Whittling hopefully leading to some carving

Rob Keeble

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GTA Ontario Canada
I plan on making a how to on the tools I used for this but figured I need to get back into posting so this is my start at whittling and beginning to carve.

My wife and I now empty nesters (well kinda :D or wishful) have been giving thought to things we can do together now kids are not our main focus.

Also with having a travel trailer we want something to do around the campsite other than walks etc.

So believe it or not guys Linda actually came up with carving. I jumped at the opportunity and the rest is history.

But first to test my dear wife's desires and ensure they were not merely inline with trying to please me I set up for us to have trial go at some carving.

Did not want to spend loads of loot on tools so made some which I will post a tips sheet about for others to try. Suffice to say my carving tools cost less than $10 and that includes blades bought from Lee Valley.

Anyhow found a video on You tube on how to carve a wood spirit and I quiet liked the guys whole manner so downloaded it.

Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxG3oSddSyc

Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_caeiz6cO8

Got some blocks of bass wood together around 1.5 inch square and over this past weekend while away at Pinery Provincial Park we sat down one afternoon and got stuck in.

I had planned to try draw in some friends that went along, by whittling a whistle from some drift wood I found on the lake shore the day before we started. But they did not bite. They had a half hearted go but said its just not their thing.

Any enough of the blabber here are my first attempts at chipping away a whistle and a spirit carving. Don't expect much this was only a hour or so effort.

firstwoodspirit.jpgwhittledwhistle.jpg


Good thing is Linda is hooked and keen and I get to buy some nice wood carving tools to really get into it. Will look to pick up a set of Pfeil carving chisels when I go to USA next by road.


Thank you Toni for the carving inspiration. :thumb:
 
Looks pretty good for a first go around. A little more refinement on the spirit and it'd be about all you could want.

One caution is that (for me) whittling tools are a bit different than carving tools. I prefer to be at a bench where I can lock things down a little more for support and the whittling tools are more like knives where you can "free hand". There is obviously some overlap.

I've really enjoyed this book on whittling: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486209652/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
although I honestly haven't really done nearly as much as I'd hoped to :eek: Maybe once I'm no longer fully employed.
 
Thanks for the book recommendation Ryan. Yeah i recognise the hand held versus getting it held down aspect. :) . This was just to get into at the campsite. Actually i took a couple of clamps with to clamp the wood to the picnic table provided. :)

My future carving endeavours will be clamped down. So will Lindas after my observations of her with a knife in her hand. :eek:

Darren i will have a look at those when i am next in the store. What are they like for holding an edge?

I got sent a couple of books for inspiration by our resident carver in Spain. :) He has great expectations of me. :)

But this whittling is sure entertaining as long as you follow the knife holding techniques.

Oh another Thank you goes out to Christine, for sending me the chip carving knife for Halloween way back when. That really kicked off the interest.

My initial goal is to be able to carve some shells for decoration at least to the equivalent standard to that of what my eldest son did when he was in school. This is of course part of a father son contest on the side. :)
 
Darren i will have a look at those when i am next in the store. What are they like for holding an edge?

They've held up pretty well, I think I paid around $60 for the entire set about 7-8 years ago. I've only really used them for carving bass wood or minor cuts on popular and cherry, but held up as well as any of my Pfeil and flexcut chisels.
 
When we go on camping trips, I always take a little bag full of whittling tools. I'm astoundingly bad at whittling, but I don't let it stop me for a second.

You are way ahead of me skill wise. Mine look like something a small child would make...:D
 
flexcut chisels.

So I got a couple of flexcuts on sale a couple of years back and honestly I haven't been exceptionally enthused. I suspect it may be as much a point of method more than anything else (its me, not the tool) but I found the "flex" somewhat annoying and hard to control and they seemed somewhat more difficult to sharpen than some of my other chisels (I really like carving chisels near razor sharp, and these seemed a bit more difficult to get there for some reason I haven't quantified, its possible that I just haven't spent enough initial quality time on them).

I am curious if others feel the same way or like them a lot and if the latter what sort of carving you do and how you sharpen them?
 
I've got a set of the flex cuts. I suspect it's probably me, but I have trouble sharpening just about anything. Especially if it's not a flat straight line. Chisels and Knifes, I've got jigs and methods to do them, but carving tools are another story.

I tend to use a strop though to keep them sharp, once I manage to get a sharp edge on them.
 
