Queen Whittler vs Stockman

[nphelps4130]

Hi everybody,
I don't post a lot, but I do a lot of reading in this forum. Great people and info here. Thanks, guys :thumbup:

I am hoping for some input:
I recently got 'The Little Book of Whittling' which is pushing me nearly over the edge toward purchasing a new Queen knife in the Zebrawood (which I have been tempted to do anyway). I was wondering specifically about the pull on the main blade of a whittler (3.5" closed) vs stockman (3 1/4 closed)? My question is, will the whittler have considerably harder pull than the stockman, since the main blade is on 2 backsprings? Is the main blade considerably thicker on a whittler?

I currently have 1 Queen - a mini-Trapper (3.5" closed) in cocobolo - and I am very impressed with it. My only complaint was the very wide edge angle, but that was solved with some time on the DMT XX-coarse. I also have 1 whittler pattern, a Boker with faux pearl handle.

Any input you have on whittler vs stockman, especially considering the relative pull of the main blade, would be appreciated.

 

[yablanowitz]

I don't have the small stockman to compare to, but my Queen whittler's main blade has a slightly heavier pull than the clip blade on my Queen large stockman. It has good snap, but it is far from being a nail breaker. It's positively feeble compared to the clip blade on the 8OT I've been lugging around for twenty years or so.

The main blade on my Queen whittler was thick enough that I ended up thinning it down on a belt sander before I was happy with the edge I could get on it. The factory edge on that D2 was suitable for whittling bronze, but not much use on wood.

 

[neeman]

The pull on the Whittler is more than a 3 1/4" stockman, but less than a 4" stockman

The pull on my whittler is easy.

 

[Peter Parker]

I don't have the small stockman to compare to, but my Queen whittler's main blade has a slightly heavier pull than the clip blade on my Queen large stockman. It has good snap, but it is far from being a nail breaker. It's positively feeble compared to the clip blade on the 8OT I've been lugging around for twenty years or so.

The main blade on my Queen whittler was thick enough that I ended up thinning it down on a belt sander before I was happy with the edge I could get on it. The factory edge on that D2 was suitable for whittling bronze, but not much use on wood.

That says it all, but I didn't need to thin mine since it is a S&M equal end model and due to the design with the swedges making for I believe a thinner blade.

 

[nphelps4130]

Thanks for the info guys, and for the picture - I wanted to see that view.
I have a feeling I will need to thin the edge quite a bit like yablanowitz said. I spent quite a bit of time on the blades of my mini-trapper and I thought the whittler may demand a little extra attention to get to its optimum cutting ability.

I really like these zebra wood Queens! The whittler is looking very tempting...

 

[yablanowitz]

One good thing about the Queen whittler is the secondary blades are nice and thin.

 

[Peter Parker]

Nice birds eye maple whittler, and the clip blade doesn't appear to be any thicker to me then my spear blade!

 

[yablanowitz]

Those pictures were taken after its close encounter with my belt sander. The spine is the same thickness as it always was, but just behind the edge bevel it is about one third of the original thickness. It cuts much better now.

 

[nphelps4130]

Thank you for the pictures yablanowitz. Those secondary blades do look good. I am sure that the belt sander treatment worked wonders for whittling ability. I have been thinking that a Queen might be a good knife to send to Tom Krein for a regrind...