Whittling is the art of shaping a hand held piece of wood with a knife using various cutting strokes. The most efficient cut is a slicing cut since the cutting edge of the knife blade is made up of very small teeth very similar to saw teeth. Think of trying to cut a slice of bread. If the knife is laid across the loaf and pressure forces the blade straight down with a wedge cut, the bread will be cut eventually but will be squashed before the blade is forced through the bread. If, however, the knife is used in a slicing action allowing the cutting teeth of the blade to separate the fibers of the baked bread then a slice is possible with a smooth cut with little squashing of the bread. The same happens when whittling by using a slicing action allowing the cutting teeth of the blade to do what it is intended to do without forcing the blade into the wood. The key is to learn to develop a slicing action as often as possible to create clean and crisp cuts. Read the rest of this entry »
Whittle Folk Shelf Squatters are various carved faces that sit upon a shelf with part of the carving hanging in front of the shelf. They are carved out of a one inch square by two inch tall block of basswood. A saw cut half way into the back side at a slight downward angle approximately one half of the length of the block of wood will establish where the Squatter will sit on the shelf. Read the rest of this entry »
Every carver wants to jump right in carving without the benefit of the time invested in practicing and doing exercises. That is normal and natural until each carver learns that every carving one does is a practice piece, and the steps to complete the carving project are exercises in learning by doing. The WOOD BEE CARVER’S philosophy is: “Would be carvers would be carvers if they would carve wood,” meaning that we only learn by doing (practicing and exercising) the carving process. 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 »
The year was 1992 that this carving of a cowboy was carved. He represents the beginning of a series of carvings named “Whittle Folk ‘Pokes” that began in 1996 and were carved until 2003 and just recently four more ‘Pokes were carved as a commission for an old time carving friend from Texarkana, Arkansas. “Barrel Johnson,” as he was called because he was so bow legged a barrel could be rolled between his legs, returned home as a Father’s Day gift from my wife. 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 »