The Whittling Starter Kit GAW—Winner chosen! See post #56

[r redden]

Great and generous GAW Greg :thumbup: Barrett congratulations I look forward to seeing some of the master pieces you create.

 

[btb01]

Awesome! Can't believe I won! Thanks so much, WhittlinAway!

I'll certainly post pics of whatever I end up whittlin' using the GAW prizes. Of course, my previous whittling experience is limited to turning big sticks into littler sticks, so I can't promise anything good... but I'll do my best.

 

[rye_a]

Congrats Barrett, and thanks Greg for a fun GAW!

 

[WhittlinAway]

The discussion on whittling lately has gotten me back into it and I ended up purchasing a glove and dedicating a GEC large stockman to the task. I was planning on gifting this to a buddy if I won...

With that said, I'd love to have tutorial on modifying a stockman for better whittling usage. Right now I almost exclusively use the spey blade. I've done a few animals for my daughters recently and right now am building calluses in a block of cocobolo getting a ball in a cage roughed out...

It's great that you're getting back into it. That dolphin you made for your daughter was really cool.

The modifications that I made to both my own 34OT and the one that will shortly be going to Barrett were to give the sheepsfoot a pointier tip, almost like a Wharncliffe and to turn the spey blade into a pen blade. Basically two pointy blades: one straight edge, one curved. That makes it easier to get them into tight spaces for detail work. That's based on my preference and limited experience. I know some folks prefer to use a straight edge for all their carving (and several carving folders are set up that way) and others like the non-pointy nature of the spey for smoothing contoured surfaces.

If you decide you want to try your hand at modifying the blades, the Starter File Set for Blade Modifications thread taught me everything I needed to know about choosing a few files and how to use them. There's a lot of good advice there.

What I've found to be at least as important to success, though, is sharpening the blades to a low angle (say 10 degrees per side) and smoothing the shoulders of the bevel. This makes a huge difference. Mr. Chips gave a detailed description of how he sharpens blade for whittling here and I've seen similar advice from other people.

BTW, if you haven't seen the Cavalcade of Carvers thread yet, there's also some discussion of whittling knives, blade shapes, and modifications there.

Have fun!

 

[StoneBeard]

Congrats Barrett! Looking forward to seeing the progression of your projects. Thank you Greg for a very well thought out GAW and the follow on information on blade modification and sharpening :thumbup:

 

[5K Qs]

Congratulations on your good fortune, Barrett! :thumbup::thumbup: Enjoy that customized knife, and the shady spot you recently created for yourself, as you do some whittling relaxation/therapy!

Thanks for the generous GAW, Greg; I especially enjoyed reading about how forumites like to relax! And thanks for the helpful, instructive links in post #64 above. :thumbup:

- GT

 

[Neko2]

This was a great GAW and im hoping to see some whittlin' from you Barrett!

 

[Maple Tree]

Thanks again Whittlin,:thumbup: ...embrace the uncarved block Barrett.

 

[irona]

Great GAW! Sorry to have missed it. I love seeing new people try their hand at whittling! It's a great way to relax and get enveloped in something. I've been carving sticks since I was 7 or so, and more recently carving out animals. For anyone starting out, I find that one of my favorite things to carve is a turtle! Not too difficult, the shell looks great with the hand carved look, and there's lots of different types you can do, like sea turtles and box turtles, so it won't get repetitive after a couple carvings.


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[WhittlinAway]

... I've been carving sticks since I was 7 or so, and more recently carving out animals. For anyone starting out, I find that one of my favorite things to carve is a turtle! Not too difficult, the shell looks great with the hand carved look, and there's lots of different types you can do, like sea turtles and box turtles, so it won't get repetitive after a couple carvings.

You must have been reading my mind: just this morning I was thinking that I'd like to try carving a turtle. I guess this is a sign that I should follow through on that idea

If you're willing to share them, I'd love to see pictures of your turtles and other animals, whether here or in one of the whittling threads.

 

[irona]

You must have been reading my mind: just this morning I was thinking that I'd like to try carving a turtle. I guess this is a sign that I should follow through on that idea

If you're willing to share them, I'd love to see pictures of your turtles and other animals, whether here or in one of the whittling threads.

Sure thing! I'll figure out how to share pictures when I get back home on Saturday or sunday. Also, there's a whittling thread?


