Oar Carver?

O

Omega Leather Works

Joined
Jun 13, 2007
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Anyone own a (Queen) Oar Carver?

I've read mixed results about the knife, but it looks to have blades that fit exactly what I need.

I'd love some first hand experience opinions!
 
These are some of the blade profiles on my forged carvers. Minus the spoon carver of course.

IMAG0948_zpse6a95111.jpg


There's a reflection on the blade on the bottom knife in the pic btw. The edge is straight, not recurved.
 
Seems like the steel would be great.

I only have two queens. Both d2. The edge retention is great. Both are ground thicker than other brands.
 
I kind of wonder whether the D2, properly thinned as it seems to be on the oar carver, has a fine enough edge for carving. The edge retention would be great, but is the retained edge any good.


I am by no means a carving expert, but it seems that carvers prefer the really fine edges for push cutting. I do own a Queen canoe and ots a nice knife, but I have yet to get the kind of edge on it that I like. I may just be a thin blade guy.
 
MarkPinTx said:
I kind of wonder whether the D2, properly thinned as it seems to be on the oar carver, has a fine enough edge for carving. The edge retention would be great, but is the retained edge any good.


I am by no means a carving expert, but it seems that carvers prefer the really fine edges for push cutting. I do own a Queen canoe and ots a nice knife, but I have yet to get the kind of edge on it that I like. I may just be a thin blade guy.
Click to expand...

Mark, my favorite carvers have blades in the 1 to 1 3/4" length range. :)

Edit- just realized that you are talking about d2 ability to take a fine edge, not the knifes edge length. Not sure how I confused that. :o That's a good question. I don't have any experience with d2 (somehow) but I know that I insist on a razor sharp edge. Hadn't even considered that...

One of my concerns is that the blades on the Oar need a lot of help thinning and sharpening. Typically not a problem for me, but I've heard that it's a big job on these. I've also read that the liner lock (on models so equipped) are iffy, but one "complaint" was from a gentleman who's main problem was that the design put the user in danger since it puts your finger in the path of the blade when unlocking. He said that he "pushes the lever over with a stick" for safety. :D Clearly not a customer use to frame and liner locks to begin with...

Edit- here are a couple of the models for those that have never seen one.

MS-OARKXX_big.gif
 
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well in theoru part of the sale point of the oar carver is thinning in addition to reshaping. part of the difficulty with D2 sharpening (and a reason for its edge holding) is the presence of large, hard carbides in the steel. in my observation with queen steel, that lenda a toothy esge, not a fine one.


I am confused by the locking comments as thw queen canoe has no locks and the oar carver materials say non locking. also says they come with factory edges. perhaps i am mistaken that this is a custom grind, maybe it is a queen sfo, with their typical horrid edges, which are not suitable for carving at all and will take a lot of work to get there.
 
Ah ok. I had not seen that one. I can say that the canoe frame should be good for carving and those blade shapes seem good.
 
Thanks jwren, I should have clarified that. :o

Mark, I'm thinking the same... mostly. I wonder what made them choose d2. Probably because they do so many knives in it already. I'd rather have d2 than a crappy stainless, but I'd prefer 1095 or o1 over anything really.

Surprised no one has any experience with any of these. I guess it is a pretty purposeful design though.
 
There was a fellow here who mentioned having and using one a while back, but I don't remember who :confused:
I do remember him saying it took a LOT of work to reprofile/thin it to his satisfaction....
 
I have the lower one in the picture above. I do not use it. Blade are WAY too thick and not easy to profile or sharpen.
I use 01 tool steel knifes that are made by hand. Two of them will cost less than the OAR. Email me and I'll tell you
where to get them. An old Scharade is the best bet in a folder or a Boker as mentioned above.
 
piney12 said:
I have the lower one in the picture above. I do not use it. Blade are WAY too thick and not easy to profile or sharpen.
I use 01 tool steel knifes that are made by hand. Two of them will cost less than the OAR. Email me and I'll tell you
where to get them. An old Scharade is the best bet in a folder or a Boker as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Thanks Piney! I have the fixed blade carvers down for now. The only one that I have in o1 is the Drake, but all are fine handmades. ;)

I'll look at the Schrade and Bokers.
 
Strigamort said:
Surprised no one has any experience with any of these. I guess it is a pretty purposeful design though.
Click to expand...

Some time ago, most whittling threads and whittling related threads were moved here.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/f...-Workshop-Projects-Tools-Techniques-amp-Ideas

There are a lot of threads there about various knives. It might be worth a look.

Hope this helps.

NEVERMIND !!!!! I see you were talking to "jwren" about the Oar Carver back in May in that sub-forum.
 
