Whittling (With Traditional Knives)

Status
Not open for further replies.
kamagong

kamagong

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Messages
10,935
I'm thinking of trying my hand at making a ball-in-cage. I heard that a good wood to use is basswood, but I haven't been able to find any locally. I chanced upon a woodworking shop nearby though and stopped in this morning. No basswood blocks, but they had an assortment of other woods. I saw olivewood, cocobolo, claro walnut, ebony, desert ironwood, pau ferro, lignum vitae, rosewood and a few other others that I can't remember.

I picked up 2x2x6 block of cocobolo. I have no experience carving this wood, in fact I have no experience carving apart from whittling a few fuzz sticks and making the occasional walking stick. I know cocobolo is considered a hardwood, but this block looks pretty nice and I think it should make for a handsome ball-in-cage. How hard is cocobolo to work with? Am I being daft and overly ambitious? Should I just save myself the aggravation and wait until I find a suitable piece of basswood?

Do you guys have any tips for a whittling newbie? I'd appreciate any help you can provide.

Here is the knife I'll be using for now, my Eye Brand stockman.

eyebrandstockman.jpg


I'm going to pick up a whittler one of these days. I'm looking at the Queen half-whittler and the Case Swayback in CV. I'll probably get both.

Thanks in advance for the help.

- Christian
 
You should be able to do it - if you have the patience of Job, or maybe a bit more. I usually buy basswood mini carving blocks whenever I get near a Hobby Lobby or Michael's (arts and crafts supply). I've done a dozen or so ball-in-cage pieces, and I don't think I'd want to try cocobolo yet.

DSCF0422.jpg


DSCF0329.jpg


DSCF0129.jpg


DSCF0094.jpg


If you like, I can lay out a single ball in cage on one of the basswood blocks I have and mail it to you.
 
Thanks guys. There's a Michael's nearby. Last time I went in all they had were pine blocks, but hopefully they'll have some basswood.

- Christian
 
Before I found a place that sells Basswood near me (the Woodcraft store), I always used pine. It's not quite as easy to work with as Basswood, but it's pretty good. Pine is a soft wood.
 
Cocobolo is a very pretty wood, but it is also very hard and would be difficult to work and carve.
Personally, I stay clear of it. It has a reputation for generating allergic skin reactions at the highest rate of any of the exotic woods. Sometimes, the allergy doesn't appear immediately.
I have a friend who is a turner, and developed a rash all over his arms from cocobolo.
You are going to need very sharp tools and patience to work the hardwoods you described. Look them up online before buying next time. I have carved a knife handle out of Argentine Lignum Vitae. I didn't have any difficulty with carving, but the aroma does make you light headed. People use Palo Santo, the Argentine lignum vitae, as a form of incense
 
I'll stay away from the cocobolo. No big deal as it only cost a few dollars. I'll keep looking for basswood.

I'm going to use one of my pocketknives. I don't doubt that it's easier to use specialized tools, but I like the do-it-anywhere-with-whatever's-in-your-pocket nature of whittling. The stockman may be a bit large and I really should get a whittler for the small detail work, but I've got the blades on this knife honed to a very nice edge and it'll do for now.

Thanks again.

- Christian
 
The two bigger blocks are basswood, the smaller one is just a piece of 1x1 construction pine.

IMG_4221-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I thought you all would enjoy seeing these pieces, a chain and a "loving spoon".
The chain was done by my late wifes uncle Archie MacLean of Donkin Cape Breton Is. NS. Archie was quite a well known folk artist and was the subject of a CBC tv show called on the road. He was a coal miner all his life and after he became night shift manager he used to sit and whittle all night in his office. He used maple broom handles for most of his chains although he used to carve 12 link chains from wooden match sticks leaving the head on, I swear to god. Anyway, the chain is 18 1/2 inches long and is signed made by Archie MacLean 1983. He used to call chain carving "stretching wood"
this chain was carved for a 16 inch piece of broom handle. The spoon I picked up in a junk store, I believe it is Butternut but could be soft Walnut. Hope you enjoy.

Regards
Robin

5309958325_90c189c1f9.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
5310544758_15bdb224b9.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
5309960133_ff0850780c.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
5310542800_62b69aa987.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
5309956601_06b4d8e5f6.jpg
[/url][/IMG]
 
kamagong said:
That's what I'm talking about! Wonderful work.

- Christian
Click to expand...

Hi Christian

Archie was a great man and a very talented whittler, his chains are some of his simpler work. I wish I had taken pictures of the pieces I saw when visiting years ago. One piece he did was a hanging bible holder, a shelf for the bible about 15 inches square with chains from each corner maybe 10 links attatched to an upper "shelf" which held an exact copy of the church across the road from his home, four more chains from each corner about 3 feet long leading to a turn buckle at the top, all one piece out of one big block of Walnut. A truly amazing piece of folk art. I enjoy the piece very much and feel honoured to have met Archie and spent some time watching his whittle. BTW, he used an old congress with blades ground into very fine hooks and points.

Glad you enjoyed.

Best Regards and all the best in the new year

Robin
 
those look really great. They really put my meager pendant I am working for my girl on shame but on the otherhand I haven't whittled for a decade or generally done much woodwork since high school :D Great works and pictures guys! Thank you for sharing!
 
I do some whittling, using either traditonal folders such as CaseXX blades, or fixed blade scandis. Here's a ball-in-cage rattle I made for a friend's baby. Also, there's a moving shamrock link with the kid's birthdate. (here's a link to my blog post on how I carved it)

PIC-2703.jpg
 
You inspired me to give it a shot, this is my modest first ball in a cage.
IMG_0858.jpg
I cleaned this up a little bit
IMG_0859.jpg
 
Last edited:
I started a piece in October. I'll post a picture later. I was also wondering if anyone else whittled with all the knife owners we have here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top