@@GRASSOFTHEGRASS Superman was born on Krypton. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider. The TMNT crawled in that green stuff. I inseminated my wife and was given the power of dad jokes. Beware.
Just for some clarity, the brittleness of the knife is not necessarily a result of carbon vs stainless... both carbon and stainless knives can be very hard or very soft depending on the specific steel makeup and heat treatment. Honestly the main reason your pocket knife didn't snap is the blade thickness and grind geometry.... your flexcut is a pretty darn thin tip compared to the pocket knife + the pocket knife was saber ground vs the 0-ground "scandi" bevel on the carver so the pocket knife also has a lot more meat in the middle reinforcing it. Lastly, knowing CRKT, I'm betting that blade was heat treated in the mid-low 50 range. Just wanted to put that out there so people don't feel like they should or shouldn't buy carbon vs stainless for some reason... it will depend way more on the particular steel itself and how it was heat treated. But, in the end, prying with any knife is a bad plan... just don't do it!
@@deathbysilence0 Lolol I hear that. So many I wanted to own but couldn't spend the $$$$ on but part of me kept thinking "how hard can it truly be to make that though? It's basically just shaping some metal and wood right?"... so eventually I gave it a try. First few were total crap but eventually got the hang of it. I've now been able to make at least a couple of my "grail" knives I had pictured in my head.
Your experience shines thru superquick, in breaking the tip, and going cross grain and having a chunk pop off. I have everything but just nervous to get started.
Thanks for your video. I was making some mistakes. I started whittling about two weeks ago. I'm fully aware that I'm working with a very sharp razor blade. I've learned not to whittle with my arm or hand pushing the blade. I'm using my two thumbs like you do. This way, I'm sure not to cut myself. I'm 59 and had a fair amount of cuts and bruises. I find this is a beautiful hobby. I can listen to music while whittling. I also find these small carvings very beautiful.
Watching your demonstration of cutting against the grain made me realize EXACTLY why I kept stabbing myself while trying out a spoon carving kit a while back....
Hi! Thanks for this video! I just bought my first knife and got some bass wood here. This will be my first try at whittling and I‘ll make sure to avoid all those mistakes you mentioned👍
I prefer folding knives: I do a lot of my whittling waiting for the bus and need knives I can throw in my pocket fairly quickly when the bus arrives. Almost the first thing I did with my carbon steel Opinel was break the tip (not too badly, I was able to grind it so that is sorta back to where it was). I mostly use multiple bladed folders which have stainless blades of varying quality but I lost the tip on the clip point of my stainless Buck stockman Christmas Day when I dropped it point first on hard pavement. Same story as the Opinel. Lately I've been whittling dried avocado pits which don't have a grain as such and a texture like hard gingerbread.
@@CarvingisFun I don't know that I have had any particular technique so far. I'm in the southern hemisphere so my summer has just ended and drying stuff was easy. I just put them in a plastic tray I bought some mushrooms in and put them on top of a shelf in the kitchen. I did get some pits from a friend and he had stored them in a plastic bag so that they had a light dusting of mould but it didn't take off. Once enough water has been evaporated the skins come off and any mould should go with them. I did get one that was rotten though. On the other hand I found one that was mummified in the compost heap lol. If you're worried about it you could try wiping the pit with some alcohol or bleach to kill spores Coming into winter I might have to experiment with drying them in the oven.
@@CarvingisFun You can try putting them into a food dehydrator if you have one, or put them in the oven on the lowest setting for a couple of hours with a wooden spoon in the door to keep it cracked open so the temperature doesn't get too high and the moisture can escape.
I like to whittle a stick I pick up on the beach with my 0pinel NO. 6 I keep in my pocket. I know it's not made for this but it relaxes me. It's a good little knife . It is sharp . I have not cut myself yet . Fingers crossed. 😂 im going to look for a pair of those gloves.
I made my first wood carving in the pandemic it was long strips of wood and I put them in a weave pattern I still have it today i do wish I had saw this when I was doing this cut my thumb a few times
@@CarvingisFun Haha amen! Ya got my subscription for that, and just cause you have good content from what I've seen. Very helpful stuff for a beginner. Cheers!
