yablanowitz
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 9,904
Of course, if you go over to Bernard's forum, he'll tell you that there is no such thing historically, as a "whittler," and it is just a term bandied about by knife collectors that has become the modern definition of knives that carry certain characteristics.
(posts 6 and 9)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/982331-Carpenter-s-Whittler?p=11179156#post11179156
Yep, and historically, there was no such thing as a cellular phone. Now there is, and there is a pattern known as a whittler. He'll just have to deal with the evolutuion of language to encompass new concepts.
I also consider whittling to be a leisure and casual, maybe more spontaneous activity than carving, which I consider planned work, generally with a specific purpose or end product in mind. Of course, we're dealing with semantics here.
Bottom line is that any serious carving will generally require a fixed blade knife, either in the style of the carver diplayed in pukkoman's post, the more common and sometimes cheaper style with round handle, or other styles. I totally agree on the point made by him and also agreed by popedandy. And I think anyone who has taken a blade to wood (or any other material than can be shaped with a blade) with the purpose of creating something out of it will agree as well. I'm not a good or even a frequent carver, but I have a blade like the one shown by pukkoman, and two sets of carving knives with the round handles for when I need to do anything planned or serious, where the expected result is important. I find I have better blade control with them. If I was more skilled I might be able to carve with a folder that felt comfortable; whittler or not.
I have quite a few whittlers, but I've only used four, maybe five, of them for any "whittling". The rest I rotate as general purpose carry knives, because I like the "pattern". And after following Nixelplix's link to Bernard Levin's forum, maybe I should not use the word "pattern" for the whittler, and substitute "style".
So, thanks to Two Dog Man for starting this thread, and to all who have posted their contributions and expanded my knowledge on a "style" I prefer among traditional folders.
Finally to Modoc Ed,
Please excuse my ignorance, but could you point out what is LV4 so I can access a copy, and check it out as you suggest?
Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values, 4th Edition. Yeah, he wrote the book. Literally.