The knives pictured above are left to right: VIPER II, VIPER, DRAGON, SIDE WINDER and SIDE KICK.

The WOOD BEE CARVER has been primarily a knife carver for over forty years and during this journey knife blades and handles have been developed through experimentation of trial and error discoveries of what carved the best.  A curved cutting edge produces a slicing cut and is the most efficient in reaching into areas that a straight cutting edge cannot reach. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver and ever since boy hood days of whittling with an old pocket knife, the knife, any knife, remains a favorite. Even though the WOOD BEE CARVER uses and highly recommends knives made by Helvie Knives, Bud Murray Knives, Dave Lyons Knives, and Dunkle Knives all who make knives designed by the WOOD BEE CARVER, yet from time to time OTHER KNIVES are also used.

OTHER KNIVES are knives the WOOD BEE CARVER has made for his own personal use by using old pocket knife blades to reshape and re-handle into a carving knife. OTHER KNIVES come from the mind of the “Tinker Thinker” whose mind explores the day dream adventures of tinkering with knife blade shapes for making experimental carving knives. Read the rest of this entry »

Most carvers have more than one carving knife and if the truth would be known, we carvers have in unquenchable thirst for accumulating carving knives.  Among the several carving knives that a carver uses, which one is a cut above all the others?  Which knife maker makes the better knife is sometimes a question asked as the search goes on for the best knife. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver who carves in a Whittle-Carving style. The knife is the favorite carving tool and the favorite knife is the one in the carver’s hand at the time. The side effect of this love affair with knives is that there is a passion for collecting and reshaping and refurbishing knives to be used in the carving process. Read the rest of this entry »

Wood carvers of every level of experience soon come to have and use their favorite carving tool.  Old pocket knives reshaped and sharpened have long been the favorites for the WOOD BEE CARVER.  Ever since a boy growing up on a farm three miles south of Poneto, Indiana, a pocket knife has been used for whittling and developed into a style of whittle-carving. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER  is primarily a knife carver who has developed a style of carving called “Whittle-Carving” to imply carving using only a knife.  The most efficient use of a carving knife is to utilize a slicing cut as often as possible.  A slicing cut is similar to slicing bread, slicing steak or the action of the guillotine’s skewed blade slicing as it slides down the track of the guillotine.  The cutting edge of a knife is made up of very small cutting teeth similar to teeth on a hand saw and it is these teeth when used in the slicing action that separates the wood fibers for a clean cut.  Using the knife blade with a wedge cut crushes fibers before the edge cuts the fibers resulting in a fuzzy and cloudy surface.  A slicing cut creates a clean and slick surface.  The scimitar blade shape with its curved cutting edge slices in both the push and pull stroke.  It can also make slicing cuts upside down and sideways as well as right side up. The concave shape of the back of the scimitar blade allows for reaching into tight areas where another blade shape would be impaired. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver with the photograph at the left representative of the various knives used in Whittle-Carving.  On the right are two pocket knives representative of the very first and most often used knives for carving.  The two knives on the left are small handled pocket knives that have been “tinkered” with larger wooden handles.  The knives in the center represent custom made knives that are also used in the carving process.  The top and the fourth down are Ralph E. Long knives.  The second knife was made by good friend Larry Piety.  The third knife down is an old Herb Dunkle knife and the bottom knife was made by Dave Lyons.  Even though each of these knives are adequate for carving, yet making one’s own knife is a fun project. Read the rest of this entry »