Just got into whittling, your videos are * *chef's kiss* * Also, I thought you were just going to be talking about common occurrences.. When that knife broke I audibly winced! 😅
These are excellent tips, we all know about 5 biggest mistakes, right? We are not perfect, no matter how long we have been carving. If we simply follow these tips, we can be efficient and effective wood carvers. It makes no difference to me how atrong a metal is, I never use my pocketknife or detail knife as a prying tool. I've had my pockeknife as well as my carving tools for years and, never broke a blade or even chipped one: being 62 years old, I had a pocketknife since I was 8 years old, in fact I still have my first Case 2 blade pocketknife and, it's just as sharp when I was given it. I sharpen all my wood carving tool, U tool, v tool, angle blade, palm sets daily but, I don't sharpen them every 20 minutes. You can over sharpen carving tools too, the edges become brittle and loss of the edge is not wise. If I'm wood carving and, see my tools is not cutting as easy or smoothly, it's time to sharpen again, otherwise I keep on carving. You can never have an over sharpened blade or tool but, you can weaken the tool or blade by over doing it, a sharp blade is a happy blade. As long as it still has it's strength? A weakened blade can hurt or injury you the same way a dull blade does by the wood giving way. If the blade chips from a weakened point it can becomes a disaster by jumping out of the wood. I always use high grade cut protection gloves on my hands because I know how sharp my tools are, I need my hands.
Thanks for the tips. wished I'd seen it sooner. Better late than never. I do have a question for you. Been watching your videos and posts along with a couple others. I am a retired custom cabinet maker and have always wanted to whittle, so now I'm starting to play. You and everyone else I see, are cutting through the wood like it is soft butter. I'm closer to 70 than 60 and my knifes are sharper than all get out, but the bass wood I'm buying seems to be hard as a rock, where can I get some wood that looks as easy to cut into as yours does for you?
You're welcome! Try looking for "air dried basswood" as the kiln dried stuff tends to be harder. Check out this video for more details: ruclips.net/video/tYm3Rcq59Ig/видео.html Also, blade thickness can play in as a factor as to how easily you can slice through the wood.
I am older than you and I have no trouble carving. The ease of cutting is going to be related to several things. What the steel is is not one of them. The geometry of the blade is important, meaning grind and thickness. A scandi grind is designed to bite into the wood. The angle of the grind is important. The steeper the grind (the narrower the angle), the easier it well be to cut. A hollow grind will be better to but with that a flat grind. I use folders because I have a lot of them. The Opinel is good because it is so stinking thin. They take a very sharp edge. I also like my Gent. This was produced by massdrop in conjunction with Ferrum Forge. It is S35VN with a hollow grind. It's about .025 behind the edge. The addition of vanadium to the steel refines the carbide structure and allows a very fine edge. It also holds the edge very well.
Yes, going against the grain. When you are used to carving/whittling for outdoors tasks you're often not subtle, you have X or y tasks to do before you loose the daylight. I have to check myself when attempting to carve or whittle to this higher standard. Maybe starting out with blades that are more forgiving than the little thin Flexcut knives is something to think about, at least until you have made your initial mistakes. A Congress pocket knife or the Mora/Hultafors Precisions or carving knives for instance.
I’m just starting carving and have a freshly cut piece of mesquite, is it a good type to carve? Also thanks for all your videos and tips, it makes getting into this hobby a lot easier!
Howdy! Mesquite wood is exceptionally hard to carve by hand. It can be done but isnt reccomend as it is about 6 times harder than the basswood I use for my carvings.
Not a stupid question at all! Fresh wood (aka wet wood) still has the original moisture in the wood, making it easier to carve. The only downside is that it can split if dried to rapidly after carving. Dry wood requires no drying time after the wood is carved, but can be harder to cut into vs the wet wood.
@@CarvingisFun wow thanks! I just got my first carving kit for Christmas and knowing that I could use any soft-ish wood I might find outside really spikes my motivation :)
Going against the grain is what I done at first where I was pushing with the gouge, a bit of wood broke and the gouge went shooting off into my finger which left me with a lovely eye lid shaped hole.
I use wood rasp s rasp s and files. Alot to shape. Then sand it. I have big ones and tiny ones. Over the year a I found them very useful. But you make some really good points for beginners. Saves you alot of mistakes. In the end.ps I've cut my fingers several times. So now I really keep my digits out of the way.
