Beginners Knife??

I am a pocket-knife whittler and would like to move up to more serious
carving. My interest is 3 dimensional figure carving. If you were to buy
just one knife to achieve that goal, what would it be?

Thanks for the advice
Jim

You didn't say how big of a carving you were interested in
working on. If the project gets very large you need a set of chisels.
I have used everything from an old timer pocket knife, scalpels. small
dremel grinders to die grindes with router bits. if you want to do a
pro looking job you should go ahead and invest in some
chisels,files,sanding tools.
For Ivory I use a foredom and carbide bits, riffler files and
sand paper, then buff with polishing compounds.
For gem quality stone or very hard material I use a set of
diamond bits lubed with olive oil with a steady flow over the work.


For a single most useful carving knife, get a three bladed "Old
Timer" of medium size



On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jim Warren"
wrote:

I am a pocket-knife whittler and would like to move up to more serious
carving. My interest is 3 dimensional figure carving. If you were to buy
just one knife to achieve that goal, what would it be?

Thanks for the advice
Jim

Actually, I use two "Old Timer" lock-blade knives now. I dont expect to be
carving anything much larger than my fist until I get a bit better at it,
but I find that the Old Timer blade shape doesn't let me achieve much
detail.

Thanks for the words!
Jim
"hue" wrote in message
...
You didn't say how big of a carving you were interested in
working on. If the project gets very large you need a set of chisels.
I have used everything from an old timer pocket knife, scalpels. small
dremel grinders to die grindes with router bits. if you want to do a
pro looking job you should go ahead and invest in some
chisels,files,sanding tools.
For Ivory I use a foredom and carbide bits, riffler files and
sand paper, then buff with polishing compounds.
For gem quality stone or very hard material I use a set of
diamond bits lubed with olive oil with a steady flow over the work.


For a single most useful carving knife, get a three bladed "Old
Timer" of medium size



On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jim Warren"
wrote:

I am a pocket-knife whittler and would like to move up to more serious
carving. My interest is 3 dimensional figure carving. If you were to
buy
just one knife to achieve that goal, what would it be?

Thanks for the advice
Jim

Take a look at Warren Cutlery www.warrencutlery.com I now have 2
handles several blades to fit & a set of chisels to fit the handles. I
started out with a cwh3 handle & 1 blade. I just added blades & chiisels
as I saw a need for the shape. You can reverse the blades in the jaws of
the handle to make it safe & stick it in your pocket. I like to carve
things that I can carry around with me. Larry
"Jim" wrote in message
...
Actually, I use two "Old Timer" lock-blade knives now. I dont expect to
be
carving anything much larger than my fist until I get a bit better at it,
but I find that the Old Timer blade shape doesn't let me achieve much
detail.

Thanks for the words!
Jim
"hue" wrote in message
...
You didn't say how big of a carving you were interested in
working on. If the project gets very large you need a set of chisels.
I have used everything from an old timer pocket knife, scalpels. small
dremel grinders to die grindes with router bits. if you want to do a
pro looking job you should go ahead and invest in some
chisels,files,sanding tools.
For Ivory I use a foredom and carbide bits, riffler files and
sand paper, then buff with polishing compounds.
For gem quality stone or very hard material I use a set of
diamond bits lubed with olive oil with a steady flow over the work.


For a single most useful carving knife, get a three bladed "Old
Timer" of medium size



On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jim Warren"
wrote:

I am a pocket-knife whittler and would like to move up to more serious
carving. My interest is 3 dimensional figure carving. If you were to
buy
just one knife to achieve that goal, what would it be?

Thanks for the advice
Jim

Thanks a bunch. I also found tools at www.sugarpinecarving.com. I'll take
your advice, it seems like a good place to start.

Again thanks
Jim
"L. B." wrote in message ...
Take a look at Warren Cutlery www.warrencutlery.com I now have 2
handles several blades to fit & a set of chisels to fit the handles. I
started out with a cwh3 handle & 1 blade. I just added blades & chiisels
as I saw a need for the shape. You can reverse the blades in the jaws of
the handle to make it safe & stick it in your pocket. I like to carve
things that I can carry around with me. Larry
"Jim" wrote in message
...
Actually, I use two "Old Timer" lock-blade knives now. I dont expect to
be
carving anything much larger than my fist until I get a bit better at
it,
but I find that the Old Timer blade shape doesn't let me achieve much
detail.

Thanks for the words!
Jim
"hue" wrote in message
...
You didn't say how big of a carving you were interested in
working on. If the project gets very large you need a set of chisels.
I have used everything from an old timer pocket knife, scalpels. small
dremel grinders to die grindes with router bits. if you want to do a
pro looking job you should go ahead and invest in some
chisels,files,sanding tools.
For Ivory I use a foredom and carbide bits, riffler files and
sand paper, then buff with polishing compounds.
For gem quality stone or very hard material I use a set of
diamond bits lubed with olive oil with a steady flow over the work.


For a single most useful carving knife, get a three bladed "Old
Timer" of medium size



On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jim Warren"
wrote:

I am a pocket-knife whittler and would like to move up to more
serious
carving. My interest is 3 dimensional figure carving. If you were
to
buy
just one knife to achieve that goal, what would it be?

Thanks for the advice
Jim

"L. B." wrote in message ...
Take a look at Warren Cutlery www.warrencutlery.com I now have 2
handles several blades to fit & a set of chisels to fit the handles. I
started out with a cwh3 handle & 1 blade. I just added blades & chiisels
as I saw a need for the shape. You can reverse the blades in the jaws of
the handle to make it safe & stick it in your pocket. I like to carve
things that I can carry around with me. Larry

I second the motion! I bought a Warren basic whittling kit with a
black walnut handle and a half a dozen blades and have added a few
blades and gouges and I'm pretty happy with it. It's comfortable to
handle and there's a wide variety of blades that have allowed me to do
whatever I've tried. I'm certainly no master carver, but I've turned
out ball-in-a-cage, chains, sliding joints, ball-in-a-ball,
ball-in-a-ball-in-a-ball...

I also figured out that you can reverse the blade and carry it around
safely in your pocket.

A word of warning though - if you like to use a lot of different
blades you will quickly tire of constantly changing blades so you will
find yourself buying more handles. You can never have too many
handles...

Happy whittling!

Mike