The Whittling Corner

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WhittlinAway said:
It took three tries, but this one was a fun one:

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I followed the instructions and pattern given in E. J. Tangerman’s Whittling and Woodcarving and used a Camillus 72 for the bulk of the carving. I switched to my modified Case 6383 with its thin, pointy clip blade for the hinge cuts.

The first attempt looked better, right up to when it broke while I was trying to separate the parts. ;)
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Wow I'm glad the video is loading now, very cool :thumbsup::cool:
 
Well, I took another picture of the American Whittler SFOs (from GEC), and wondered if anyone has used them for their "intended" purpose. They are certainly nice looking, and well made, but being a very occasional whittler myself, I thought I'd ask the question of those who take it more seriously!!:)
American 1.jpg
 
waynorth said:
Well, I took another picture of the American Whittler SFOs (from GEC), and wondered if anyone has used them for their "intended" purpose. They are certainly nice looking, and well made, but being a very occasional whittler myself, I thought I'd ask the question of those who take it more seriously!!:)
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Oh, wow, Charlie, what a superb collection! I think that version of the #38 is perhaps the second most beautiful whittler ever made, only being bested by the old Schrade Walden Peach Seed 804.

I’ve whittled with my Ebony #38 and it is a delight to use. In fact, I’m planning to give it more exercise this week.

I had a natural muslin micarta #13 that I converted one of the pen blades to a coping blade. The secondaries whittled well, but I found the sheepsfoot main to be a bit uncomfortable in the hand while whittling with the small blades.

Out of curiosity, which of those beauties feels the best in your hand and most makes you want to whittle?
 
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Hey Greg, I apologize for missing your question!
While I have put together a collection of pocket whittlers, I use Mora fixed blades for the odd spoon or walking stick that I work on. The fat handles on the Moras are much easier on my arthritic hands. I might use a folding knife to smooth a "hot spot" on a walking stick while on the go, but extended carving or whittling has gotten hard on my 74 year old hands.
But, collecting is easy!!:D
Here are a few more GEC-made whittlers (#38s) as I re-scan the collection!!
38 Whittlers NF and Tid 1.jpg 38 Whittlers NF and Tid 2.jpg 38 Whittlers NF and Tid 3.jpg
 
waynorth said:
Hey Greg, I apologize for missing your question!
While I have put together a collection of pocket whittlers, I use Mora fixed blades for the odd spoon or walking stick that I work on. The fat handles on the Moras are much easier on my arthritic hands. I might use a folding knife to smooth a "hot spot" on a walking stick while on the go, but extended carving or whittling has gotten hard on my 74 year old hands.
But, collecting is easy!!:D
Here are a few more GEC-made whittlers (#38s) as I re-scan the collection!!
View attachment 1031641 View attachment 1031642 View attachment 1031643
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No worries, Charlie! It's quite easy to miss things with all the posts that fly around here.

I hear you about the Moras. I actually have been incorporating them more and more into my work as well. I like the 106 for spoon carving and am becoming quite fond of the 120 for the initial bulk removal and rough carving of my whittling projects. Lately I've been pushing myself more and more with the 120, seeing how far I can take a carving before switching over to a thinner and shorter blade for detail work. Given its rich history and tradition, it's not surprising that the Mora woodcarving knives are incredibly capable. And an outstanding value, too!

Thanks for sharing more photos of your collection. That's a lovely trio of #38s. :thumbsup:
 
Nice to see Santa appearing out of that block of wood!! Is that a Case "Seahorse" (Wharncliffe) I see next to the Jolly Old Elf??
 
Since we've gotten this up at the top, what if the general consensus on the Case Classic split back whitlers from the early 90s? I suppose they are reproductions of very old patterns from the early days of Case?
 
I've got a couple of them in waterfall celluloid. Decent knives, but I prefer to have a coping blade instead of two pen blades. No idea about the history on them.
 
mrszeontestpilot said:
I've been working on a small Santa. Close to done, but not quite.

C68E43DD-5512-46B3-B0D5-0B5E3EE5CB0D by V M, on Flickr

15D54D83-DD50-45EC-AC53-C38E7D8A31DB by V M, on Flickr
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Looking good, Mrs. Z!

Out of curiosity, do you use the main of that Seahorse at all in your whittling or just the secondaries? When I had one, I thought it was too thick to be of use, but now that I’m gaining experience with the Mora 120, I could imagine that thick wharncliffe could be useful for bulk removal at the beginning of a project.
 