I have several wood rasps as well, but for some reason I enjoy slicing off the wood more. It just feels more satisfying. So now I use my rasps for my soapstone and alabaster carvings :)
@@CarvingisFun I use hickory and maple alot. So it's hard wood to carve on so some times I uae rasp s and wood files. To shape my walking sticks. But once there made there tough as nails,,,,
Jelly bean spider get your self a book called little book of whittling by Chris lubkemann by fox chapel publishing it’s about 12 dollars it got me carving book will help anyone wants to try to carve great things has all information you need to get started highly recommend many happy returns 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
While you can most definitely use a whetstone (or any other variants) to sharpen, the key is to hone the knife afterwards. This is typically done with leather strops and stropping compound. Still, theoretically, if you use a whetstone with a fine enough grit (3000+ grit) you will still be able to create a decent edge for carving. But then to hone your knife while carving you will have to continuously prep your whetstone every 20-30 min. A leather strop can just be picked up and used to maintain the edge as you don't need to remove a lot of metal.
@@CarvingisFun Thank you so much for the informative and tremendously helpful reply. I'm green when it comes to the hobby and I've learned mostly through your videos. Gonna go and subscribe to your channel now. Thank you once again.
Sure are! I personally like denum or any other durable cloth. Old scrap jeans will work in a pinch. I have seen others use cardboard as a super cheap alternative,
Super useful video!! I got my first set of knives today- I’m going to try them out tomorrow! So excited!! Videos like this are SUPER helpful, and at least from what I’ve seen there aren’t too many great ones, like this video! But anyways- super great video!! Thank you!! :)
Martin ward in an avarage block of wood grain runs straight unless you has a knot in it grain normally runs from middle to top and from middle to bottom if blade snags on wood while carving just turn your job other way if it snags usually mean your carving against the grain 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
@@CarvingisFun you be surprised how many people ain’t got a clue why that is when carving why wood snags up so they push harder wood tears out ruins your work or way worse chop off a finger or gash something I seen it happen to a lot I teach carving they ignore my advice it’s like collecting blackthorn blood will be spilt for sure even if the brittle poisonous thorns don’t get ya 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
Do you recommend a brand of gloves and thumb protector for newbies who might want extra protection to the fingers without losing too much agility while carving?
do you have any recommendations for a whittling knife? I got a pack off amazon recently and the actual blade is abysmal, although the polishing agent and leather are fine.
Flexcut seems to be a good place to start for most people, but to make things easier I collected all my favorite things on amazon here for everyone www.amazon.com/shop/CarvingisFun
Do a lot of wood carvings with My Dremel. My Awesome Son got Me a Beavercraft Whittling& Chip Carving Kit for Christmas 🎄 which I just Love.. Problem is I've never Whittled or Carved any kind of wood in My Life using a Knife. Won't say how old I am..lol. Do You know of Any Video's I can Watch to Help Me out? Any Feed Back with Help Immensely.. Thank's Paul..😎
There are plenty of whittling books out there that give great ideas and a bunch of tutorials on my channel and on youtube that will help guide ya and give tips along the way.
@@CarvingisFun good tip as you say don’t scrape blade but modify back of blade to use as a scraper removes tool marks ready for sanding projects scraping brings up grain in the wood too I made my scraper from old hand saw blade rounding ends off one large and one small to clean bowl of my spoons 👍🐾🦊🇮🇹
Bonjour et merci pour cette vidéo instructive. Si on a le malheur de casser la pointe du Flexcut, comment peut-on reformer la nouvelle pointe ? Est-ce simplement en la passant sur la pierre ? Ou faut-il la limer ? Vu que le métal a l’air d’être tellement mince et fragile. Lorsque que vous sculptez le chien assis, est-ce que vous mentionnez le type de Flexcut que vous employez pour commencer le travail ? À chaque nouvelle opération de sculpture pour le chien, vu que je n’ai pas encore essayé les autres, pouvez-vous mentionner le type de couteau à utiliser. Car je suppose que les autres petits sujets suivront le même principe d’utilisation que pour le chien dans le cas présent. Merci pour votre réponse. Michèle
Hi! I personally used a file to repair the tip and made a video on it here: ruclips.net/video/Mi3G4gz2tEg/видео.html Future videos will have me mentioning what knives I use but I have been trying to put the knives in the video description. I believe the knife used in the dog video was a Flexcut Whittlin Jack
wow!!! i do believe that carving knives either stainless or carbon have a higher hardness than other everyday knives...hardness to retain edge; softness to easily bring edge up!!!
