whittling

M

mashduck

Joined
Aug 21, 2006
Messages
104
Hey guys, I want to take up whittling?? any suggestions? I have several knives I can use, I also heard that Basswood, is the way to start, I guess I need info on books, and were to get basswood here in Alabama, any help is sure nice.
Regards
Mike
 
Whittling is a great traditional pasttime, Walt Garrison was a whittling spokesperson for Schrade. With your indulgence, I'll see about getting this moved to the traditional forum. Why? Because I remember seeing a good thread there a while back where even some of the moderators were showing their whittling projects and giving pointers.

Michael
 
really you can use any knife you want to...as long as u are comfortable with it in ur hand..that is key..i have seen people use little SAK's and have seen people use a bowie obviously they used diffrent grips and styles...but to each their own...i tend to use any wood i find that is decent...i also tend not to make anything to large or crazy in details...im not that good by any means..just like to do it when camping or hiking or something outdoor. i use it to relax and have an accomplishment in the end. i also tend to either give them away rather quickly or burn them in fire..also i think part or the stress relief... there are also many websites out there and books if u want to learn more...
 
I'm sure basswood is best, but poplar and fir aren't to bad if you have some lying around it's good enough to practice on,I like a SAK for rough work, good old Case Stockman for more blade options. I posted my first attempts on a ball and cage awhile back, lot of fun and not as hard as you'd think.
 
I like dry basswood and birch for chisel type carving, but I like green or semi dry willow and birch for whittling...

I started out with making roosters;

IMGP1058.jpg


roosters are fun, simple, and small branches are plentiful when you slip and lop its head off ;) One nice thing about green wood, is it is easier to cut... and being easier to cut, you learn to be more careful (like after slipping and lopping the head off your first 4 roosters; I should know. ;) )

And I found it an easy way to get comfortable with movements and cuts.. taught by this book;
http://www.amazon.com/Whittling-Twi...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219479249&sr=8-1

G.
 
Thats a good looking Rooster Tigger :thumbup: If I tried one everyone would say "Thats a nice looking... well... ummmmm... Yep":D
 
Moving this to the "general forum" since "whittling" (as a topic or discipline) is outside the parameters of the "traditional forum".

In my occasional whittling efforts I use a variety of tools ranging from purpose built carving tools (Warren) to several different Mora straight (and curved) fixed blades, to congress knives by Case and Boker.

I'd recommend getting books by E.J. Tangerman: Whittling And Woodcarving, and a couple others about twig and branch carving by Chris Lubkemann.
 
Last edited:
I like to use SAKs when whittling. The highly polished and thin blades cut and carve so nicely on Basswood. They are easily sharpened and so many models to chose from. I use a Huntsman and like the thickness of this knife for the comfort factor. I also like a Gardener model for it very thin and one sided grind which carves very well. I also use Small Kershaw ENRG-2 and some Case and Eye Brand pocket knives. Mainly, knives with sharp thin blades with a satin or polished finish. I use my Ultimate Caper by Tom Krein as It is very thin and very SHARP. And last but not least a Small Classic Sebenza that was reground by Tom Krein. My carvings want when any awards but it is very relaxing and enjoyable. Have fun.

RKH
 
Try a couple of sessions with different blade sizes and types. See what is comfortable and works best. I like to have a narrow blade to make my "pinch" grip more comfortable. I like Queen medium stockmans, and their Congress pattern (2 blade) is really comfortable also.
 
Basswood is commonly used but soft maple, tulip tree [tulip poplar] and black tupelo [here called peppridge !] are similar.
A good blade would be made of A-2 like the BRKT knives.This steel is used in high end wood chisels and hand plane blades.
 
All you need to get started is a knife, a stick, a whet stone, plus a couple of bandaids and butterflies.

There are dedicated/designated Whittler pattern knives, and they usually do a very good job, with 2 small blades and one large that are usually designed especially for whittling and carving. Case, Boker, and others make them. Pretty much any knife can be used, though. I like small blades sticking out of decent sized handles for most of my whittling. The most-used blades on my whittlers have always been the pen or small clip. I have also used a Peanut. The blades are the right dimensions for what I like to do, but the handle is a bit small for extended whittling sessions. Works well, though, and is very convenient to slip out of the watchpocket of my jeans and make some shavings.

