What is a good knife to whittle with?

[B Hess]

I want to start whittling. Maybe try a ball in cage. What is a good knife to whittle with. It would seem that something with a good point to it would be best.

 

[popedandy]

A stockman or a whittler. You'll use the short blades for most of the work.

 

[thatotherguy]

check the "what's the best pattern for a new whittler" thread on this page. Very handy, and resurrected for just this purpose.

 

[mnblade]

I always enjoy whittling with my carbon-steel, U.S.-made 34OT Old Timer stockman. Still widely available on that big auction site.

-- Mark

 

[LKJW]

Whatever's in your pocket. Kidding. Yeah, stockman or whittler, but a good whittler can do amazing things with any blade. I am not a good whittler, myself.

 

[HuntBomb]

I've been whittling for about a year now, and I find that a number of different knives are useful for doing so.
Traditional slipjoints work well, with their thin, small, pointy blades. But, you have to watch because they will bite if slip while putting pressure on the spine of the blade.
Locking folders also work great for removing more wood and the thicker blade provides more surface area for you to put more pressure on the spine.
I like using my Spyderco Millitary/Para-Millitary and almost any GEC or Case.
My first "Ball in Cage" was carved using my BM 51 and a GEC Calf Roper.
Gouges make the project much easier, but aren't nearly as fulfilling as using a traditional slipjoint.
You will also cut yourself....ALOT. Invest in band-aids, neosporin, and wound closure strips.

 

[LKJW]

Or wear gloves!

 

[Campbellclanman]

Or wear gloves!

Or shoes eh Dan

 

[goodeyesniper]

well, my SBJ treated me pretty well on my first whittling project. Which happened to be a Ball In Cage. I also used the small pen blade on my SAK hiker for some bits where I needed a bit more belly, granted the pen blade on the SBJ worked too, my SAK was just sharper at the time

 

[sturzi]

For the coarse stuff like initial shaping and cutting/prying out the first holes for the ball in cage, I like a locking folder or small fixed blade (usually a Sebenza, it's very suitable for cutting wood with it's thin hollow grind).
Then for the finer stuff I prefer a whittler over a stockman. The thin, very pointy wharncliffe and coping blade works by far the best for me. And a small blade with belly (pen/clip) is useful as well.

Personally I love the GEC #57 and #62.

But really anything works. Once I only had an Izula, and I was really surprised how well it worked with its THICK and not very pointy blade.

 

[LKJW]

Or shoes eh Dan

For sure! Walking again though. Nice whittling.

 

[Acetylene]

I use a Case stockman. I find the front porch and the Case go hand in hand. The time and troubles juhst go away.

 

[eccvets]

mora is good

 

[John L]

I have made several single and two bladed knives for a guy who whittles. He likes a very strong spring..a nail breaker..and likes wharncliff bladdes for most everything. He likes the blades to have either a flat grind to nothing or a very slight convex grind....no heavy bevels. Makes sense if you ever see an old knife that has been sharpened to almost nothing. It looks like a whittlin knife.

 

[kamagong]

..and likes wharncliff bladdes for most everything. He likes the blades to have either a flat grind to nothing or a very slight convex grind....no heavy bevels. Makes sense if you ever see an old knife that has been sharpened to almost nothing. It looks like a whittlin knife.

Sounds like a wise man.

- Christian

 

[rinos]

i started whittling with different SAK-s ,but when i got GEC Jack with wharncliffe blade,it fast become only folder i use for that,(and fixed scandi knives )

like Mora sloyd

 

[TLARbb]

I think you need a straight edged blade as one blade and you need to chose the knife size according to the size of the project. In fact, you might want to rough with a bit larger knife and and add detail with a smaller one. I think these knives make pretty good recreational whittlers:

but my favorite whittler pattern is the "carpenter's whittler" in a stockman frame as made by Camillus for Remington and others:

As always in traditional whittlers there is an almost infinite variety to chose from and several different sizes. Case makes a medium stockman with clip, pen, and sheepsfoot blades that would be a pretty good whittler.

Here's the white delrin Sparxx version of it:

Ed J

 

[Will Power]

I was wondering if the Queen Canoe I have in D2 would be any good for whittling? Its master is a large and thick Spear whilst the minor blade is a broad and very thin Pen blade. Good grippy scales in WCSB too.

Regards, Will

 

[linux_author]

i have the Queen Cutlery whittler w/D2, and to be honest, it wasn't sharp out of the box and took a bit of work to get an acceptable edge... on the other hand, my Buck whittler ('309' on the blade - made CONUS, but came w/a CHICOM-made wooden box), and a $5 Imperial (Providence, RI) Barlow are precision tools that put the Queen to shame...

quite disappointing, considering...

 

[StuntDouble]

I've had pretty good luck using a Case Small Texas Jack and a modified Victorinox Tinker.

That Case medium stockman is very tempting. I especially like it in the dark red bone.