Hey Brian, thank you sooooo much for your videos! Was looking at beginner ideas the other day and have watched a bunch of your videos now as my son would love to get into whittling. Will order the basics you recommend for now for and probably get more later. So inspiring! QUESTION: Could you perhaps film a couple videos on making something with the BeaverCraft C1 Kid knife, please? I'm sure I've seen it in one of your videos and if you've still got the knife, that would be fantastic. The rounded blade probably makes quite a difference with regards to what can be done and achieved, correct? Thank you for the great content, I really appreciate it! My son is 8 in a few days and he's very excited to start making his own chess figures. :) All the best from the UK and have an amazing time leading up to Christmas! Thank you, Lucienne
Howdy!! You are absolutely correct in that it will be a different experience as you wont have the sharp tip to create small details with. But projects like the fox should be easy enough to do without the tip. The Christmas tree, ghost, and chess set are also great options to do as well with the C1 knife
Okay I've watched this video before but #5 still just happened to me because dumb me decided to go for some quick whittling in the middle of the night. Came back from the ER with four stitches. Went straight through the glove. 5/5 flexcut knife
Drawing the blade edge perpendicular is awesome but, use a Stanley razor blade for it. Gets a better finish and takes off a smaller amount of material. Yeah don't use your actual knives for it though.
Depends on the cut. If it's shalow and small, clean it and use a bandaid. Deeper, and you know first aid, thoroughly clean it and use butterfly bandages, tape, astringent powder, and/or superglue. Otherwise, see a trained medical professional to assess what needs to be done. But using a slice resistant glove and/or thumb guards will reduce the cances of injuries as well as make sure the injury isn't worse
Not sure what you mean with the sharp side vs blunt side, but I cut witb the sharp side if thats what your asking. But I made my leather strop by gluing a strip of leathet to a block of wood.
Howdy! The green stuff on my right thumb is actually self adhering ace wrap. While it isn't advertised as "slice resistant" it does protect my fingers from accidental cuts and is easy to replace. More info on this video here: ruclips.net/video/o2ugpgBg8uU/видео.html
My first thought was, "Does he really wear those gloves when whittling?" I've never seen anyone whittle with gloves. Then I saw the fingers ahead of the blade, got goose bumps, and thought, keep the gloves on, dude!
Unfortunately the super cheap sets from china are all the same and aren't that great. But if you want a good affordable set, pick up one from beavercraft as they are the best quality of the affordable knives. All the super cheap sets are knockoffs of their knives anyways.
They are neat lil knives and are quite effective for carving when you get use to handling em. Personally I would throw some tool tape around the handle for comfort.
Best is subjective to what is being made. For me, I really like my Helvie knives. If you are going to be carving harder woods, Deepwoods Ventures is a great option. If you want thinner knives Drake knives are wonderful but prone to damage if mishandled. Good middle of the road knives are Flexcut and Focuser Carving knives
i just wondered about something since i have a school project where my teacher is making me make knives they arent really carving knives but i started to wonder if you have made a knife handle by carving before?
@@CarvingisFun btw do you know about a legal webiste to order from in norway way to get the whittling equipment bc rn i have been trying to find some website that is legal but sloyd detaljer doesnt seem to have those skinnier knife blades
Howdy! I have the link in this video below but I am using the dex fit cut resistant gloves from amazon and self adhering ace wrap. ruclips.net/video/CdNTNKvzsGk/видео.html I'll be publishing an updated video next week with more details too.
Carbon steel, in general is less brittle than stainless. It is tempered harder for a single purpose, and therefore brittle.
This is one of the better and more direct corrections I've gotten! Gonna pin it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
They may be mistakes, but they're just whittle ones.
👌 wow mate you are the pinnacle of comedy
@@GRASSOFTHEGRASS Superman was born on Krypton. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider. The TMNT crawled in that green stuff. I inseminated my wife and was given the power of dad jokes. Beware.
Haha
Groooann.
😅
The sacrifice of that first OCC blade’s tip… you won’t be forgotten!
“Now when compared to that of a common pocket knife” -proceeds to flip out an absolute unit of an assassin knife
OMG I felt that knife break... it almost broke my heart 😢😂
Just for some clarity, the brittleness of the knife is not necessarily a result of carbon vs stainless... both carbon and stainless knives can be very hard or very soft depending on the specific steel makeup and heat treatment. Honestly the main reason your pocket knife didn't snap is the blade thickness and grind geometry.... your flexcut is a pretty darn thin tip compared to the pocket knife + the pocket knife was saber ground vs the 0-ground "scandi" bevel on the carver so the pocket knife also has a lot more meat in the middle reinforcing it. Lastly, knowing CRKT, I'm betting that blade was heat treated in the mid-low 50 range.
