What have you been whittling with your traditionals?

[Heathenhymnal]

Decided to try carving a pumpkin.

 

[JM2]

Decided to try carving a pumpkin.

View attachment 1971937

How’s ya hollow it out?

 

[Heathenhymnal]

How’s ya hollow it out?

Painfully slowly with the main blade. Oh and I did enlist the help of my Pocket Carver's tiny little wharncliffe blades for the deepest, smallest areas of the mouth.

 

[kyhunt]

Decided to try carving a pumpkin.

View attachment 1971937

That’s just me plain cool. I’m going to go back and read the whole thread.

Through the years about the only thing I whittled is pointed sticks. Once I did a very rough spoon. On another occasion a heart for my wife while me and my son were on a camping/survival trip.

Apart from that pointy sticks. I’m actually glad this thread was bumped up. I actually was looking at a book online the other day about whittling with a sak.

 

[kyhunt]

I just went through this thread. Some very impressive work.

 

[Rufus1949]

Decided to try carving a pumpkin.

View attachment 1971937

Beautiful knife, great carving...will there be a candle involved here?

 

[Heathenhymnal]

That’s just me plain cool. I’m going to go back and read the whole thread.

Through the years about the only thing I whittled is pointed sticks. Once I did a very rough spoon. On another occasion a heart for my wife while me and my son were on a camping/survival trip.

Apart from that pointy sticks. I’m actually glad this thread was bumped up. I actually was looking at a book online the other day about whittling with a sak.

It's a fantastic hobby in my opinion. It's not super hard to learn with a little practice and you can usually go as simple and rugged or detailed and difficult as you want. Plus it's such a great way to just sit down and clear your head for a bit and just focus on something creative. Also I love that it's something I can do just about anywhere as long as I have a little chunk of wood and a pocket knife.

Haha actually I was thinking it would be cool to drill one out and put a candle in it but I can't convince myself a wooden candle holder won't end in a house fire lol.

 

[dantzk8]

XO pattern.

Dan.

 

[CityFinn]

A little spoon

 

[dantzk8]

Dan.

 

[Jeff123]

Swiss Army Knife and Whittling by Jeff, on Flickr

 

[Dan1892]

I've been working on some various ornaments, carved with the main blade on the pocket carver, but I've also been using a gouge to put texture into mustaches and beards.

 

[kyhunt]

Some wonderful carvings. Please excuse my ignorance, but I’m going to ask anyhow.

Most of y’all that carve, do y’all use just any old piece of wood that you find or do y’all buy a specific kind?

 

[Jeff123]

Most of y’all that carve, do y’all use just any old piece of wood that you find or do y’all buy a specific kind?

I'm pretty new to whittling, but I just use whatever I find. I've heard basswood is supposed to be a good choice though.

 

[JM2]

Most folks use basswood. I don’t carve much. I like whittling. I reckon whittling ought to be done with a pocket knife. I also like using a scrounged piece of wood.

 

[yablanowitz]

Basswood is nice, soft enough to carve easily, hard enough to take detail, grain straight enough to be pretty predictable. Random scraps and sticks can teach you a lot about the value of those things. That said, I've used a lot of things. The topper of this cane is a chunk of pecan that I cut off a tree in dad's yard shortly before he passed away.

 

[buckthorn]

High-moisture ("green") wood is easier to carve than wood that has dried. Found wood can be delightful to transform but be careful that it doesn't contain any grit.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I've always been a proponent of "found wood" because you learn a lot without investing anything into it.
Found wood can also be scraps of 2x4.

 

[kyhunt]

Thank y’all for the advice.

 

[JM2]

Walnut sure is a fine whittling wood.