Rob good job on your first go round. :thumb: I have a few cheep sets, and a set of greenlee. Not really sure how they compare to anything else, but for what i do they wook ok. i know if i was better at sharping they would work a lot better.:eek: Got these greenlee from my father in law years ago, so really don't know if they are consider good, bad or indifferent. I like them though.:)001 (800x579).jpg002 (800x618).jpg
 
(I really like carving chisels near razor sharp, //snip

Hey Ryan... What do you mean "near razor sharp?" They should be razor sharp!:eek: How can you like them if they are not? On the other hand, as far as I have seen ( I don't own any) flexcut gouges are thought to be used single handed, so the way to control them is pushing with your palm and controlling with your thum and index finger while the other three rest on the wood as if they were your left hand. Or at least this is how I would do it. You can use your index and middle finger of your left hand ocasionally to control. Hope this helps.
 
There you guy go, mention any form of woodworking and you guys go right for the tools!:D

I love to whittle, especially when sitting around the campfire. I cut a cherry seedling off my property over 20 years ago for a walking stick. I also start whittling on it and still am occasionally. Kind of like a totem pole, I just keep working down the stick. But like painting, I am no artist. All my carving is done with a Buck knife by wife bought me on our first Christmas after we got married. That stick is about the only thing the kids and grandkids argue over who gets it when I die. I got news for them all, do they think that I won't take my walking stick on that hike also?

Rob, your carving skills already exceed mine. You and your wife picked a very relaxing hobby.
 
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Hey Ryan... What do you mean "near razor sharp?" They should be razor sharp!:eek: How can you like them if they are not?

:D Hedging my statements as to the limits of my sharpening abilities. I don't claim to get all my chisels "razor razor" sharp, but it there is essentially any effort required to cut, then its to dull.

On the other hand, as far as I have seen ( I don't own any) flexcut gouges are thought to be used single handed, so the way to control them is pushing with your palm and controlling with your thum and index finger while the other three rest on the wood as if they were your left hand. Or at least this is how I would do it. You can use your index and middle finger of your left hand occasionally to control. Hope this helps.
I've been trying to use them mostly as shown here (although imho that fellow is a little to confident in the ability of his glove to stop the blade):
I think I may just need to focus more on using the forward digit (thumb/forefinger) to keep the "flex" part down. Either way I generally prefer my stiffer chisels, which "feel" more natural so far.

For me - for straight "whittlin" its hard to beat the convenience of a good pocket knife; I have an old one I got at a yard sale for $5 that does the job just dandy. Its definitely worth learning some basic knife skills so you can sit down and carve up something real quick anyplace you go without needing a whole bundle of tools.
 
Your idea is great. I used to carve while sitting around on camping trips. But, really, your first endeavor will be to define the difference between carving and whittling. It is one of those never ending arguments. Some say whittling is the constant removal of chips with no real goal. Carving, they say, is trying to actually make something. I liked to make animals and would take small rough outs I had pre-made at home. Hound dogs are fun as are many other things. Carving pick-up wood can have it's rewards but often has dirt and grit that is hard on tools. I stick with clean basswood. BTW, avoid those real El Cheapo carving tools. I have seen many that have very short tangs. That means when using hand pressure on the tool the tang can bust through and send your hand into the very sharp edge. Enjoy. We need pics.
 
Well a little update from Burning woods....got my first commission even though i tried to assure the boss that i genuinely had only done one spirit :)
Brent handed me an hiking stick that had been on of his christmas trees in the past. Asked that i put a spirit in it.

Cool thing is ...out came just about every whittling tool u can imagine. :)
But i think he was up to something when he pulled out the pocket knife combo carving set.

Used that and here is the resul..
qu2yba5a.jpg

Here is the happy customer..
a5y3yqeb.jpg


Of course when you get a bunch of techies together we then began discussing options on putting mini red leds in the eyes and hollowing out the center of the stick to hold batteries. :)
Purists dont worry we were only talking lol and thinking this would be an upgrade....but it came to and end when spots got considered. Of course there was some other fluids involved lubricating the discussion. :)


Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
 
Old Hickory knives

Looks like you are off to a mighty fine start.

I'm an ex pro whittler myself! Hung insulation and sheet metal in the petro-chem plants and since most of the insulation responded well to shaping with a knife an Old Hickory boning knife was on the tool list for all insulators. I had a handful of those but I also had my favorite, an Old Hickory butcher knife reshaped to the boning knife configuration but about an inch and a half longer blade. The great knife maker Robert Dozier did the work, I bought the beer for afterwards.

That was the real reason for posting in the thread, to mention reshaping Old Hickory knives for those that like to carve with knives. Good high carbon steel, sharpen easily, hold an edge moderately well. When I tried my hand at chip carving I went and got a handful of Old Hickory knives and reshaped them to suit. Discovered my usual lack of talent and patience, and that blood all over wood makes it sticky and hard to whittle. I think I will just continue to admire other people's carvings.

Hu
 
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