Just wanted to put that out there so people don't feel like they should or shouldn't buy carbon vs stainless for some reason... it will depend way more on the particular steel itself and how it was heat treated. But, in the end, prying with any knife is a bad plan... just don't do it!
Excellent explanation!
Did I find a fellow knife maker?
@@deathbysilence0 Haha yep! Well more like a knife nerd that got so into knives he started making his own lol.
@@knownaigm haha I'm the same way the nice ones got so expensive I decided to make my own so far so good
@@deathbysilence0 Lolol I hear that. So many I wanted to own but couldn't spend the $$$$ on but part of me kept thinking "how hard can it truly be to make that though? It's basically just shaping some metal and wood right?"... so eventually I gave it a try. First few were total crap but eventually got the hang of it. I've now been able to make at least a couple of my "grail" knives I had pictured in my head.
Guilty of #1 with the exact same knife...
It's a common issue people have with that exact kinfe :) you're not alone.
Funny you say that..
Things happen gents.
Your experience shines thru superquick, in breaking the tip, and going cross grain and having a chunk pop off. I have everything but just nervous to get started.
Eh, dont worry bout maken mistakes, thats just part of the journy :)
Yeah, just work non scrap wood learning your basic carving and always be aware of the grain. Go slow, with shallow carving strokes.
Haste makes waste!
I subbed instantly when you broke the tip of that knife
Ha! Sometimes breaking things is just fun :)
@@CarvingisFun yessir
😂
Thanks for your video. I was making some mistakes. I started whittling about two weeks ago. I'm fully aware that I'm working with a very sharp razor blade. I've learned not to whittle with my arm or hand pushing the blade. I'm using my two thumbs like you do. This way, I'm sure not to cut myself. I'm 59 and had a fair amount of cuts and bruises. I find this is a beautiful hobby. I can listen to music while whittling. I also find these small carvings very beautiful.
Watching your demonstration of cutting against the grain made me realize EXACTLY why I kept stabbing myself while trying out a spoon carving kit a while back....
I am starting a business and one of the things i will sell is little animals that are hand whittled, so this video helped SO MUCH!! thank you!
Hi! Thanks for this video!
I just bought my first knife and got some bass wood here. This will be my first try at whittling and I‘ll make sure to avoid all those mistakes you mentioned👍
I prefer folding knives: I do a lot of my whittling waiting for the bus and need knives I can throw in my pocket fairly quickly when the bus arrives. Almost the first thing I did with my carbon steel Opinel was break the tip (not too badly, I was able to grind it so that is sorta back to where it was). I mostly use multiple bladed folders which have stainless blades of varying quality but I lost the tip on the clip point of my stainless Buck stockman Christmas Day when I dropped it point first on hard pavement. Same story as the Opinel. Lately I've been whittling dried avocado pits which don't have a grain as such and a texture like hard gingerbread.
I was going to try whittling an avocado pit, but instead of drying it just got moldy. Any tips on drying them out properly?
@@CarvingisFun I don't know that I have had any particular technique so far. I'm in the southern hemisphere so my summer has just ended and drying stuff was easy. I just put them in a plastic tray I bought some mushrooms in and put them on top of a shelf in the kitchen. I did get some pits from a friend and he had stored them in a plastic bag so that they had a light dusting of mould but it didn't take off. Once enough water has been evaporated the skins come off and any mould should go with them. I did get one that was rotten though. On the other hand I found one that was mummified in the compost heap lol.
If you're worried about it you could try wiping the pit with some alcohol or bleach to kill spores
Coming into winter I might have to experiment with drying them in the oven.
Thanks!
I maybe I tried drying th wet m when it was too cold then. Since summer is starting up for us I'll give it another shot.
@@CarvingisFun You can try putting them into a food dehydrator if you have one, or put them in the oven on the lowest setting for a couple of hours with a wooden spoon in the door to keep it cracked open so the temperature doesn't get too high and the moisture can escape.
Perfect, I shal give that a shot with my dehydrator. Thank you!!!
I like to whittle a stick I pick up on the beach with my 0pinel NO. 6 I keep in my pocket. I know it's not made for this but it relaxes me. It's a good little knife . It is sharp . I have not cut myself yet . Fingers crossed. 😂 im going to look for a pair of those gloves.
I made my first wood carving in the pandemic it was long strips of wood and I put them in a weave pattern I still have it today
i do wish I had saw this when I was doing this cut my thumb a few times
Ya live n learn. I had to learn the hard way too.
