The Whittling Corner

[WhittlinAway]

Wow, I hope that is just a typo!

Oh yes, definitely a typo! Oops, sorry ‘bout that.

Update: I edited the original to avoid any doubt.

 

[waynorth]

Nice to watch the whittling projects in this thread. I am working on a spoon that I am not ready to show off yet. Here are some Willamette whittlers I have had stashed away. I carry and use one in Stag, and it's a great pattern!! Holds an edge forever!! GEC-made of course.

 

[WhittlinAway]

waynorth Cool that you’re working on a spoon. I hope you’re having fun with it!

My, what a gorgeous trio of Williamette Whittlers you have! May I ask what type of wood handles the bottom one has? It’s captivating.

 

[waynorth]

The bottom one has Cocobola handles Greg. I actually had the whole natural-handled set offered by Northwoods, but they have drifted away to friends and family. Here they are:

 

[WhittlinAway]

Last week I did something that I've been wanting to try for a long time: a whittling walkabout. On a free day that coincided with a break in the rain, I had the itch to both get outside and to do some whittling, so I combined the two. I loaded up a light day pack with water, snacks, and whittling supplies and headed to Castle Rock State Park, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains and about an hour's drive from my home. I haven't been there in probably 15 years, but know the park well having rock climbed there frequently when I was in my late 20s.

The plan was simple: hike until I found a nice spot to whittle, whittle until I felt like hiking again, repeat. The first whittling stop was a comfy perch atop a sandstone outcropping. With a view of the tree-filled valley and, way off in the distance, the Pacific Ocean, it was the perfect place to stop for a bit:

In my pack were a few in-progress projects that I wanted to get working on again. They were wrapped in a bandanna that served the dual purpose of protecting the work and acting as a makeshift apron to catch the shavings so that I left nothing behind.

The penguin got the nod. I spent a little under half an hour at that spot and then headed down the trail. I got a bit wrapped up in the beauty of the day and only stopped once more to whittle. I made good progress on the penguin's head, though. This is how the penguin looked at the end of the second whittling stop:

I thoroughly enjoyed my inaugural whittling walkabout and am looking forward to doing another soon.

It also had the desired side effect of regaining momentum on one of my set-aside projects. I've made more progress since then and hope to finish it soon:

 

[WhittlinAway]

I found myself with a couple of spare hours yesterday afternoon, so I decided to finish off some projects that have been languishing in my "in progress projects" box. I grabbed them and the knives that have contributed to the efforts and headed to the backyard:

The knives are, from front to back:

• GEC #66 Calf Roper -- it was responsible for almost all of the work on the chain that I made while I was doing my 33 days with a #66 experiment. I had to set the project aside because I was having difficulty working the tight inner curves of the links with the #66's spey and sheepsfoot blades.
• Case 6383 (modified) -- you may remember this from post #2 in this thread. It has a pen-to-coping modification as well as a scimitar treatment on the small clip. Since that post I've continued to work on honing the clip mod to get it even sharper for whittling and also dyed the bone. The slim, pointy profile of the modified clip blade has worked well for reaching into the spaces between the rails and the ball in the ball and cage.
• Camillus 72 -- it's done almost all of the work on the penguin and has also pitched in on the chain. I also used the coping blade yesterday to clean up the rails of the ball in cage. The 6383's coping blade would have been fine, too, but the 72's was sharper and got the nod.

The penguin didn't need much more work, just cleaning up fuzzy bits, refining the shape of the eyes, and giving him a mouth. Here's where I stopped:

Similarly, the chain was nearly complete. It just needed about 15 minutes of using the small clip blade on the Camillus 72 to clean up the inside curves and some of the rough bits at the ends of the links:

After wrapping those up, I moved on to the ball in cage, working it mostly with the Case 6383. The ball is now free and I've cleaned up the rails a bit. I need to do some more work making the ball into a symmetric sphere so that it always rolls freely. At this point it catches on oblong bits sometimes. Unfortunately, I didn't snap any photos of it when I stopped. I'll show it later once all the work is complete.

Finally, as I was ending the day, I gave the penguin and chain a finishing treatment with a homemade salve made from mineral oil and beeswax. Here they are in final form:

I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. When you find yourself with some time to whittle, please share what you're working on.

 

[Student762]

Nice work bro!!!

 

[mitch4ging]

Nice to watch the whittling projects in this thread. I am working on a spoon that I am not ready to show off yet. Here are some Willamette whittlers I have had stashed away. I carry and use one in Stag, and it's a great pattern!! Holds an edge forever!! GEC-made of course.
View attachment 875612 View attachment 875613

Great looking group!
I absolutely love the Williamette, have the one, but would love to find another. Carry this one alot!

 

[Kiteman72]

Bump to page one for @Kneller.

 

[gmwolford]

I’ve not been getting notifications on this thread for some reason. It’s great to see new posts!

I’ve done a few projects lately; a shoulder injury has made it difficult to whittle much - or a lot of other things for that matter. Hopefully I’m on the mend.

 

[Jolipapa]

I’ve not been getting notifications on this thread for some reason. It’s great to see new posts!

I’ve done a few projects lately; a shoulder injury has made it difficult to whittle much - or a lot of other things for that matter. Hopefully I’m on the mend.

Amazing to see how the unpolished wood gives the characters life. I even could identify some neighbours!

 

[WinchesteRalox]

I’m going to have to post some of my past projects, i’m not very good but I do have some rough skills. Good work all!

 

[WhittlinAway]

Those little guys look great G gmwolford . Sorry to hear about your shoulder injury, but glad to hear you’re getting better. I’m looking forward to seeing what you whittle next once you’ve recovered.

 

[JaxBaron]

Ive been known to whittle a time or two. A couple of pieces I finished a while back. I need to make more time to whittle, its something I really enjoy.

 

[WhittlinAway]

Those look great JaxBaron . Thanks for sharing them! It’s nice to have some traffic going on this thread again lately.

I have a couple of recent projects to share, too. First, a relief carving of Half Dome inspired by a recent trip to Yosemite:

And it’s inspiration:

I did most of the work with my Camillus 72, but quite a few other whittling knives and a Helvie Viper III pitched in trying to get the relief of the face of half dome smooth. You can see that I didn’t completely succeed in that, but we’ll pretend the rough parts are texture in the rock.

I also finally finished a little gnome I began over Christmas, but set aside for a while:

The bulk—if not all; I don’t remember for sure—of the work was done with a Camillus 72. Noticing a pattern?

Have a great weekend everyone. I hope it includes some quality whittling time for some of ya’ll.

 

[JaxBaron]

Awesome work Whittlin. This thread has inspired me. Im at the whittling table as I type this trying my hand at droopy hat hillbilly. Sorry for the crappy indoor lighting. Have a great weekend!

 

[street soldier]

Those look great JaxBaron . I also finally finished a little gnome I began over Christmas, but set aside for a while:

The bulk—if not all; I don’t remember for sure—of the work was done with a Camillus 72. Noticing a pattern?

This gnome reminds me of the master elf in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I can almost here Burl Ives singing....
I actually just picked up two Camillus 72 whittler today, one SS and the other carbon steel. Trying to decide which one to carry/ use first.

John

 

[WinchesteRalox]

Hermey wants to be a dentist! Couldn’t help myself! Some attempts at letter openers and a half finished spoon.

 

[JaxBaron]

Still have a little ways to go on the hillbilly. Tomorrow Ill finish him up and paint him.

 

[gmwolford]

Those are some great projects! I love seeing and sharing different whittlings; it’s such a relaxing pastime. Speaking of relaxing, I’m set up for some myself.