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jwren said:
There was a fellow here who mentioned having and using one a while back, but I don't remember who :confused:
I do remember him saying it took a LOT of work to reprofile/thin it to his satisfaction....
Click to expand...

I was watching this thread, and also looking at my Queen stockman's sheepsfoot blade. I'd thinned the edge on it a while back, using a Lansky diamond kit, and have periodically continued to refine the edge since then, using SiC and/or high-grit AlOx polishing film (over glass), following with CrO compound (on wood), then stropping on bare leather. The thing about D2 is, it'll do great with a high polish (or toothy, or anywhere in between), but it does take a LOOONNNNGGG time to first thin the grind, then make it polished while refining the apex at the same time. Sort of amazing steel, in that it continues to get finer & finer, but it absolutely demands patience in getting there. The large chromium carbides in the steel can still be abraded/filed/shaped with the rest of the matrix steel, but the key is using an abrasive that'll be aggressive enough to do it, even at small grit sizes. Otherwise, a less-capable abrasive will mostly just refine/polish the basic steel in the matrix (iron + carbon), without significantly reducing the carbide size at the apex. The blunter carbides left exposed at the edge will be the determining factor in how fine the finished edge will be.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I was watching this thread, and also looking at my Queen stockman's sheepsfoot blade. I'd thinned the edge on it a while back, using a Lansky diamond kit, and have periodically continued to refine the edge since then, using SiC and/or high-grit AlOx polishing film (over glass), following with CrO compound (on wood), then stropping on bare leather. The thing about D2 is, it'll do great with a high polish (or toothy, or anywhere in between), but it does take a LOOONNNNGGG time to first thin the grind, then make it polished while refining the apex at the same time. Sort of amazing steel, in that it continues to get finer & finer, but it absolutely demands patience in getting there. The large chromium carbides in the steel can still be abraded/filed/shaped with the rest of the matrix steel, but the key is using an abrasive that'll be aggressive enough to do it, even at small grit sizes. Otherwise, a less-capable abrasive will mostly just refine/polish the basic steel in the matrix (iron + carbon), without significantly reducing the carbide size at the apex. The blunter carbides left exposed at the edge will be the determining factor in how fine the finished edge will be.


David
Click to expand...

I've never heard of shaping carbides. I never considered the possibility actually. So I guess some DMTs would be a great addition to the knife? Too rich for my blood, even though I could justify some DMT plates in other ways. ;)

Why couldn't they just grind the stupid things at the factory where they have the equipment to do it easily? Then again I've asked that same question many times while slaving away over a thick blade.

I guess I'm still searching.
 
Strigamort said:
These are some of the blade profiles on my forged carvers. Minus the spoon carver of course.

IMAG0948_zpse6a95111.jpg


There's a reflection on the blade on the bottom knife in the pic btw. The edge is straight, not recurved.
Click to expand...


I know absolutely squat about carving but those are some fine looking pieces of cutlery.
 
Strigamort said:
I've never heard of shaping carbides. I never considered the possibility actually. So I guess some DMTs would be a great addition to the knife? Too rich for my blood, even though I could justify some DMT plates in other ways. ;)

Why couldn't they just grind the stupid things at the factory where they have the equipment to do it easily? Then again I've asked that same question many times while slaving away over a thick blade.

I guess I'm still searching.
Click to expand...

By 'shaping carbides', I'm referring to grinding them aggressively enough to reduce their size (therefore thickness/shape) at the apex. Using very coarse diamond or other coarse abrasive might just tend to rip the (whole) carbides out of the steel matrix at the edge during sharpening, but using finer but equally-hard abrasives is what will refine them by grinding or thinning them in-place, instead of just ripping them out.

Diamond from coarse thru fine/ef/eef will do it faster (especially during the heavy grinding/re-bevelling). Silicon carbide will still do it, albeit not as fast; and aluminum oxide abrasives slower still. Sometimes, for me, the slower-cutting rate of SiC or AlOx can be advantageous in the super-fine-tuning of an edge, in that it goes about it very, very gradually (think of Spyderco's ceramics). This is a good thing when the edge becomes finer and finer, when you want to avoid tearing out the carbides (which effectively blunts the edge), and instead sharpening and refining them in-place.

I suspect the idea that D2 'is better with a coarse/toothy edge' probably just comes from the fact that a coarse edge doesn't take near as long to create, and the toothiness of it makes it an effective working edge (which D2 will hold for a long time). Thing is, D2 will also take a very fine, polished edge that lasts a long time, but it takes quite a bit longer (maybe 2X/3X or longer) to make it so in the first place. And the thinness & crispness of the apex itself (therefore the finished size of carbides at the edge) become the bigger factor in sharpness & cutting ability, rather than the presence of the aggressive teeth at the edge.


David
 
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