That's what that mystery green stuff is!!! This was super helpful thanks!
That was an expensive demo flexcuts aren't cheap
Well, I do have plans for the broken knife so it's not completely done for :)
I was actually so shocked by that I came to the comments instantly. Jeez. Absolute madlad. 😅
Being mad makes everything more fun 😝
@@CarvingisFun Haha amen! Ya got my subscription for that, and just cause you have good content from what I've seen. Very helpful stuff for a beginner. Cheers!
@@CarvingisFun like what are you going to do with that broken knife
I started two days ago and am oddly proud I did not commit the stabbing or sideways shaving atrocities. 😆
i saw that and i was like i want to whittle but damn im not that stupid lol
Excellent five reminders to put into practice, thank you so much for sharing. Blessings.
Thank you for this, very useful. Saved my knife tip and probably my thumb too!
Just got into whittling, your videos are * *chef's kiss* *
Also, I thought you were just going to be talking about common occurrences.. When that knife broke I audibly winced!
😅
Thank you!!
oddly enough, breaking the tip is a common occurrence with those who have never used a thin detail knife like this.
These are excellent tips, we all know about 5 biggest mistakes, right? We are not perfect, no matter how long we have been carving. If we simply follow these tips, we can be efficient and effective wood carvers. It makes no difference to me how atrong a metal is, I never use my pocketknife or detail knife as a prying tool. I've had my pockeknife as well as my carving tools for years and, never broke a blade or even chipped one: being 62 years old, I had a pocketknife since I was 8 years old, in fact I still have my first Case 2 blade pocketknife and, it's just as sharp when I was given it. I sharpen all my wood carving tool, U tool, v tool, angle blade, palm sets daily but, I don't sharpen them every 20 minutes. You can over sharpen carving tools too, the edges become brittle and loss of the edge is not wise. If I'm wood carving and, see my tools is not cutting as easy or smoothly, it's time to sharpen again, otherwise I keep on carving. You can never have an over sharpened blade or tool but, you can weaken the tool or blade by over doing it, a sharp blade is a happy blade. As long as it still has it's strength? A weakened blade can hurt or injury you the same way a dull blade does by the wood giving way. If the blade chips from a weakened point it can becomes a disaster by jumping out of the wood. I always use high grade cut protection gloves on my hands because I know how sharp my tools are, I need my hands.
Thanks for the tips. wished I'd seen it sooner. Better late than never. I do have a question for you. Been watching your videos and posts along with a couple others. I am a retired custom cabinet maker and have always wanted to whittle, so now I'm starting to play. You and everyone else I see, are cutting through the wood like it is soft butter. I'm closer to 70 than 60 and my knifes are sharper than all get out, but the bass wood I'm buying seems to be hard as a rock, where can I get some wood that looks as easy to cut into as yours does for you?
You're welcome!
Try looking for "air dried basswood" as the kiln dried stuff tends to be harder. Check out this video for more details: ruclips.net/video/tYm3Rcq59Ig/видео.html
Also, blade thickness can play in as a factor as to how easily you can slice through the wood.
@@CarvingisFun thanks for getting back to me and sending me to your other video. Both are helpfull
You're welcome!
I am older than you and I have no trouble carving. The ease of cutting is going to be related to several things. What the steel is is not one of them. The geometry of the blade is important, meaning grind and thickness. A scandi grind is designed to bite into the wood. The angle of the grind is important. The steeper the grind (the narrower the angle), the easier it well be to cut. A hollow grind will be better to but with that a flat grind. I use folders because I have a lot of them. The Opinel is good because it is so stinking thin. They take a very sharp edge. I also like my Gent. This was produced by massdrop in conjunction with Ferrum Forge. It is S35VN with a hollow grind. It's about .025 behind the edge. The addition of vanadium to the steel refines the carbide structure and allows a very fine edge. It also holds the edge very well.
I did #4 today. I should have watched this yesterday lol.
Thank you for the tips!
Reading through your comments, great info and responses!
Thanks! I try to keep up with em all :)
Great video. Besides this most of the tricks you learn by doing.
Keep it up. I admire what you're doing!
Thanks!
Yes, going against the grain. When you are used to carving/whittling for outdoors tasks you're often not subtle, you have X or y tasks to do before you loose the daylight. I have to check myself when attempting to carve or whittle to this higher standard. Maybe starting out with blades that are more forgiving than the little thin Flexcut knives is something to think about, at least until you have made your initial mistakes. A Congress pocket knife or the Mora/Hultafors Precisions or carving knives for instance.