Wood -- I've been using a lot of cottonwood lately. It is plentiful where I live, and the trees are always shedding branches, so getting some without carrying a saw or axe is simple. Just take the dog for a walk by the river, and I've got plenty of sticks to play with. I also like sugarpine for easy whittling.

I start my cub scouts off with whittling soap. It's even easier than a nice dry piece of cottonwood, and doesn't require much hand strength to put a knife through, so an 8 or 9 year old whose primary daily physical activity consists of moving a joystick around can get used to the movements pretty easily, and then we move to wood. (I aim to raise up a bunch of boys who think that video games are a waste of time, who would rather be in the woods with a pocketknife and a dog. :D )

Keep whatever knife you're using plenty sharp. If it gets a bit dull and slips, that's when you get to use the bandaids.
 
These are all such great suggestions one and all. . Looking forward to Cougar's next post.. Ice Tiger I love your little rooster project!. Very :cool:!

I started my kids off with whittling on bars of bars of soap, until they got the hang of it and then moved on to soft woods and then harder woods.

I can't resist posting my favorite knife for whittling which is a W.R. Case Seahorse Whittler pattern that I just recently exhibited in the Traditional forum in another recent thread..

000_1080.jpg
 
Guess what I do is wood carving. While I have used pocket knives for whittling -- an old beat up Imperial clamshell with all the celluloid off one side had the small pen sharpened so much it worked great for tight places in my first project. But I've used big old folding hunters for removing a lot of wood fast and knocking off branch stubs (<<did I just make up a word??)... But I've also used the specialized carving knives -- small blade with wood handles. As a matter of fact, I got a set of 12 for Christmas that I haven't used yet. Glad I saw this thread, I'm going to have to get back to carving/whittling. Wood? I made a walking stick for my wife out of a young willow that died in the front yard. Cut off the root bowl and turned it upside down. So the head was harder and kinda part of the base of the tree. Lower levels were more soft. I used knives, chisels, a dremel, and a lot of sandpaper on that project!! Later, I turned what was left of the root bowl into a kinda surrealistic wood sculpture for my teenage son. It has fingers with nails, snakes with heads and forked tongues, and entwined ladies' legs and rumps. Root bowls offer a lot for the imagination to work on. I guess that. . .. opportunity . . . . to look at a hunk of wood, see something in it, and bring it out is the second best thing in carving/whittling. The first is what so many people have mentioned . . . the relaxation and sense of calm it brings. Shoot I amazed myself. I figured I'd get real frustrated if i cut too deep or to much, or lopped something off I meant to keep...figured I'd smash it on the floor and stomp off. But I didn't. Just calmly figured out how to adapt it. Wood is very forgiving. There were nights when I was working on the night stick that it got to be 2 in the morning before I knew it. Amazing to get that focused and still feel so relaxed. Yeah I gotta find a hunk of wood....
Barry
 
I like whittling, too, and the only thing I can add is stay away from knives ground on the wrong side. If you're right handed, a chisel grind with the bevel on the correct side is a great whittling tool that bites into the wood and is easy to sharpen. It's been discussed many times on this board, but some knife makers put the bevel on the left side to spiff up the looks of the knife. And though this works out great for south paws, it's horrible for everyone else.

One thing I'd like to see in larger locking knives is a small retractable blade that could be used like a thin blade on a Swiss Army Knife&#8212;a blade that could do finer work. The point of a strong knife can create holes and recesses in wood, but it can't do finer work. As far as I know, no one's done that.
 
Thank you all!!! this is super nice. I have a queen whittler and an older schrade whittler style, that is a very nice seahorse sunnyd, I like the wharnclif blade a lot! thanks all
Mike.......got to find some wood
 
NAFix,

Pictures please!!. That root-ball carving and the walking stick would be good inspiration.

><> ~ ><> ~ ><>

mashduck,

Your welcome for the photo and I wish you really well on your whittling projects. Perhaps you could post a picture or two as well!:thumbup:

Best,

Anthony
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top