Cavalcade of Carvers (preferably folders)

[5K Qs]

As Memorial Day approaches, I hope that I'll find some time to work on my amateur whittling this summer. Although I've whittled with almost all of my knives at one time or another, I think I've been most successful so far using the pen blade on Vic SAKs.

But I dream that my carving will improve dramatically once I start using a tool designed for the task! So I've gradually acquired some knives designed specifically for carving wood, even though I haven't used them yet. These "dedicated folding carvers" fascinate me, and I invite all who have one to share them in this thread. "Performance reviews" are also more than welcome here.

I have 3 such knives. The first one I got was a Sarge carver.

I've used it a little bit, and while I like the handle shape, I think the blades would be more effective with a regrind to "full flat". (But what do I know, really?)

I looked for a long time for a Rough Rider Whittlin' Buddy, but they seemed to be out of stock everywhere I checked. Earlier this year they became available again at that Tennessee RR emporium, so I ordered one. It's BIG (about 5" closed, I think), but I've yet to try it out. Again, I suspect performance can be optimized by reprofiling the blades.

My third example of a "dedicated carver" is a Flexcut Whittlin' Jack that I picked up not so long ago. This looks like a serious wood carving knife; I hope my talents are eventually worthy of such a fine-looking tool!

Looking forward to seeing more examples of these sorts of knives!

- GT

 

[T.Knotts]

That Sarge Carver is a looker. Very nice. I imagine that sets nice in the hand. Very nice collection.

 

[r8shell]

Looks like you've got a few nice whittlin' knives to try out, Gary.

I haven't done much carving lately, but a few years ago, I had the idea that I should whittle just to have an excuse for buying knives. I was always looking for that one "perfect" whittler. Of course, there's the #57 Geppeto Whittler with wharncliffe blade, and the Boker Carver's Congress. Both have the advantage of a small straight edged blade, and one like a pen blade with a bit of belly to it.



Probably my most interesting dedicated carver is this Bulldog Take-apart knife, patterned after the old Browne and Pharr design.


What's really worked the best for me though, are a few Opinels that I modified into short carving blades. They take an incredibly sharp edge, and have the advantage of a lock. This is reassuring since when I whittle I'm sometimes digging at the wood at odd angles. This combined with hand fatigue could be a very bad thing, indeed. They're not pretty, but they do the job:




I like to carve little things that I can keep in a pocket (or Purse ) and work on when I have a few minutes here and there. If you start getting frustrated, just put it away for a while.



I look forward to seeing your whittling projects this summer. :thumbup:

 

[Old Engineer]

As Memorial Day approaches, I hope that I'll find some time to work on my amateur whittling this summer. Although I've whittled with almost all of my knives at one time or another, I think I've been most successful so far using the pen blade on Vic SAKs.

But I dream that my carving will improve dramatically once I start using a tool designed for the task! So I've gradually acquired some knives designed specifically for carving wood, even though I haven't used them yet. These "dedicated folding carvers" fascinate me, and I invite all who have one to share them in this thread. "Performance reviews" are also more than welcome here.

I have 3 such knives. The first one I got was a Sarge carver.

- GT

m


I like the looks of that Sarge GT !!!

Harry

 

[12Bravo]

Check out Ross Oar knives. The single blade carver and the 2 blade canoe look pretty good. The RR whittlin buddy is very large and the blades are too broad IMO.

 

[WhittlinAway]

I'm thrilled that you started this thread. I've been wanting to start a "show me you traditional working whittling folder" for a while now.

This is my current favorite whittling knife and some face carving practice I've been doing with it:

It's a Schrade 34OT that I've given a bit of a Wharncliffe treatment to the sheepsfoot and converted the spey blade to a pen. I'm still tweaking it and may thin the pen blade a bit over the weekend.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's traditional whittling folders!

Greg

 

[WhittlinAway]

What's really worked the best for me though, are a few Opinels that I modified into short carving blades. They take an incredibly sharp edge, and have the advantage of a lock.

Those look great! I especially like the top one. I've been thinking of doing something similar, but was wondering how easy it be to open. But, I see you've solved that nicely with an EO notch.

Which size did you use?

 

[r8shell]

Those look great! I especially like the top one. I've been thinking of doing something similar, but was wondering how easy it be to open. But, I see you've solved that nicely with an EO notch.

Which size did you use?

Yes, the EO notch is essential, or there's no way to open it.. I used the No. 7, but depending on the size of your hands, you could go bigger.

Is that some kind of safety glove in your picture? I've seen them for shucking oysters, but haven't thought of using one for whittling. Might be a good idea.

 

[WhittlinAway]

Yes, the EO notch is essential, or there's no way to open it.. I used the No. 7, but depending on the size of your hands, you could go bigger.