I did learn some skills & techniques I did not know about. Thanks!
I've chopped off so many fox legs and dog snoots by going against the grain... I see now how and why. Thank you.
I’m just starting carving and have a freshly cut piece of mesquite, is it a good type to carve? Also thanks for all your videos and tips, it makes getting into this hobby a lot easier!
Howdy!
Mesquite wood is exceptionally hard to carve by hand. It can be done but isnt reccomend as it is about 6 times harder than the basswood I use for my carvings.
@@CarvingisFun Thank you so much, you saved me a lot of time and effort!
@@CarvingisFun this might be a stupid question but do people use fresh or dry wood for carving?
Not a stupid question at all!
Fresh wood (aka wet wood) still has the original moisture in the wood, making it easier to carve. The only downside is that it can split if dried to rapidly after carving.
Dry wood requires no drying time after the wood is carved, but can be harder to cut into vs the wet wood.
@@CarvingisFun wow thanks! I just got my first carving kit for Christmas and knowing that I could use any soft-ish wood I might find outside really spikes my motivation :)
Recommend information on the flexcut knife, the glove, the basswood, and a book, and the thumb wrap
This was super useful! Ive been whittling with my friend and I decided to get my own set of knives, this was very useful!
Going against the grain is what I done at first where I was pushing with the gouge, a bit of wood broke and the gouge went shooting off into my finger which left me with a lovely eye lid shaped hole.
Ooch. Its happened to me before too. One of those live n learn moments
I literally just did this the other day- now I've got a gouge in my palm 😞
Just getting into wood carving, Look forward to your other vidos
Excellent! Always good to hear more people picking up the craft.
Thanks! My third fox will surely be the best yet.
I use wood rasp s rasp s and files. Alot to shape. Then sand it. I have big ones and tiny ones. Over the year a I found them very useful. But you make some really good points for beginners. Saves you alot of mistakes. In the end.ps I've cut my fingers several times. So now I really keep my digits out of the way.
I have several wood rasps as well, but for some reason I enjoy slicing off the wood more. It just feels more satisfying.
So now I use my rasps for my soapstone and alabaster carvings :)
@@CarvingisFun I use hickory and maple alot. So it's hard wood to carve on so some times I uae rasp s and wood files. To shape my walking sticks. But once there made there tough as nails,,,,
Thanks dude, just starting out on this amazing hobby
getting a carving kit for my bday cant wait! great vid by the way
Awsome! Hope you have a great bday and have fun carving!
awesome!
Jelly bean spider get your self a book called little book of whittling by Chris lubkemann by fox chapel publishing it’s about 12 dollars it got me carving book will help anyone wants to try to carve great things has all information you need to get started highly recommend many happy returns 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
Hello there, I dont use leather and was wondering if a whetstone would suffice for sharpening? Thank you in advance. Love your videos!
While you can most definitely use a whetstone (or any other variants) to sharpen, the key is to hone the knife afterwards. This is typically done with leather strops and stropping compound.
Still, theoretically, if you use a whetstone with a fine enough grit (3000+ grit) you will still be able to create a decent edge for carving. But then to hone your knife while carving you will have to continuously prep your whetstone every 20-30 min. A leather strop can just be picked up and used to maintain the edge as you don't need to remove a lot of metal.
@@CarvingisFun Thank you so much for the informative and tremendously helpful reply. I'm green when it comes to the hobby and I've learned mostly through your videos. Gonna go and subscribe to your channel now. Thank you once again.
You are most welcome! If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask :)
@@CarvingisFun Is there any alternative to leather for honing? Perhaps nylon or something? I'm completely new but excited to start :)
Sure are!
I personally like denum or any other durable cloth. Old scrap jeans will work in a pinch. I have seen others use cardboard as a super cheap alternative,
Super useful video!! I got my first set of knives today- I’m going to try them out tomorrow! So excited!! Videos like this are SUPER helpful, and at least from what I’ve seen there aren’t too many great ones, like this video! But anyways- super great video!! Thank you!! :)
I like what you made. You should show a before and after. 😄
This was great 🙏🏽 but most of this I would never do. As an Army cook, I was taught to respect knives 😉😳
Looks like a fun relatively cheap hobby might give it a go.
Indeed it is! This is one of those hobbies that it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
Could you a video on how to identify the direction of the wood grain?
