The Whittling Corner

[WhittlinAway]

New arrivals from Pinewood Forge:



Both knives are excellent and I'm particularly enjoying the hook knife. Thanks @JSCHENK and @kamagong for the recommendations earlier in the thread.

I can tell this spoon carving this is going to be addictive.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I'm gonna have to try and make a wooden spoon. What's a good wood to use, something had enough and won't ad any taste to the food?

 

[Taike]

Carving spoons has been a fun occupation lately, mainly to replace plastic jobs in the kitchen. So far I've got the flour, salt and a spice jar. I'm thinking I should figure the volume of one or two to see if they'll serve as measuring spoons.

I find I'll use just about any blade for a go. It's nice to switch up. The mini grip's M390 steel is amazing and pretty comfortable in the hand. The fixed blade is a Hess large caper. Of the carving tools, the curved gauge is a big help! Oh, and, of course, sand paper. The finish is a foodsafe wax/mineral oil mix I got with some wooden bowls a while back. Works well. And so far not too much blood.

 

[BigBiscuit]

Some nice work fellas.

 

[limatime42]

Nice work guys! Thinking about getting into whittling lately... I carved up a pencil with a Buck 301 today and it was fun. Not pretty but relaxing haha.

Any recommendations for a first project? I plan on picking up a few blocks of basswood and some fallen pine branches.

 

[Mr. Chips]

I'm gonna have to try and make a wooden spoon. What's a good wood to use, something had enough and won't ad any taste to the food?

Birch is good wood for spoons
Alder is ok if you can't get birch
I recently made a couple out of apple wood. It is hard, but the spoons came out OK.
If you want to use the spoon, avoid basswood, and any wood from conifers - the resin will taint your food.

 

[Mr. Chips]

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Birch is good wood for spoons
Alder is ok if you can't get birch
I recently made a couple out of apple wood. It is hard, but the spoons came out OK.
If you want to use the spoon, avoid basswood, and any wood from conifers - the resin will taint your food.

I am having a little trouble with getting my photos to show up in preview.
Lets see what comes up

 

[Mr. Chips]

I think I may have this figured out now.
Here is a pic of the apple wood spoon I recently whittled.

 

[Mr. Chips]

More whittlin'
I just finished this little cottonwood bark piece.

 

[NDirish23]

Hi there,
I'm new whittling and I've been using my NW whillamette whittler. I've been noticing that I having been getting great bites into the wood. The knife is barely removing any wood at all. Although at times, it seems like if I try to deeper, I will get splitting. Could this be the geometry of the edge, sharpness, or is this most likely user error? Maybe I'm just being impatient?

 

[yablanowitz]

Hard to say from here, but at a guess I'd say your edge is too thick (most factory edges are) and quite possibly at too large an included angle (most factory edges are) and very likely too dull (every factory edge I've ever seen in person was). There is also the learning curve about how the wood grain affects cutting. When you are going against the grain rather than with or even across it, the edge will tend to dig in and split the wood. I'd start by sharpening the blade(s) you intend to use at a very low angle - 10 degrees per side or even less. Then see how it cuts on your wood.

 

[NDirish23]

thank you. I was assuming it had to do with the angle. The pen blade being if thinner stock cuts pretty well. But the main being from a pretty stout stock probably makes it a bit too thick behind the edge. I'm gonna try using a lower angle. Thank you

 

[WhittlinAway]

Nice work guys! Thinking about getting into whittling lately... I carved up a pencil with a Buck 301 today and it was fun. Not pretty but relaxing haha.

Any recommendations for a first project? I plan on picking up a few blocks of basswood and some fallen pine branches.

My first project was a little penguin that I carved while following along with this YouTube tutorial. The instructor uses a Carving Jack that has built-in gouges, but you can do it all with a knife. If I recall correctly I did mine with an Opinel No. 6 and a Case Seahorse Whittler, trying to get a feel for each.

I haven't worked through it myself yet, but this Whittling Exercise Tutorial from the Wood Bee Carver also looks like it would be a good way to get some experience with a variety of techniques.

