Hey Whittlers....

Mongo

Mongo

Joined
Nov 5, 2001
Messages
8,964
Greetings, I'm not quite sure where this question should be answered, but I figure here would be most appropriate.
I notice that quite a few here mention whittling as one of their favorite knife pasttimes. Do you all have a preference for a specific blade or knife pattern? What kind of wood do you prefer to whittle with? What all have you made? (I thought Buzz's whistle was totally cool!) Is green wood better than dry wood? Now for my steel snob question.... do you have a steel preference for your whittlers?
My recent experiences have been with dried out maple... it all breaks when I get to a certain thinness. Also, it is some pretty hard stuff to work with. But, what the heck... it is still fun!
Looking forward to all your replies..... Mongo
 
I whittle whatever I can find around. Some recent woods I've used are: Ocean Spray, chestnut, forsythia (sp?), ornamental cherry, scotch broom, pine, cedar among others...

I really like ocean spray because it's basically a 'forest weed' that is everywhere around here, but it is massively strong and grows in stands of gently curved 8+ foot tall specimens. It can easily be fire-straightened and was called 'iron wood' by the local native tribes because of its density and strength. They used it for digging sticks, pegs for construction, poles, spears, pack frames, atlatls, almost anything that requires a straight, strong piece of wood. It's also got a small pithy core, making it ideal for pipe stems, whistles (though I've yet to get Buzz's neat whistle design to work for me) and anything else that might need a hollow piece of wood...

I just got a Bulldog Viking whittler with the wharncliffe main blade, so I've been madly whittling for a week or so now, checking out how it performs. I did my very first ball-in-cage a couple of days ago, which was quite a challenge. The bulldog did great though, and the wharncliffe style blade is so useful. I also made a surpising amount of use of the coping blade too, thanks to its very thin profile and sharp edge....
 
I have always admired people who can whittle figures and such out of a chunk of wood.My whittling mainly amounts to making a big stick into a little stick.I like to whittle on cedar,it is soft and smells nice,plus the color is cool.I will whittle with any knife in my pocket,but I really like carbon steel serpentine stockmans like the case 6318.My platoon sgt. in Korea said you could always tell the country boys,they were always whittling on something or throwing rocks.
 
I whittle on just about any piece of wood that I find interesting. Sometimes I just whittle on a branch because it calms my nerves. An amazing therapy.

I use just about any small to mid size knife and prefer a wharncliffe or a coping blade.
 
I seem to whittle most when I am waiting for someone to show up on a jobsite. Usually sharpen something to a point, cut the point off and start a new one. Sound familiar? After a while you get to where you can tell how long you have been waiting by the shavings on the ground.
Greg
 
I too find myself whittling while waiting, except it is when I am BBQ'ing. I usually find a fallen twig from one of my maples. The wood is usually too brittle though. I usually try to whittle a "knife" in the shape of a Bowie! I usually break them when I try to get the "blade" thinner.:( The only bad part is if I get too involved and forget to turn the meat in time.... made some carbonized hot-dogs the last time I grilled:rolleyes:
 
How long has this forum been here? I have totally missed it until now. About whittling. I took it up about 3 years ago. I used to just do the sharpen sticks kind but then I found the book "Whittlinga and Woodcarving" by E.J. Tangerman. It is still available and highly recommended. I got a used one for like $8.00. I prefer basic carbon steel for whittling. You need an edge that will shave and is easy to hone, often. Case CV is good, Old Timer is good (1095, I believe), older Bokers are good. I like to have a couple of blades handy. I mostly use a Case med. stockman in CV, and a small old Boker congress. The sheepsfoot and pen blades are the most useful shapes. With these I can to chain, and ball in cage and the like. I suck at figures though. I use dry wood, not green. I prefer walnut, butternut, cherry and mahogany. Cherry and walnut are harder but really look nice, worth the effort. Butternut and mahogany are softer and look really nice too. Basswood and white pine are the recommended whittling woods, very soft; but I think they lack character. Especially basswood, not much grain patterning. To get started and learn the basic techniques though, they are better than the harder woods. Good luck.
 
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