Knife for whittling?

A

Aeneas

Joined
Dec 24, 2001
Messages
73
What kind of knives do you prefer for whittling, and why? Is the 3-blade "whittler", with clip, pen and coping blades, the best? What are the different blades for?
 
The best knives I've used for whittling are the Schrade Old Timer Middleman and Robeson wharncliffe half-whittler. I use the Robeson for small detail oriented stuff like ball-in-cages. That wharncliffe blade is capable of amazingly small and intricate cuts. The Middleman gets used for larger projects like Hiking sticks and figurines.

I've also been known to take on some whittling projects with my Swiss Army Knife upon occasion. :D

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Real nice work, Buzzbait.:D You've inspired me. I have to try one of those ball in cage pieces.;)
 
I always use my Buck 110, but i have never made anything as complex as the above.
 
Buzzbait,

Very nice ball in cage carving. What kind of wood is that, Basswood? I used some basswood once to create a ball in cage carving that was a lot rougher looking than yours. I was very pleased with mine, as it was my first carving attempt... at least until I saw yours:eek: . Mine was a cube shape, and was open on all sides. I remember it being very hard to carve the sides that went across the grain. I used an X-acto kit for mine.

Mike
 
I'm definitely impressed -- nice work Buzzbait. OK, I'll confess that I never really gave whittling much of a thought, until I saw those images. Do you have pictures of other items you've whittled, or is there a good site to visit that has other ideas of things to whittle? What kind of wood is best for whittling?

- Mark

See what you've done now! Pretty soon everyone will be clamoring for a whittling forum, and we all know who Spark will have to blame for that one. :p
 
Very nice. I would like to go for the Ball in Cage myself. But I would have no clue where to begin nor what wood to use.
 
When I did mine, I used Basswood, which can be found at most hobby stores. It has a good grain, and is good for carving IMHO. I just cut the block to a cube, 2" on all sides, then with a pencil, I drew a small 1" square on each side to give the appearance of the 1/2" rails. I then just started whittling away until I had something that resembled a round object in the middle. The hardest part IMHO, was cutting across the grain, and also freeing the ball from the corners where the rails meet. Once the ball was free, I whittled at it until I could rotate it inside the cage. Then it was just a matter of shaping it. I could post a pic of mine sometime today, but it would look pitiful compared to Buzzbait's. He has nice sanded rails, where on mine, you can still see the whittle marks. I have to admit that I did want it to have the "look" that it was carved by hand. Heck, if I made it as pretty as Buzzbait's (which I don't think I could have ;) ) nobody would believe that I carved it.:rolleyes:

Mike
 
I hadn't done much whittling for years, so I decided to buy a new whittler. I purchased the Case new Warncliff Whittler because it is very nice looking and I trusted Case knives. Wow, was I disappointed! The knife wasn't sharp, edge angle wrong and, even when I sharpened the blades well, still wouldn't whittle worth a damn. Indeed, the knife is difficult to hold and, to get a cut, has to be held on the side...I gave up.

Then I acquired a SOG Access card because I needed a money clip. Just for grins, I did some whittling. The Access is <font size=3><i>perfect</font></i> for whittling. It cuts thick or thin and in-between with very little effort and the knife can be held firmly without difficulty. Despite the apparent size of the blade it is able to get into very small areas without trouble because the tip is as sharp as the rest of the blade and easily digs out in tight spots.

I bought another Access just for whittling and wrapped the handle with paracord...give it a try, why not?
 
I don't use folders, but I guess what I get into would generally be called carving since I use gouges, chisels and all kinds of stuff.
Anyway, I like fixed blades that are designed for carving.
If you go to www.woodcraft.com they've got some great stuff for very good prices. Check the swiss made line up of chip carving knives. A few of them also make Very good knives for whitling/ carving intricate details, and they come in at under $20. There's alot of other choices there too, pretty much everything they carry is good quality.
 
Wow...that ball in cage thing is really awesome! I would like to try that someday.
 
I used basswood for the ball-in-cage. Basswood is a dream to work with, in comparison to most other types of wood that I have access to. The ball-in-cage is quite a project though. It tests a knife user on many levels. Knife selection is critical, as you must have a very thin edged blade, with a very high level of polish. The pointier tip, the better. You have to know how to perform a few different types of cuts, and must have…… PATIENCE!!!! The ball-in-cage is no mere one hour diversion. If you don’t have patience, you’ll have three less fingers on your hands before the ball starts to roll.

Here are the specs I wrote down when making the above ball-in-cage. I designed it to be as strong as possible, yet as small as possible, so it would fit in my pocket as a lucky piece.
 
Well, I wasn't going to post my one and only attempt at making a ball in cage because it is no where near as refined as Buzzbait's, but I am proud of my "accomplishment", so, here is a pic.

Mike

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Love it!!!! :D

I actually think that your ball-in-cage may have been tougher to whittle than mine. I'll have to try my hands at a square style one. It looks like a good challenge.
 
It was pretty tough for an 18y/o (9yrs ago) with no whittling experience, who had no idea of how to go about making one. I just bought an x-acto set, and a block of basswood, and had at it. I flapped the tip of my finger trying to round the ball in an area across the grain with a blade shaped like a hawkbill with the sharp edge on the outside (if I remember right). Anyway, it's been tucked in a drawer for several years now, and I'm glad I got an excuse to get it out, and show it off if you will.