As you get started, I'd also echo this observation on factory blade angles and sharpness from yablanowitz a couple of posts up:

Hard to say from here, but at a guess I'd say your edge is too thick (most factory edges are) and quite possibly at too large an included angle (most factory edges are) and very likely too dull (every factory edge I've ever seen in person was). There is also the learning curve about how the wood grain affects cutting. When you are going against the grain rather than with or even across it, the edge will tend to dig in and split the wood. I'd start by sharpening the blade(s) you intend to use at a very low angle - 10 degrees per side or even less. Then see how it cuts on your wood.

I didn't realize that when I started. Once I learned how to resharpen my whittling blades to a low angle and get them really sharp, carving took a lot less effort, the cuts were much cleaner, and whittling became even more enjoyable and relaxing. If you need some tips on sharpening for whittling, M Mr. Chips gave some good tips a while back in this post.

Have fun and be safe!

 

[r8shell]

Pencils are fun to whittle.

 

[lutejones]

Hey guys, It's been a while.
Sorry for not showing up often, but with a little kid, a day job and the beginning of a furniture making shop, time is not my more abundant possesion right now

Great work every one.
@Mr.Chips, I'm very curious about that bark. Seems great stuff.
WhittlinAway Greg, thanks for sharing this thread with all the comunity, It's great.

Here are some of my last carvings:
these I think you saw before
carpenter, obi wan kenobi, cowboy and lumberjack

some spoon carving too

a little key ring

and last a nº8 opinel modified for cutting leather for my wife

 

[WhittlinAway]

Hey guys, It's been a while.
Sorry for not showing up often, but with a little kid, a day job and the beginning of a furniture making shop, time is not my more abundant possesion right now

It's great to see you on the porch again, Mateo. Glad you were able to find some time to stop by. I always enjoy seeing your work.

I recall seeing these guys individually before, but I didn't have any idea of their relative sizes. Thanks for the group shot.

some spoon carving too

Nice work! Did you start with a green log and cut the blank with the axe? That's something I aspire to learn to do this year.

a little key ring

Nice whittle dwarf-sized elf.

and last a nº8 opinel modified for cutting leather for my wife

Fantastic!

 

[BatJak]

.

 

[Mr. Chips]

Lutejones - Cottonwood is the name of more than one tree in North America.
Sometimes called Black Poplar, or Balsam Poplar (there are other names too). Sometimes these trees get quite large and develop very thick bark, at times 3 or 4 inches or more thick.
When the trees die, the bark is pretty easy to remove and often is quite good to carve. It is easier to carve than most wood, yet takes good detail and has a pleasing grain.
It take a fair bit of hunting sometimes to find a good bark tree, but once a good one is found, it is like a little gold mine. I have one that I know of that has produced quite a bit of bark for me to sell and to use in my carving courses.
I cannot speak for everywhere, but I personally know that good bark can be found in British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska, Alberta, Washington, Idaho, Montana and I am quite sure, most of the northern states.
It cannot be shipped across the Canada/US border.
I live in BC.
Conventional wisdom (?!) has it that the best bark comes from the Northern part of BC, and that may be true, but I have found some very good stuff here in the Okanagan Valley of BC.

 

[Blake the Blade]

This is my first effort at a bit of whittling. Wanted something practical so I thought I'd try to make a dog whistle. Tried to do it to resemble my Patterdale Terrier and am pleased to say it does a bit, even got it playing its favourite game of "tuggy" with the lanyard through its mouth. Got a skilled mate to help me make the blank out of a nice bit of cedar of Lebanon, drill the hole and make a whiffle from a piece of dowel. Carved the head with my small rough rider stockman which I found to be a good size for such small work. I found the sheep's foot blade particularly useful, and the spey blade good for clearing out deep areas. I just took my time and found I got more confident as it took shape. Satisfying and relaxing thing to do.

Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

 

[screened porch]

Good idea and good job.