Randy True of Selma, Indiana is known for his Native American decorative carvings. Recently he has expanded his carving activity to include carving wooden handles of knives using Native American themes. Most of the time he carves on the cherry wooden handles of the Helvie brand of knives. He can custom design a handle and blade cover for the customer as he did for me in the following photographs. He also offers for sale Helvie Knives that he has already carved or he can carve on a knife the customer provides. Read the rest of this entry »
As a boy growing up on the farm in the early 1950’s a pocket knife was my constant companion being used to whittle toys and other boyhood interests. When in the early 1970’s I met wood carver David Monhollen http://www.monhollen.com/ who showed me the A-B-C’s and the 1-2-3-‘s of how to get started in carving, the pocket knife continued to be my carving tool of first choice. 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 »
“Cutting Edge Sharp” refers to the end result of sharpening a knife blade by hand using various abrasive degrees of fineness and stropping on a leather strop to create the “true cutting edge.” The drawing diagram at the left (click to enlarge) of the “cross section of a blade being sharpened” describes what happens in the sharpening process. Read the rest of this entry »
Tinker Knives were introduced in the May 25, 2008 post and since then the “tinkering mind” has been active in experimenting with another way to install a pocket knife blade into a wooden handle. That is the way the “tinkering mind” works, trying to make something out of nothing by trying different approaches to come to the same conclusion of “I made this myself.” Read the rest of this entry »
“Wood carving is more the journey than the destination,” and an important part of that journey is learning to sharpen one’s carving knives.
There is no magic formula or method as each have their own way of sharpening. However the “KEY” is to practice to develop what works at this particular time and place on the journey because sharpening is an ever learning process that will be improved upon further down the wood carving journey. Read the rest of this entry »
Ralph E. Long of Kemersville, North Carolina has been making wood carving knives for over 15 years. His knives have become favorites by many in the South who purchased knives from him at wood carving shows in the South or who had heard of his knives by word of mouth from satisfied customers. I first became acquainted with REL Knives through my good wood carving friend, Mike Sullins from South Carolina who gave me two as a gift. Read the rest of this entry »
The fine art of “tinkering” is one of those activities that travels down another path of creativity often trying to make something with a hands-on trial and error experimentation of making something useful. Some may consider “tinkering” as a waste of time for old geezers “to putter” at their work bench. But for the honest to goodness “tinkerer” there is nothing that is ever a waste of time as there is also the slim chance of making something better even if it is in the “mind of one who tinkers.” Every “tinkerer” is a genius incognito waiting for the acceptance of normal people and a little appreciation for being more than eccentric. Read the rest of this entry »