Glad you liked it,

Mike
 
Mike,
That is very nice work for first attempt. I also tried carving with pocket knives and agree with Buzzbait, the blades must be modified to very thin and sharp. The knife edges work best with zero secondary bevels. After reprofiling the blade on diamond hones, I like to polish the blades on a series of three leather strops with gradually finer abrasives.

I have changed to specialty wood carving knives, short thin blades with 4"-5" comfortable wooden handles. Once you determine the edge geometry they only require a fine leather strop for maintenance.

Regards,
FK
 
Well guys, I am not sure if I should thank you or Curse you!! Until last night I was mainly after tactical style knives. As a matter of fact of the 100+ knives I own all together, there is not one Slipjoint in there.:eek: I read this thread and decided I wanted to try my hand at it. So I go looking for the old timer that Buzzbait recomended. YOU CAN GET THEM FOR $17??? So I went to Ebay and they are SO MANY diffrent models for like $5-$50. So I am starting to get really intriged. I have ordered a couple and plan on getting a few Case knives now. So my question is, are Old Timers quality made?? Also what other Brands would you recomend besides Case??? Thanks guys, Now I don't have to save up $120 everytime to get a decent knife and this will definatly help round out my collection. :)
 
If you want some purpose built carving tools look at

http://www.rockisland.com/~kestrel/index.html

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Gregg Blomberg makes some absolutely perfect Crooked Knife carving tools.

He also makes great small straight knives. I have his Baby NW Coast knife, detail knife and several of his crooked knives.

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You can also purchase his blades and haft them yourself.
 
I've also been hooked by this thread and (naturally) by Buzzbait's ball-in-cage. I'd like to try the simple stuff and work my way up to the ball-in cage. I don't have much carving experience.

I plan to buy Tangerman's book, and have read through past threads. But I still have some questions:

- Classic whittling folder vs. fixed-blade carving knives or a carving tool set. I can imagine the handle comfort and range of cutting tools in the latter group would be a lot better. For example, Lee Valley has a Warren Beginner's Carving Tool Set for $43. The handle looks comfortable, and there are all sorts of cutting tools. But I like the "purity" and convenience of being able to do it all with a slipjoint. Which one to choose for a beginner?

- For slipjoints, I have found the following two. Comments?
- Queen Whittler with red Delrin handle and D2 steel blades, $42.
- Shrade Old Timer Middleman with carbon steel blades, $20.

Buzzbait said he uses the Robeson for more detailed work, but I couldn't find that anywhere.

Thanks for any advice!

Johnny
 
I've found the Schrade Old Timers to be of excellent quality. They hold an edge for long time and the 1095 carbon steel blades are VERY easy to sharpen. While the Old Timer Middleman is a small stockman, it has a great sheepsfoot blade for whittling. My suggestion would be to go to Wal-Mart and have the clerk pull out a few from behind the counter. Pick out the one that has the strongest and snappiest springs, and the least amount of lateral blade play.

Camillus also has some 1095 carbon steel slipjoints. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. Camillus makes great slipjoints. I’ve never had a Camillus slipjoint that I didn’t like.

The Schrade Uncle Henry series of knives are good. They're pretty much the stainless steel equivalent of the Uncle Henry series. My Wal-Mart has an Uncle Henry whittling set on sale right now. The set comes with an introduction to whittling book, a collector’s tin, an Uncle Henry Rancher, an Arkansas stone and block of basswood. It's a very cool set for $35.00. The book has its own set of instructions on making a ball-in-cage.

As far as my Robeson (made by Queen) goes, mine is the ATS-34 half-whittler they put out a couple of years ago. I'm not sure who still has them. They turn up on Ebay from time to time. A.G. Russell sells the full wharncliffe whittler version of my knife, with 440A blades, for $95.00. (http://www.agrknives.com/agrussell/ag-9160s.html ). The knife is tiny, but small is what you want for the intricate whittling projects. A.G. also has the same knife, but with carbon steel blades for a whopping $185.00 (http://www.agrknives.com/marbles/ma-7115.html ). It would be the ultimate whittling knife, but it’s priced as a collector’s item.

You can also get Exacto knife sets from places like Staples or Wal-Mart. The sets come with a bunch of different shaped blades, and work pretty well.

I'm not too big a fan of Case knives, just because I think they are a bit overpriced for the quality of the steel.

The Buck Cadet is also a great pocketknife. The Bucks are nice because they come with presharpened blades. With almost all brands of slipjoints, you have to sharpen the blades yourself. You can get them at many Wal-Mart stores, so you can try out a few and buy the one with the best springs. The Cadet is a very good pocketknife for the money.

I have a carbon steel Boker medium stockman coming the mail tomorrow. I'll add to this thread tomorrow night on the quality of the knife. I have high hopes for it.

To tell you the truth, the Kershaw Double-Cross is even a pretty good whittler. You get a large clip blade and a small wharncliffe blade, and both of them liner lock!!!

Some people like to whittle with pocketknives. Other people enjoy woodcarving. It's all a matter of what you like personally. Woodcarving is more versatile, where whittling is kind of a lazy and laid back affair. Just pick what suits your style and attitude.
 
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