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[WhittlinAway]

Sure thing! I'll figure out how to share pictures when I get back home on Saturday or sunday. Also, there's a whittling thread?

Great! I'm looking forward to seeing them.

There are a couple of recent whittling-related threads here in the Traditionals forum, each with a different focus:

whittlin' with your edc
Cavalcade of Carvers (preferably folders)

There is also a general whittling projects thread in the The Workshop: Projects, Tools, Techniques & Ideas forum: Whatcha whittlin' these days? It focuses more on the works and less on the knives. Warning: you can spend hours browsing that one. I speak from experience.

 

[irona]

Great! I'm looking forward to seeing them.

There are a couple of recent whittling-related threads here in the Traditionals forum, each with a different focus:

whittlin' with your edc
Cavalcade of Carvers (preferably folders)

There is also a general whittling projects thread in the The Workshop: Projects, Tools, Techniques & Ideas forum: Whatcha whittlin' these days? It focuses more on the works and less on the knives. Warning: you can spend hours browsing that one. I speak from experience.

Thank you so much! Google images generally leaves more to be desired.


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[irona]

Thank you so much! Google images generally leaves more to be desired.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's a few quick pics of a box turtle that i've been working on for a few days in my free time. Still super chunky and rough, especially in the back (which I've barely even started), but I can see it starting to form. I'm looking forward to seeing how the shell forms with the carving marks - always fun when carving turtles!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WhittlinAway]

Here's a few quick pics of a box turtle that i've been working on for a few days in my free time. Still super chunky and rough, especially in the back (which I've barely even started), but I can see it starting to form. I'm looking forward to seeing how the shell forms with the carving marks - always fun when carving turtles!

Thanks for sharing the pics. It's taking shape nicely. :thumbup:

 

[Nature Boy]

It's great that you're getting back into it. That dolphin you made for your daughter was really cool.

The modifications that I made to both my own 34OT and the one that will shortly be going to Barrett were to give the sheepsfoot a pointier tip, almost like a Wharncliffe and to turn the spey blade into a pen blade. Basically two pointy blades: one straight edge, one curved. That makes it easier to get them into tight spaces for detail work. That's based on my preference and limited experience. I know some folks prefer to use a straight edge for all their carving (and several carving folders are set up that way) and others like the non-pointy nature of the spey for smoothing contoured surfaces.

If you decide you want to try your hand at modifying the blades, the Starter File Set for Blade Modifications thread taught me everything I needed to know about choosing a few files and how to use them. There's a lot of good advice there.

What I've found to be at least as important to success, though, is sharpening the blades to a low angle (say 10 degrees per side) and smoothing the shoulders of the bevel. This makes a huge difference. Mr. Chips gave a detailed description of how he sharpens blade for whittling here and I've seen similar advice from other people.

BTW, if you haven't seen the Cavalcade of Carvers thread yet, there's also some discussion of whittling knives, blade shapes, and modifications there.

Have fun!

Thanks for the GAW and pointing the way to more info...I'm running out of excuses to get started...

 

[btb01]

Greg, I got the package in the mail today. Thank you, again, so much! What a great giveaway!

Can't wait to get started!

(Just to note, the whittled chain in the picture was not done by me. That was all Greg.)

 

[WhittlinAway]

Greg, I got the package in the mail today. Thank you, again, so much!

Great! It got to you a day earlier than I was expecting. :thumbup:

Thanks for letting me know it arrived, Barrett. And, you're very welcome! I hope you enjoy it. Have fun and be safe.

 

[Jolipapa]

Great giveaway, WhittlinAway! This time of year, my favorite way to relax is sitting out on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water, drinking a beer, maybe smoking a cigar. I think I do that more than I actually swim in the pool.

I agree with you. Who would be fool enough to swim in a pool wher s.o. put his feet and dropped cigar ashes!
Congrats for your whittling set and to the generous donor. :thumbup:

 

[5K Qs]

Congrats again, Barrett! Looks like you received a fabulous prize; thanks for sharing it with us. :thumbup::thumbup: I hope you find whittling to be a relaxing and enjoyable pastime.

Fantastic GAW, Greg! I liked your "entry requirements" and the way you "invested yourself" in the prize and the links to relevant info/tutorials that you posted! Thanks for your generosity!
Oh, and I like your "new" avatar that I just noticed yesterday, I think. How long have I been cluelessly overlooking it??

- GT