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 »

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 »