I have taken up an interest in traditional knives in the last few weeks and it has opened my eyes to some of the amazing things that some people can whittle. I would like to attempt some of the things that I've seen but I want a knife that will do the job well. Any suggestions?
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Whittling knife
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yablanowitz
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Anything sharp enough will work, but I use a Case 6308 a lot.
The GEC Courthouse Whittler also works very well.
The GEC Courthouse Whittler also works very well.
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I'd say to start out with an inexpensive whittler or congress pattern to start off with so that if you don't take to whittling you won't be out too much. I'm thinking a Remington, Bear&Son (if they even have a whittler, haven't looked), or Rough Rider. A good used Case with a bunch of life left in it would be a good choice too.
ETA- make sure that your knife has at least one small sheepsfoot, wharncliff, or coping blade. It's important.
ETA- make sure that your knife has at least one small sheepsfoot, wharncliff, or coping blade. It's important.
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That green bone is killing me. I just received some traditionals and already regret not ordering this one as well.
As for whittling: The most important thing for me is a blade with a pointy tip, and sharpened to an acute angle (don't try whittling anything with a queen factory edge for example). Carving wood isn't very hard on the edges, so they should cut for a long time.
My most used knives are the GEC Courthouse Whittler as well, and the GEC Geppetto Whittler. I love the small coping blades, but that's just personal preference.
Don't worry, I saved the precious knives from their impending doom just in time.
But anything will do really. The bunny was done with an ESEE Izula II, which has none of the aforementioned qualities. Not very refined work, I know, but still passable if nothing else is available
Whittling is a great hobby! As for knife, anything that you can keep really sharp, and doesn't dull instantly will do. It's nice to have a bigger blade for rough work, and smaller ones for fine details, but i'm sure many a fine detailed carving has been done with a relatively large pocket knife, so i don't really think it matters. Get yourself a knife that you can comfortably hold, doesn't sport too large a blade, and that you can keep sharp. Pick up a stick, and whittle! 
(If you really want a suggestion, i'll give you three brand specific ones: Case Peanut, Buck 303 or Queen Whittler. I own all three, and they all work decently well for whittling, though keep in mind a peanut can be on the small side.)
(If you really want a suggestion, i'll give you three brand specific ones: Case Peanut, Buck 303 or Queen Whittler. I own all three, and they all work decently well for whittling, though keep in mind a peanut can be on the small side.)
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I would say the GEC 57 whittlers have the best out of the box whittling performace. They come with very very thin blades that will wittle decently right from the start.
No matter what you go with you really don't want one of the super cheap knives with awful steel.
If you plan to really get going you will be profiling your blades down to crazy thin edges.
With that said, I have found my henckels whittler in a low end stainless to hold extremely thin hair whittling edges very very well even when whittling hard words. I whittle hard woods, the one time I whittled a walnut wood it felt like my knives were melting through butter.
I know this may sound odd but I say get a knife and some hardwood and work it out until the hardwood it shaving away like you are cutting with a lazer. After that you will have a knife you have learned to manipulate and profiled to its max and it and you will kind of chuckle when whittling soft woods.
No matter what you go with you really don't want one of the super cheap knives with awful steel.
If you plan to really get going you will be profiling your blades down to crazy thin edges.
With that said, I have found my henckels whittler in a low end stainless to hold extremely thin hair whittling edges very very well even when whittling hard words. I whittle hard woods, the one time I whittled a walnut wood it felt like my knives were melting through butter.
I know this may sound odd but I say get a knife and some hardwood and work it out until the hardwood it shaving away like you are cutting with a lazer. After that you will have a knife you have learned to manipulate and profiled to its max and it and you will kind of chuckle when whittling soft woods.
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For about the past 10 years I have used my henckels whittler. At first it was quite challenging. Over time I kept at sharpening it on my older arkansas stones. It got better little by little. Then a few years ago when I extensively practiced with belt sanders I ended up having the confidence to reprofile the blades to nearly a full convex zero edge.
Here is a cell pic I just took of my whittler that I have used a LOT
It has a clip, coping and pen blade. I really like this set up.
