new to whittling

Glassjaw i've got the smallest swiss army with black scales and the buck logo on it if you know anything about it.
And flint that's the exact knife i have in my pocket right now. nice call. And thank you.
 
Ive been a whittlin' maniac since I joined this forum about 5 years ago and I am so grateful for it.
My favorite tools (mostly carbon steel) are:
1. GEC 62 Easy Pocket Congress (carbon/stag)
2. Mora carver (think that's the name but it has impeccable ergonomics and blade geometry with an easily maintainable convex edge)
3. GEC 47 Viper wharncliffe (carbon/lava acrylic)
4. Case 9 dot 6347 ( SS :eek: ) with the most impressive red jigged bone (3 blades = convenient)
5. Spyderco Military (not traditional by any means but it does make a great whittler ;) )
Locking knives or fixed blades (traditional or otherwise) do allow you to put more torque in directions that could threaten a finger if using a non locking blade, but a lock is definitely not necessary because you're gonna cut yourself a lot anyway :)
You can make some pretty amazing things with time and patience and you also find a great way to temporarily escape from life. I love it.
Multi blade traditional slipjoints (stockman or congress) in carbon steel with a wharncliffe/sheepsfoot blade option would be my recommendation because it teaches you how to utilize other blade profiles and with a 4 blade congress you can sharpen the redundant blade to a seriously low angle.
Please share your work with us and check out the past threads of some of the amazing things our forum brothers/sisters can create.
 
I have picked up whittling in a big way in the last year. Along the way I have learned a few things, mostly by trial and error. If you are looking for a good whittling knife, a Boker carbon steel congress knife is great. The steel is superb, but you will have to reprofile the blades to a very flat grind in order to make whittling an easy chore.

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In fact, I have found blade geometry to be THE single most important aspect of a good whittling knife. A good grind will make any knife glide through would. I was able to grind one of the blades on this fairly stout Winchester large congress knife into an insanely good whittling blade.

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Once you have a good grind, and a sharp edge, all you need to do is maintain it with a strop. I never need a stone unless I get a nick in the blade.

If you want a factory knife that does not require a lot of work out of the box, get yourself a nice GEC congress knife. A little work on a sharpmaker with the 30 degree angle and you end up with a decent whittler. It is not as good as a pure flat grind, but it is pretty darn good. The reason I like GEC is that their congress blades are nice and thin out of the box.

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Remember to keep the strop handy when whittling, and strop often.
 
I thank both of yall. That's some good info i'll have to read these posts 6 times. That boker is the one i like. the red on red is what does it for me. A strop is what i need i've been using my belt. But when i come up with some decent stuff i'll be sure to share.
 
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Jacob I'm not familiar with that knife. But for what it's worth I have been eyeing the Boker Congress for my next carver.

Dma1965 that's some nice looking pieces you have there. I tried doing the spiral not to long ago and under cutting to hollow out the center into a double helix. (My wife is studying to be a microbiologist and loves genetics) so I was making it for her. Was coming out great until I snapped a spiral trying to go to fast. Burn pile it went. Lesson learned.
 
I have been using a Queen City half congress. Great little knife. Main blade is nice and thin. Can't recommend it highly enough. There was one FS on the exchange not too long ago, IIRC.


Michael
 
Goodness what was I thinking! You have a classic SAK. Really small. Probably won't work to well.
 
jacob jasso said:
I thank both of yall. That's some good info i'll have to read these posts 6 times. That boker is the one i like. the red on red is what does it for me. A strop is what i need i've been using my belt. But when i come up with some decent stuff i'll be sure to share.
Click to expand...

I made the strop you see pictured by cutting a belt and gluing it to a block of wood. Use some good compound (stropman.com has a nice selection, and I like green or white best).
 
glassjaw said:
Jacob I'm not familiar with that knife. But for what it's worth I have been eyeing the Boker Congress for my next carver.

Dma1965 that's some nice looking pieces you have there. I tried doing the spiral not to long ago and under cutting to hollow out the center into a double helix. (My wife is studying to be a microbiologist and loves genetics) so I was making it for her. Was coming out great until I snapped a spiral trying to go to fast. Burn pile it went. Lesson learned.
Click to expand...

For my spirals I always use olive wood, which I have a lot of due to having olive trees. It is very hard, but very strong. It is not easily snapped even when very thin.
 
I like the price on the bokers. I've seen some nice pictures of the washboard bone. And I'm really enjoying all the info please keep it coming.
 
dma1965 said:
For my spirals I always use olive wood, which I have a lot of due to having olive trees. It is very hard, but very strong. It is not easily snapped even when very thin.
Click to expand...

May have to get ahold of some. I was using some scrap bass wood. Definitely not the first time I've snapped that stuff. I have a huge half of a cherry tree I may use for the next. I don't have a band saw though. I've been dreading having to split it up. Beautiful stuff though.
 
Lol. I wish. I found the pictures online and saved them as a reminder of what is possible with patience, skill, and a bit of imagination.
 
Böker Germany make a very good carbon knife which really gets sharp. Others who have experience have pointed you in the way of a Congress, I know they know. You might like to try the Böker Whittler, an excellent 3 blade knife with Clip, Coping and Pen blades. Then there's Queen Cutlery's D2 range to consider as well, they offer Whittler & Congress patterns.
 
Thanks willgoy. I got my swayback in today so i'll see how i like that. Then i'll go for the boker congress to go with it.
 
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