WhittlinAway said:
I’ve whittled with my Ebony #38 and it is a delight to use. In fact, I’m planning to give it more exercise this week.
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It took a bit longer than I’d hoped, but I finally got some time today to sit down and whittle a full project with my #38, using just the pen blade:

HaUGUYXh.jpg


I was musing about how things would have been different if Arthur had instead pulled a key from the stone.

The 38’s pen blade is a real joy to whittle with. Thin, narrow, and nimble, it flexes just a bit and gives really good control.
 
WhittlinAway said:
It took a bit longer than I’d hoped, but I finally got some time today to sit down and whittle a full project with my #38, using just the pen blade:

HaUGUYXh.jpg


I was musing about how things would have been different if Arthur had instead pulled a key from the stone.

The 38’s pen blade is a real joy to whittle with. Thin, narrow, and nimble, it flexes just a bit and gives really good control.
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Excalibur! :cool::thumbsup:
Nice to see you testing out that whittler.
 
[/Quote]Looking good, Mrs. Z!

Out of curiosity, do you use the main of that Seahorse at all in your whittling or just the secondaries? When I had one, I thought it was too thick to be of use, but now that I’m gaining experience with the Mora 120, I could imagine that thick wharncliffe could be useful for bulk removal at the beginning of a project.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Actually, I do use the main blade on the Seahorse for roughing out and bigger areas. I didn't like it when I first got my first Seahorse, because it's so thick (as you mentioned) and seemingly unnecessarily, but after giving it some use and sharpening, it grew on me and now is not a problem. Although, I'm somewhat of the opinion that one could whittle with any knife as long as it's sharp - although some are certainly better suited than others. I use the more suitable ones now, but just saying.
 
r8shell said:
Excalibur! :cool::thumbsup:
Nice to see you testing out that whittler.
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Thanks! I used it a bit when I first got it but set it aside for a while, I think because we were traveling and my much more replaceable Camillus 72 always gets traveling whittling duty. I often fail to rotate in other knives after we get back, though.

I'm glad I spent some focused time whittling with it, though. I tend to prefer small clip blades for most of my work, but the 38's pen is so narrow and pointy that it is nearly as versatile. I also really enjoyed having the little bit of flex while working on some concave curves.

mrszeontestpilot said:
Thanks! Actually, I do use the main blade on the Seahorse for roughing out and bigger areas. I didn't like it when I first got my first Seahorse, because it's so thick (as you mentioned) and seemingly unnecessarily, but after giving it some use and sharpening, it grew on me and now is not a problem. Although, I'm somewhat of the opinion that one could whittle with any knife as long as it's sharp - although some are certainly better suited than others. I use the more suitable ones now, but just saying.
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Cool. Thanks for sharing your experiences with it.

I agree with you that most sharp knives can whittle, but some are better suited to it than others. And, some are better suited to different types and scales of projects. I've been having fun lately sometimes completing projects with just one blade to push my skills and understanding of what that blade is best suited for and sometimes working on projects with a variety of knives, using each for the type of work in which it really shines. Both are fun and scratch different itches.

All that being said, I'd rather spend time whittling with the sharp knife I have on hand now than worrying about finding a better knife to whittle with later. :) (ETA: That’s not to say I haven’t spent a lot of time on the latter. ;))
 
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I've been using primarily FlexCut fixed blade knives for whittling, but I have recently picked up a Case Seahorse Whittler. I haven't had a chance to do any whittling with it yet, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Also, I have a GEC 82 Dixie Stockman, and checking out the three blades on it, I was wondering if it might not be decent for whittling?

UPDATE/EDIT to ask a question: Has anyone here ever tried a GEC 82 for whittling?

I'm thinking the FlexCut knives work best when I'm at home, but for whittling while away from home or traveling, a pocket knife seems to make a lot more sense.
 
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25FA2C74-691F-4458-B181-2FC550110AA1 by V M, on Flickr

87BE041C-3E0D-4849-84A1-4F58FFACE4DE by V M, on Flickr

FB5E06A3-C030-461A-84B8-9834C7788B16 by V M, on Flickr

I got the Santa finished up and painted. Not perfect, but it's been a while since I've done much whittling, so I think it's decent. A friend saw the Santa and wanted me to make a gnome for them to paint, so I've been working on that. I think I'll be making a few other things in the near future. Will be a nice break from crochet. haha.

I'm still using the Case Seahorse. The wood that I have is a bit old, so some of it is dry and I've been using a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol to soften it up. I have one piece that is still quite hard to carve, and I think I'll have to pull out my flexcut to see what it can do to it. Probably make me wonder what the problem was.

I need to work on sharpening without scratching up the rest of the blade... Does anyone have any tips on this? Maybe just painter's tape?
 
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