Thanks. I've got a couple of 6's now. That's a good excuse to pick up a 7 and 8 to try on for size.

Is that some kind of safety glove in your picture? I've seen them for shucking oysters, but haven't thought of using one for whittling. Might be a good idea.

Yeah. Learned the hard way that it'd be a good idea after the piece I was working on split out while I was being careless with how I was holding it. I'll PM you some more info about it in case you're curious.

 

[ConBon]

I've got one on me right now, my Camillus jackknife that i love for whittling.
Gotta fix up my 100 year old Case splitback whittler soon too.
Pics to come after work

Connor

 

[jrawk]

This is my current favorite whittling knife and some face carving practice I've been doing with it:

Well done! this looks like so much fun but I don't think I have the dexterity or patience to be successful.

Could you all recommend a wood start out with?

 

[WhittlinAway]

Well done! this looks like so much fun but I don't think I have the dexterity or patience to be successful.

Could you all recommend a wood start out with?

Thanks! I'll PM you later on today to avoid taking this thread any more afield than I may have already done.

I realized later that my Schrade, while repurposed specifically for whittling, is probably not what was intended by "dedicated carver". Apologies 5K Qs for not reading your post more carefully. I tend to get excited when I see whittling mentioned.

 

[5K Qs]

That Sarge Carver is a looker. Very nice. I imagine that sets nice in the hand. Very nice collection.

I like the looks of that Sarge GT !!!
Harry

Thanks, Tim & Harry.

Looks like you've got a few nice whittlin' knives to try out, Gary.

I haven't done much carving lately, but a few years ago, I had the idea that I should whittle just to have an excuse for buying knives.
...
Probably my most interesting dedicated carver is this Bulldog Take-apart knife, patterned after the old Browne and Pharr design.

Thanks, Rachel. The thought of using whittling to justify having my knives has certainly crossed my mind!
That Bulldog is certainly unique! Have you ever disassembled it?

What's really worked the best for me though, are a few Opinels that I modified into short carving blades. They take an incredibly sharp edge, and have the advantage of a lock. This is reassuring since when I whittle I'm sometimes digging at the wood at odd angles. This combined with hand fatigue could be a very bad thing, indeed. They're not pretty, but they do the job:
...
I like to carve little things that I can keep in a pocket (or Purse ) and work on when I have a few minutes here and there. If you start getting frustrated, just put it away for a while.



I look forward to seeing your whittling projects this summer. :thumbup:

Those Opinel mods are very cool, Rachel. :thumbup: What equipment did you use to modify the blades?
Thanks for showing us some of your carvings; those are impressive, to me! I'd have never thought of trying to do something like that "braid"; very creative! Maybe that photo will give me inspiration for some summer projects.

Check out Ross Oar knives. The single blade carver and the 2 blade canoe look pretty good. The RR whittlin buddy is very large and the blades are too broad IMO.

Thanks for the suggestion. :thumbup: I've heard of the Oar carvers, but don't know much about them.

I'm thrilled that you started this thread. I've been wanting to start a "show me you traditional working whittling folder" for a while now.

This is my current favorite whittling knife and some face carving practice I've been doing with it:
...

It's a Schrade 34OT that I've given a bit of a Wharncliffe treatment to the sheepsfoot and converted the spey blade to a pen. I'm still tweaking it and may thin the pen blade a bit over the weekend.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's traditional whittling folders!

Greg

Thanks for your contribution, Greg. :thumbup: Cool mods to your 34OT! And I enjoy seeing what projects people have completed or in progress. That "face totem pole" is especially interesting to me, because I did something similar about a year ago, trying to figure out how to carve faces. But I started with a round tree branch I found, and I had to remove a LOT of wood to get a nose to stick out! If I'm seeing your project correctly, you start with a SQUARE cross section, and then center the faces on the corners/edges of the wood; that looks like it's way more efficient than what I was doing! :thumbup: FWIW, here's my initial attempt at some faces (at the top of the photo, in case you're not sure ):

Well done! this looks like so much fun but I don't think I have the dexterity or patience to be successful.

Could you all recommend a wood start out with?

Most of the recommendations I've seen advise novices to start out with basswood. I got a box of assorted basswood chunks at Woodcraft, but haven't tried using it yet. I've mostly used fallen white pine branches so far.

Thanks! I'll PM you later on today to avoid taking this thread any more afield than I may have already done.

I realized later that my Schrade, while repurposed specifically for whittling, is probably not what was intended by "dedicated carver". Apologies 5K Qs for not reading your post more carefully. I tend to get excited when I see whittling mentioned.

No apologies needed, Greg. I think the kind of modifications to "regular" pocket knives that you and r8shell have posted are just as genuine examples of "dedicated carvers" as the factory-made ones that I've purchased. And I think my encouragement of "performance reviews" in the original post of this thread opens the door for addressing all sorts of whittling-related issues, including wood recommendations, technique discussions, project displays, etc.