The 57's came in either clip or warncliffe main blade configurations. The clip has pen and coping secondaries, while the warncliffe has clip and coping secondaries.
I actually prefer the clip 57. Your mileage WILL vary with this though depending on what you intend to whittle.
My henckels will easily outperform any GEC I have, but that is because of the time I took over the years perfecting the blade and edge profiles.
I hope this helps.
Kevin
Here is a cell pic I just took of my whittler that I have used a LOT
It has a clip, coping and pen blade. I really like this set up.
The 57's came in either clip or warncliffe main blade configurations. The clip has pen and coping secondaries, while the warncliffe has clip and coping secondaries.
I actually prefer the clip 57. Your mileage WILL vary with this though depending on what you intend to whittle.
My henckels will easily outperform any GEC I have, but that is because of the time I took over the years perfecting the blade and edge profiles.
I hope this helps.
Kevin
Modoc ED
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This Marshmallow Stick was whittled by the below pictured GEC #79 Montana Whittler. I know - it's hard to believe but I swear, I really did whittle this Marshmallow Stick after much planning and effort.
Pretty niffty whittling I'd say.
Seriously. I don't do much whittling at all but I have this old Camillius Yellow Jacket 72 Y Whittler (Camillus' name for it) that I've used for small whittling task in the past and it works very well. The small coping blade is espicially useful.
Pretty niffty whittling I'd say.
Seriously. I don't do much whittling at all but I have this old Camillius Yellow Jacket 72 Y Whittler (Camillus' name for it) that I've used for small whittling task in the past and it works very well. The small coping blade is espicially useful.
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I really like that one, Ed.
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I used both and I would say they are two completely different knives. Having learned to whittle with a clip blade I think I will always prefer the shape, tip and belly. With that said my impartial answer would be the warncliffe feels much more delicate and I found it much less usefull for heavy work. It aslo wasn't as natural for me to fit my thumb on the back of the warncliffe blade. Again, this could be biased from my uses.
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I mostly work with the tip of the knife for the more detailed work. Therefore, when using the wharncliffe blade, I can hold the knife straighter than with a clip point where I have to hold the knife more at an angle. But there are downsides. When you want to carve convex things or something in a recessed area, the only contact is the very tip of the blade and you can not cut, only scrape or something.
As long as the knife has one blade with some belly it's okay for me. I hope that made at least some sense.
I'd say get a knife which has one of each. If it is a wharncliffe main with a small pen/clip, or a clip main with a small coping/sheepsfoot doesn't matter too much for me, this is just personal preference (I'm just a sucker for a nice wharncliffe). Pretty much any whittler or stockman will do.
You'll see soon enough what you prefer.
PS: For the coarse work I always use a larger folder (blasphemy, I know) or small fixed blade, since I can make bigger cuts with more force and it is more comfortable.
As long as the knife has one blade with some belly it's okay for me. I hope that made at least some sense.
I'd say get a knife which has one of each. If it is a wharncliffe main with a small pen/clip, or a clip main with a small coping/sheepsfoot doesn't matter too much for me, this is just personal preference (I'm just a sucker for a nice wharncliffe). Pretty much any whittler or stockman will do.
You'll see soon enough what you prefer.
PS: For the coarse work I always use a larger folder (blasphemy, I know) or small fixed blade, since I can make bigger cuts with more force and it is more comfortable.
yablanowitz
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I've used the #57 a bit. The main Wharncliffe got used quite a bit, and the small clip secondary saw extensive use as well.
It has probably already been said but my advise is to put the knife in your hand for comfort. Basically, you can whittle with any knife or blade style. The smaller or thinner the knife handle is the quicker your hand will become tired. Blade steel isn't a huge factor either, because again - you can whittle with anything as long as it SHARP. Now for personal preference, I like Case's Humback Whittler for a whittling 'pocket' knife. I do however perfer a wharncliff blade to a clip, but again - that's just personal preference. Two most important factors for 'whittling' knife: 1. must be comfortable in the hand 2. Keep it SHARP, everything else is personal preference. Now if you get serious, then throw all what I said away & let's have another conversation
