Good carry folder for whittling?

My Otter Ankermesser is my favorite knife for woodwork. I find it comfortable in my aging hands. Many of the recommendations here are for traditional knives that don't meet your criteria, but there's something to be said for the thinner blades and handles without clips.
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That’s a really neat carrier. There’s a guy in another thread looking for a pocket organizer. Does that company make others? If you provide a link or company name I will post it on that thread.
 
evilgreg said:
I whittle with folders all the time and I highly recommend the cheap and excellent Cold Steel Tuff Lite and Mini Tuff Lite. I own dozens of whittling knives at this point, including piles of fixed blades and every traditional slip joint whittler pattern I've found, but I mostly just use the Tuff Lite knives, they work for me. I like them so much that I've wrapped a couple of them such that they're bulked up and can't be folded (I also cranked down the pivots with thread locker before wrapping them).

If you're going to try a Tuff Lite I would recommend taking five minutes to tune it up first. New out of the box the plastic handles have some sharp spots and a quick sanding will do away with. Similarly I break the edges on the blade spine to make it more comfortable when I thumb it.

I'm no artist, so I mostly carve chains and balls in various cages, the sort of stuff that requires no talent. Here are a few photos, because threads need photos:

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If you're set on a traditional, give a seahorse pattern a try, that's my favorite of the bunch I've tried.
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Damn, those are awesome. Not an artist... please.
 
How about a Victorinox Camper model in a belt pouch?

It has a large blade, a small blade, a reamer, and a wood saw.
 
bigsurbob said:
evilgreg evilgreg what did you use to wrap the CS Tuff Lite handles? Looks like some paracord under electric tape?
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Actually, I used paracord and then sports grip tape originally, but when I redid them both I just used this non-adhesive, self-merging stuff that sort of ends up being like you plasti-dipped something, but without any fumes and with whatever thickness you want. I found the product on the big river site, it was called:

X-Treme Tape TPE-XR1510ZLB Silicone Rubber Self Fusing Tape, 1.5" x 10', Rectangular, Black

Whittling is the best test I've found for how comfortable a knife handle is; if you cut wood for hours with a knife sharp edges and weird protrusions make themselves painfully obvious over time.
 
How about a whittler pattern traditional? Theyre made for, you guessed it, whittling! A congress works well too, or a good stockman. A traditional will probably work best for you, since moderns tend to give hot spots when whittling. They usually have blades that are too big too. A short thin blade works best. You can get a pocket slip, or belt sheath, or even a clip on sheath that will work essentially like a modern pocket clip.
If you need the clip, maybe a Case trapperlock? Its a little big, but the blade would be decent.
 
evilgreg said:
Actually, I used paracord and then sports grip tape originally, but when I redid them both I just used this non-adhesive, self-merging stuff that sort of ends up being like you plasti-dipped something, but without any fumes and with whatever thickness you want. I found the product on the big river site, it was called:

X-Treme Tape TPE-XR1510ZLB Silicone Rubber Self Fusing Tape, 1.5" x 10', Rectangular, Black

Whittling is the best test I've found for how comfortable a knife handle is; if you cut wood for hours with a knife sharp edges and weird protrusions make themselves painfully obvious over time.
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Ok thanks so much. With some extra time on my hands I'm gonna try to make one of those balls in a cage.
 
bigsurbob said:
Ok thanks so much. With some extra time on my hands I'm gonna try to make one of those balls in a cage.
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I find it a very relaxing hobby, and I always suggest knife people should give it a try at least.

Once upon a time I posted a pictorial guide for how to turn a cube of basswood into a ball in a ball over here:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...carving-a-ball-in-a-ball-in-pictures.1054218/

Doing a ball in a square cage is one of my favorite projects, because it involves removing so little wood that it's a very quick project. When someone wants me to "make one for me" when I'm carving while visiting with family I usually bang out a ball in a cube shaped box, because I keep small cubes of basswood in my carving toys bag and as I described, they're super quick.

You just do this to all six face of the cube, then free the ball and tune up the bars a bit and you're done:

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evilgreg said:
I find it a very relaxing hobby, and I always suggest knife people should give it a try at least.

Once upon a time I posted a pictorial guide for how to turn a cube of basswood into a ball in a ball over here:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...carving-a-ball-in-a-ball-in-pictures.1054218/

Doing a ball in a square cage is one of my favorite projects, because it involves removing so little wood that it's a very quick project. When someone wants me to "make one for me" when I'm carving while visiting with family I usually bang out a ball in a cube shaped box, because I keep small cubes of basswood in my carving toys bag and as I described, they're super quick.

You just do this to all six face of the cube, then free the ball and tune up the bars a bit and you're done:

x8iYTkL.jpg
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Wow that's awesome. Your cuts look mighty consistent.
 
Here's a few I have on the shelf. All just inexpensive. Barlow's are always a good all purpose knife style. The purple Colt is missing the requisite sheepsfoot, but the curved leather punch is REALLY handy for tight areas. As already mentioned, not having a clip would be less of an issue because it's pretty easy to add a clip to a leather slip. Of the two clipped slips in pic below, one was purchased, and the other homemade.

But gotta say, out of all these, my single favorite tool is still the little Mini Tuff Lite. Partially for the blade shape. Part for the fact that I can still get a full four finger grip. And the lock feels near fixed blade solid, yet still folds tiny for the pocket. And also pretty sure can still be found everywhere for under $30.....in colors.

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bflying said:
But gotta say, out of all these, my single favorite tool is still the little Mini Tuff Lite. Partially for the blade shape. Part for the fact that I can still get a full four finger grip. And the lock feels near fixed blade solid, yet still folds tiny for the pocket. And also pretty sure can still be found everywhere for under $30.....in colors.
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Couldn't agree more. I love them so much that I have a bunch of them, mini and regular.
 
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