What do you whittle?

I ordered a Case Seahorse Whittler today. Never owned a case knife and cant find much info on how good the steel is or if the knife even locks but couldnt help myself. Its the new orange Peel limited edition one and was only 45 bucks. havent had a knife of this style since a old buck i used to own. Very excited to try it out and do more whittling. Anyone have one of these knives have anything to add? i wanted to try something ive never used before, which is easy since Ive only ever had a folder like this once hehe. I like the idea of having three blades to pick from. Cant waite for it to get here, hopefully it satisfies my whittling needs for hikes and porch side relaxment.

What type of wood do you whittle on , if you had a choice? Or is it whatever you find?

STR ,that carving set is very cool, will have to look into that someday soon)
 
For walking sticks I like Hickory and Sasafras and I've done some nice birch sticks also. I think any of the hard woods will work though. For just sitting on the porch I'll use about anything, pine, cotton wood, cotton wood root is really good for carving. Find a cotton wood tree growing by a wash where the roots are exposed from the water erosion on one side and grab up some of that. It is wonderful carving and whittling stock to have on hand.

The Seahorse is a fine style for whittling but unfortunately the smaller blades dull very very fast on that Case stainless model. Best ones I have in Seahorse patterns are the BullDog brand with the high carbon blades. Same knife only much better fit and finish than the Cases I have and of course steel that takes and holds an edge very well. I wouldn't trade my cheaper BullDog Seahorse for four of those Case stainless ones. Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that. The bigger blade on the Case knife will do a lot though but I was really disappointed in the performance of the smaller ones.
 
Uh... I'm pretty good at making wood chips. Or toothpicks. Or hotdog sticks. And every now and then if I'm not paying attention, I can do a pretty good job of whittling fingers.
 
ballcage.jpg


That's a picture of my first ballcage I did oh about 6 months ago, took me a little under 4 hours. Since I've made about 10 of them, fun stuff!
 
I have done a few faces, but always just gave em away...

considering we just chopped down and removed the cherry tree behind the house in the last couple weeks, I have plenty to choose from.

Might have to go pull in a couple feet.
 
I'm another guy who just makes a pointy object out of another pointy object. I just cut all of the bark off the stick and then start making 2 spear points.... It's a good time killer. I use my military, my cricket, or my endura...
 
Speaking of which.. What is a good overall whittler? I know that most prefer carbon steel, so what would be suggested for a good overall slipjoint whittler?
I was looking at some Case, but they are all trusharp stainless.(that I saw) :(
 
Temper said:
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. :)
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I look for a stick about 1" in diameter and I whittle faces, Little Easter island heads.
 
Temper said:
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
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You're not a freak, you're a minimalist. Look up Elsworth Kelly.
 
Wow, I didn't expect to see so many replies. I must admit I have gone and ordered one of the new Boker Carbon slippies :o I just couldnt resist :). I use a Case at the moment, the CV holds an edge superbly once you thin it down from the factory original. I have noticed (but others have disagreed) that the Case stuff pits easily. This may very well be the humidity here in Japan, but I was a little surprised.

A pal came round last night with a load of beautifully seasoned Birch and Beech. I think I am going to make some nice chop sticks. :D
 
I've been a whittler and carver for a long time. I like several knives for this hobby.

Here are some of my favorites from the past up to present not necessarily in any order of preference just as I think of them..

1)The older Case Congress four blade knives with the CV steel.

2) The Bull Dog Seductress (aka seahorse whittler pattern)

3) The take apart knife from Bull Dog in 440C steel

4) Any old Swiss Army knife has worked fine on many projects but I prefer the locking blade ones of the old Wenger for this.

5) The Carving Jack by Flex Cut.

6) Marbles Tear Drop Spear and Pen blade folder. (these old Marbles were 1095 steel. )

7) Marbles Seahorse whittler (if you can find any)

8) My own hand made WhittleJack folder with a Wharncliff blade.

9) Fallkniven U2

10) Spyderco Delica

11) Spyderco Calypso Jr.

I've carved and whittled with all of these and any of them work fine. The multi blade knives with different shaped blades and points are going to allow you more versatility though.
 
STR,
I've looked at the Carving Jack by Flexcut...looks very interesting. Worth the money? Can you give me some specific insight?
 
Temper said:
Wow, I didn't expect to see so many replies. I must admit I have gone and ordered one of the new Boker Carbon slippies :o I just couldnt resist :). I use a Case at the moment, the CV holds an edge superbly once you thin it down from the factory original. I have noticed (but others have disagreed) that the Case stuff pits easily. This may very well be the humidity here in Japan, but I was a little surprised.

A pal came round last night with a load of beautifully seasoned Birch and Beech. I think I am going to make some nice chop sticks. :D
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I have a Boker 4 blade congress. If you are getting the ones with the dark plastic scales that look like jigged bone prepare to be disapointed The blades will be great but the scales and bolsters are lacking. There were rough spots on the bolsters of mine. I rubbed them out with 400 then 600 grit wet dry paper then buffed them with white compound. The scales just look cheap!
 
For those who buy wood and don't just use stuff they find, where do you buy it and what kind do you prefer?
 
Ryan8 said:
For those who buy wood and don't just use stuff they find, where do you buy it and what kind do you prefer?
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Craft stores like Michael's sell blocks of basswood. It carves real nice so does northern white cedar like they use in fence pickets.
 
When I first got my Carvin' Jack I was disappointed because the blades can be pushed down when closing and they mess up the lock real good requiring a tool to get ahold of one blade so you can lift up the rest to make the lock bar reseat. Hard to explain, you'll see what I mean if you buy one.

However, this is really the only draw back and you learn to live with it and what not to do to make it happen repeatedly. The blades are all a very good steel for carving, and the knife is very convenient to have on you over a whole bag of knives or a wrap. It is really good for hiking or camping and traveling.

I really have grown to like it a lot. It is very capable of doing more than most of the people that use it that is for sure. Don't be fooled by the compromise that it is a folder. It is actually the same exact tools Flex Cut makes in fixed blades only made for fitting in this folder.

The entire package is well thought out. You get a strop, some of the flex cut gold polish compound and instructions on how to carve and sharpen that are very well done.

I have found that one of my locks on the one tool is not as trustworth as the others and I could probably have it covered under a warranty but it is not that big of a deal to me. It is a tool I don't use much so to me it isn't worth worrying about.

Personally it is a great knife and it does indeed work well. A bit pricey maybe but it does keep a good edge and it comes with enough to get even a green novice started in the right direction.

STR
 
I whittled a small WSK for my nephew(He's 6).I once made a knife out of whalebone that I found on the beach.It has a bitchen edge too.
 
samhain73 said:
Speaking of which.. What is a good overall whittler? I know that most prefer carbon steel, so what would be suggested for a good overall slipjoint whittler?
I was looking at some Case, but they are all trusharp stainless.(that I saw) :(
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The Shrade Old Timer med stockman is a great whittler. The sheepsfoot blade is the one you'll likely use most, but the clip is good for getting deep and the spey good for doing curves and rounding.
 
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