What do you whittle?

T

Temper

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
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You have been conscripted to drive wife/girlfriend some place and elect to stay in the car. You notice a small branch/twig on the flloor near a small park. You get out, pick it up and out comes the knife.

What do you whittle from a small twig while waiting for the ball and ..er wife to come back?
I usually go for a square dowel as symetrical as I can get it. :)
 
I guess this is an answer most would expect, but it's true. I almost always whittle some kind of knife. I like to make different shapes and sizes and designs.

However in the situation you described, I would consider trying to whittle a flower or cute little animal or something you could give to your wife/girlfriend when she comes back. I've done this and I am always surprised at how touched they are when I give them something you whittled. Give it a try, you'll see. ;)
 
Not really whittling but when i get the time i'll post some pictures of some amazing knifework by the old fella who used to live here. He was in world war 2 if i recall correctly. So he carved himself a roughly 12 inch figure of a soldier with all sorts of neat little bits and peices (it even has little grenades that you can remove).

Also some religious carving (hands clasped together, praying) etc etc. You should also see one of the knives he made. I'm sure you'll all really enjoy his work.

Myself...hmm, i don't usually whittle...but if i do, i tend to just make another pointed object. :p It is kinda fun to see just how pointy you can get the stick though.
 
The last time I was whittling, I had a 3-4 foot stick, and I was experimenting with whittling a spear point that would withstand a hard throw into a tree. I did succeed, and achieved over 2" of penetration into a pine tree. The spear stuck solid, but the tip was slightly frayed and split when withdrawn. The tip that worked best was a chisel type point on a 30-40 degree taper. :thumbup:
 
Wow, isn't that funny? I clicked on this thread to say I like to whittle letter openers or knife blanks, or other sharp things, but 3 out of 3 replies mention the same thing. Obsessed, anyone?
 
I think I'm a freak :( I'm the only one doing symetrical shapes :rolleyes:

Better get a bigger stick and get some knives done :D
 
When I'm bored I like to try carving spirals running the length of the twig. Or carve random things like "Dan is cool" in block letters and leave them lying around the area for other people to see or something.
 
I got bored one day and foung out that you can whittle a flower out of a small stick/ twig. My wife loves them.

It's best to cut off part of a small limb on a live tree, or one recently fallen because theay are more pliable, and not so brittle.
Cut off about an 8 inch section of limb, ranging anywhere from a 1/5 of an inch to 1/2 inch in diameter.
In esence you just peel the bark back all the way around the stick to a determined point (which will be the base of your petals/ the strips will be the petals so don't cut all the way through the strips), and every time you make it around the stick, just cut a little depper on the next pass, and the petals/strips will form nicely on top of each other. When you get close to the middle, or the snapping point, then you can whittle out your stem on the other side, and when you brake it off you can manipulate the strips to whatever flower shape you want.

They are actually a flower you can give to someone for good, and only take about 10 minutes to do.
 
I whittle all sorts of things, but I especially like to whittle survival related items, such as the whistle (which actually works) and spoon in the pictures below.

whittle011fk.jpg


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The knife in the picture is a Vic. harvester.
 
Last time I whittled anything, it was a toothpick.

I was camping, it was a neccessity.

My favorite knive for whittling as of late is the Little Caper neck knife from AG Russell.
 
I usally end up with something sharp...like a shiv~ mainly due to lack of skill.

I have made a few nice hair thingies for the wife and sisters and what not. I like the idea of making survial type or useful objects, that spoon is cool.

I currently use either the kershaw whirlwind or buck rush, cause thats all i have! =) I am looking at getting a pair of kershaw Indian Fords one for me and one for my son for his first pocket knife, but im not sure if they lock or not.

Im outside all day at work so I have a chance to get better at this hobby of whittling...hopefully. I also run into problems hitting the pith or center of a stick, i need to choose larger pieces of wood me thinks
 
I whittle a bunch also. Mostly faces or boots maybe some animal shapes on occassion. I make walking sticks so faces seem to be what I end up doing the most I guess. I like inlaying stones in the wood also on occassion. When I entertain my nephews you never know what I'll end up carving. They like some pretty weird stuff, hence the 'alien' head.

Walkingstickface-copy.jpg


Woodcarvings-copy.jpg
 
I started whittling on Father's Day this year, at which time I received 2 books on whittling and 3 Shrade 330T middleman jacks.

I've whittled several balls in cages of different sizes, and one chain. From sticks I've whittled flowers for my wife and daughter, and a couple of letter openers.

I've used the 330T, a yellow handle Case mid-sized stockman with CV blades, and a Cocobolo handled Queen whittler with D2 blades. Just last night I got a Boker whittler with 1095 blades and look forward to using it. Other knives I've used include a Spyderco Paramilitary and a Benchmade 710HS. I may get a small Frost Mora or other fixed blades at some point.

About a month ago my wife and had a week vacation without the kids in Ontario on the Bruce Penninsula on the western shore of Lake Huron. In the afternoon I'd sit in the shade near the lake and sip whiskey and whittle until sundown. That was heaven!
 
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