- GT

 

[ConBon]

Aforementioned Case.

The Case shield is worn down to the pins, while the blades are barely used. Lots of carry, little use. But there when needed. It was a gift from my favorite client (golfer).

Connor

 

[r8shell]

No Gary, I've never taken apart the Take-apart knife. I'm artsy-crafty, but not mechanically inclined and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get it back together.

There's a more detailed play by play of my Opinel modifications somewhere in this old thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1046919-Carving-Knife-and-Chat-Thread! As well as other discussions about modifying knives for carving.

Just for laughs though, here's an idea of my amateur knife-modding "skills"


Don't try this at home, kids. And if you do, be sure to put a sack over the blade before you snap it. The end of that blade flew off my porch, 30 feet across the yard into the street!

 

[knarfeng]

Just for laughs though, here's an idea of my amateur knife-modding "skills"

Don't try this at home, kids. And if you do, be sure to put a sack over the blade before you snap it. The end of that blade flew off my porch, 30 feet across the yard into the street!

I believe that falls under the category of "taking the direct approach."

Hey, if it works, it works. Sometimes finesse is overrated.

 

[WhittlinAway]

If I'm seeing your project correctly, you start with a SQUARE cross section, and then center the faces on the corners/edges of the wood; that looks like it's way more efficient than what I was doing! :thumbup:

That's correct. I start with a square profile and use the corner as the center line of the face. More info below.

No apologies needed, Greg. I think the kind of modifications to "regular" pocket knives that you and r8shell have posted are just as genuine examples of "dedicated carvers" as the factory-made ones that I've purchased. And I think my encouragement of "performance reviews" in the original post of this thread opens the door for addressing all sorts of whittling-related issues, including wood recommendations, technique discussions, project displays, etc.

Oh, cool. In that case....

I use basswood. I haven't tried anything else--other than messing around with the odd stick--but, from what I've read, it's a favorite because it's relatively easy to carve and holds detail well.

Our own illustrious lutejones posted a wonderful carve a little character tutorial in the Workshop subforum. That was my introduction to caricature carving. I saw several of his little guys in the Whatcha whittling these days? thread and thought "there's no way I'd ever be able to do that". But, then I followed along with the tutorial and came up with something that I was very satisfied with for a first attempt. And was hooked.

Before attempting a second one, though, I've been practicing faces by themselves. The face was the most challenging part of that tutorial for me. I don't yet have the skills to reproduce the eyes shown there, so I've been working on a simpler version demonstrated in this YouTube video and its second part. The faces I showed earlier were all made following that method. I'm starting to get the hang of it. A few more and I'll try a larger bust.

Greg

 

[WhittlinAway]

Well done! this looks like so much fun but I don't think I have the dexterity or patience to be successful.

I replied to this via PM, but I'll echo a couple of things here, too.

I've only been whittling since December, but have found it to be tremendous fun and a calming way to wind down at the end of the day. For those who've expressed interest in trying whittling "someday", I encourage you to give it a try soon! You may be surprised at what you can accomplish. I certainly was. I can't draw at all, but, somehow, I've found that by removing wood a little bit at a time I can come up with something I'm happy with.

Also, I highly recommend wearing a carving glove or some other protective glove on your holding hand. I did at first, then stopped after a while of never needing it to save me. But then one day I was being careless with how I was holding the wood, the piece split out, and I ended up with a nasty cut in my finger. I wear the glove most of the time now.

BTW, an interest in whittling and my search for a whittling knife is what led me here to the porch. I take that as another positive benefit of whittling in my life.

 

[r8shell]

I believe that falls under the category of "taking the direct approach."

Hey, if it works, it works. Sometimes finesse is overrated.

True that.:thumbup: A member and I had been discussing for weeks the best way to do a mod like that, and what tools I'd need, etc, and one day I just said What the heck...

So check it out! 5K Qs sent me a RR Whittlin' Buddy. (along with a few other treasures.) I'm looking forward to giving it a try. When I've seen pictures of these, I wondered if the spine on the closed blade would be uncomfortable in use, but I didn't realize how big it is, and I can get my whole grip in the front part of the handle.

 

[WhittlinAway]

Aforementioned Case.

The Case shield is worn down to the pins, while the blades are barely used. Lots of carry, little use. But there when needed. It was a gift from my favorite client (golfer).

Connor

That's a great looking knife! I particularly like the two small blades. They look like they'll be great for whittling once you're finished with them.

It sounds like you often have several projects going on, but, if it were me, I'd bump that one to the front of the line. I can't even imagine how cool it would be to whittle with a 100 year old knife that was given to you by someone you care about!