coping blade makes it much easier for detail cutting.
 
Same as yablanowitz, different shapes for different things.
For roughing out I usually use something with a belly, better for slicing off big chunks and more comfortable for me.
Afterwards I usually switch around, in some places one blade shape works, in others not.
For me it's important that a knife for whittling has at least one straight and one curved edge, and at least one pointy tip.
(Or I use multiple knives if I have them around.)
 
Two options for me.
Main: Wharncliffe or Clip
Secondaries: coping and clip/wharncliffe (opposite of main)
 
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