Next step in my traditional journey

Give the modifications a try. If you have enough skill to whittle stuff you can do this.

The file suggestion is the simplest, and it will work fine with no need of power tools if you are only going to do one or two knives at a time. I use a belt sander, but I do a bunch at a time to sell. Her are some pics for inspiration

I whittled this ladle out of birch using this modified Rough Rider Half Hawk, which makes a really good whittler by the way. I did use some gouges for the hollowing of course.

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Here is a before and after shot of a Rough Rider Barlow. The unmodified one is a good knife. The modified one is an awesome whittlin' tool.

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Here is a before and after Taylor Schrade stockman. Again the mods, make this into a great whittlin' knife, which I call the "Cowboy Whittlin' Knife".

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I am quite sure that you can do this. It is almost impossible to mess up using the file. If you have a vise, it will be even easier.

Once you get going on this, it will be like whittlin' - hard to stop!
 
Everytime someone asks for a whittling pattern, I always recommend the same knife. I do not whittle myself (not yet :p) and I would probably choose a couple FB dedicated tools if I did, but in the folder cathegory, after handling one a few years ago, I still think the Boker Congress Carver is a very well suited pattern for the task, and it's not expensive at all.
Good luck with your search :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
I have a medium Case stockman, but find for whittling that I preferred my Uncle Henry stockman. The california clip may not be your preference however. It's quite easy to reprofile blades, just takes time and elbow grease. I liked the sharper and angled drop on the sheepsfoot on the Uncle Henry, it had flat ground blades I believed whereas the case was concave. Hope I helped.

Connor
 
I don't whittle (would like to learn at some point), but I used to have a GEC #33 conductor whittler. I think they are pretty much sold out, but you might be able track one down.

I have no experience with Queen, but you may want to check out their #48 whittler.
 
Mr. Chips said:
Give the modifications a try. If you have enough skill to whittle stuff you can do this.

The file suggestion is the simplest, and it will work fine with no need of power tools if you are only going to do one or two knives at a time. I use a belt sander, but I do a bunch at a time to sell.

...

I am quite sure that you can do this. It is almost impossible to mess up using the file. If you have a vise, it will be even easier.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice and kind words of encouragement. I really like what you did with your cowboy whittlin' knife. It's definitely giving me some ideas.

Mr. Chips said:
Once you get going on this, it will be like whittlin' - hard to stop!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can imagine that might happen. ;)
 
A funny thing happened on the way to the knife store. I looked at each of the suggestions in this thread several times, all the while feeling like Goldilocks: this one's clip blade is too wide, this one's coping blade is too narrow, this one's sheepsfoot blade is just right... Meanwhile, I was reading the Let's See Your "Rescue" Knives thread and was quite impressed by the skill of the folks here on the porch. I didn't notice it at first, but, between the inspiration from that thread and the encouragement here on this thread from Mr. Chips and several others that modification was well within my reach, I found myself looking at knives differently. I was no longer seeing them just for what they were, but also was beginning to be able to see them for what they could be.

This was an epiphany. It's very likely that the traditional folder that I've been seeking as "my" whittling and every day use knife does not exist as a production knife, past or present. But, that's OK. Knives that are a good starting point do exist and it's just up to me to figure out exactly what I want and to learn the skills necessary to be able to make it happen. That's the real next step in my traditional journey: being able to take what the factory produced for the masses and turn it into a very personal knife that is tailored to my tastes and tasks. I find the prospect quite exciting!

This weekend I took the first step on that path and modified my first blade. This is how the spey blade of a neglected Camillus 67 stockman that I hope to eventually be able to post on the rescue thread looked when I received it:

pIuto8ul.jpg

And this is how it looks after I worked on a it for a few hours, armed with the tips from here and some great advice on file selection and use that I got over the the MT&E subforum:

MJ99mIDl.jpg

I'm quite happy with how it turned out and am looking forward to repairing the poor sharpening job on the sheepsfoot blade, cleaning the rest of the rust off the clip, and learning how to replace the degraded celluloid covers with Micarta.

Thanks everyone who gave suggestions: I'll continue to refer back to them for inspiration as I learn exactly what it is that I'm looking for. And thanks to those who encouraged me to try modifying blades. I probably wouldn't have tried without it.

Cheers,
Greg
 
That is a great job Greg. Just a warning though whittling on blades is just as if not more addictive than whittling on wood. :D
 
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