“Other Knives” is a term coined by the Wood Bee Carver to name the carving knives made for personal use. In 2020 several of these knives were made for carving miniatures that required smaller blades. Salvaged blades from old pocket knives were used in the process of inserting a wire in the tang hole of the blade, twisting the wire into a tail that was inserted into a brass tube that was then filled with epoxy to solidify the assembly to be inserted into a hole in a wooden handle filled with epoxy. When the epoxy was cured into a solid assembly, the handle was carved to shape and the blade was shaped and sharpened into a functional carving knife.
The knife in the photo of Other Knives for Miniatures above indicated with the four (<<<<) needed to be repaired due to the breaking of the blade. Utilizing the same handle required the portion of the handle that housed the inserted brass tube/blade be cut off. The next step was to repeat the assembly process of the twisted wire in the tang of the blade, inserted into a copper tube that was long enough to go through a one inch wood block and a half inch into the old handle with epoxy solidifying the entire assembly. The photo below document that process with the final photo revealing the refurbished knife in its “ready to carve” condition. Additional information on this process can be viewed by clicking on OTHER KNIVES FOR MINIATURES.
The Wood Bee Carver has always been fascinated with whittling and knives since childhood and has blended these interests into a lifelong enjoyment of shaping a piece of wood using a sharp knife as well as making knives for the Whittle-Carving process. A part of this enjoyment has been searching at flea markets, yard sales and antique stores for old pocket knives, junk knives and antique knives that could be salvaged to be transformed into carving knives. The key was to find knife blades that had the functional purpose of being salvaged, reshaped and sharpened into a blade suitable for carving purposes and not for collectible value.
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The Wood Bee Carver has always been “tinkering” since childhood play activity explored the activity of discovering to make things to fulfill curiosity of making things for play. Pocket knives were the tools of play through whittling and creative making whatever imagination guided to make into existence. Once in an old cross road’s country store the observation was made behind the counter of a wooden handled knife hanging on a nail that had been cobbled together using a pocket knife blade inserted into a wooden stick for a make shift knife of necessity. That idea made a home in the mind of this tinkering youth to use that idea someday. So, it was from childhood play came the tinkering with making “Other Knives” for carving purposes by salvaging usable blade material to be inserted into a wooden handle. Blades rescued from old broken or worn out pocket knives have found a new home in the “Other Knives” as well as other suitable metal material that could be utilized for a knife blade.
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From time to time there comes an inner creative urge to the Wood Bee Carver to tinker again with making Other Knives for personal use utilizing rescued pocket knife blades. The process includes reshaping the blades into experimental shapes to enhance the Whittle-Carving experience as well as shaping the handles. Here is the latest results of this modification urge.
From time to time there comes an inner creative urge to the Wood Bee Carver to tinker again with making Other Knives for personal use utilizing rescued pocket knife blades. The process includes reshaping the blades into experimental shapes to enhance the Whittle-Carving experience as well as shaping the handles, many of which have been modified from broken knives. Here is the latest results of this modification urge.
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The stuff we learn as a kid and stored in our memories become the benchmark of experience that influences some of the things we do throughout our lifetime. When we enter the Twilight Zone of our advanced years we tend to reflect upon those memories to give a sense of where we have come from on our journey of living.
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The Wood Bee Carver has been known to have carved miniatures as one expression of Whittle-Carving of using only knives to carve. Here are seven recent carvings of two inch miniatures that are now on display at Peter Engler Designs in Branson, MO.
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The Old Carver’s Knife Law:” One knife is dandy; two knives are handy and three knives are never enough.”
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