Martin ward in an avarage block of wood grain runs straight unless you has a knot in it grain normally runs from middle to top and from middle to bottom if blade snags on wood while carving just turn your job other way if it snags usually mean your carving against the grain 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
I could do a quick video in a bit, John did a good little rundown as well that is helpful.
@@CarvingisFun you be surprised how many people ain’t got a clue why that is when carving why wood snags up so they push harder wood tears out ruins your work or way worse chop off a finger or gash something I seen it happen to a lot I teach carving they ignore my advice it’s like collecting blackthorn blood will be spilt for sure even if the brittle poisonous thorns don’t get ya 👍🇬🇧🐾🦊🇮🇹
Its more about the geometry and heat treat vs material choice. Theres plenty of stainless that will harden deeper than a carbon steel.
Omg totem carver here.... Good advice folks ... Native pool carving is 6 hrs 3 sharpening
Do you recommend a brand of gloves and thumb protector for newbies who might want extra protection to the fingers without losing too much agility while carving?
Ive had great successes with dexfit and andanda gloves. The finger wraps I use are just self adhering ace wrap from the local convenience store.
A lot of excellent tips here.Thank you kindly!
Hello, would pine wood work well for whittling, thanks 😊
Yeppers!! Its just as good basswood
@@CarvingisFun thank you
do you have any recommendations for a whittling knife? I got a pack off amazon recently and the actual blade is abysmal, although the polishing agent and leather are fine.
Flexcut seems to be a good place to start for most people, but to make things easier I collected all my favorite things on amazon here for everyone www.amazon.com/shop/CarvingisFun
Alot of people recommend beavercraft. I bought one of their knives myself but i haven't tested it yet
Do a lot of wood carvings with My Dremel. My Awesome Son got Me a Beavercraft Whittling& Chip Carving Kit for Christmas 🎄 which I just Love.. Problem is I've never Whittled or Carved any kind of wood in My Life using a Knife. Won't say how old I am..lol. Do You know of Any Video's I can Watch to Help Me out? Any Feed Back with Help Immensely.. Thank's Paul..😎
There are plenty of whittling books out there that give great ideas and a bunch of tutorials on my channel and on youtube that will help guide ya and give tips along the way.
Great helpful vid mate
Thanks for the tips Brian, very much appreciated
You're welcome!
@@CarvingisFun good tip as you say don’t scrape blade but modify back of blade to use as a scraper removes tool marks ready for sanding projects scraping brings up grain in the wood too I made my scraper from old hand saw blade rounding ends off one large and one small to clean bowl of my spoons 👍🐾🦊🇮🇹
Bro broke a brand new knife just to mske a point to us rookies. That alone was worth a like. Thank you for the video
Nice video. Very helpful. Thanks. 👍
Bonjour et merci pour cette vidéo instructive. Si on a le malheur de casser la pointe du Flexcut, comment peut-on reformer la nouvelle pointe ? Est-ce simplement en la passant sur la pierre ? Ou faut-il la limer ? Vu que le métal a l’air d’être tellement mince et fragile.
Lorsque que vous sculptez le chien assis, est-ce que vous mentionnez le type de Flexcut que vous employez pour commencer le travail ? À chaque nouvelle opération de sculpture pour le chien, vu que je n’ai pas encore essayé les autres, pouvez-vous mentionner le type de couteau à utiliser. Car je suppose que les autres petits sujets suivront le même principe d’utilisation que pour le chien dans le cas présent. Merci pour votre réponse.
Michèle
Hi!
I personally used a file to repair the tip and made a video on it here: ruclips.net/video/Mi3G4gz2tEg/видео.html
Future videos will have me mentioning what knives I use but I have been trying to put the knives in the video description. I believe the knife used in the dog video was a Flexcut Whittlin Jack
Outstanding tips😊
I love the wear on your flippity doo dah blade
wow!!! i do believe that carving knives either stainless or carbon have a higher hardness than other everyday knives...hardness to retain edge; softness to easily bring edge up!!!
Very true. Most purpose built wood carving tool will have a higher rockwell hardness to promote edge retention.
Learned #5 the hard way when I was about 10. Still have a scar almost 30 years later.
I'm confused about going against the grain. How do you know the direction
Howdy!
This video should explain it better than me typing it out. ruclips.net/video/ZzayD1LPLlk/видео.html
Hey Brian, thank you sooooo much for your videos! Was looking at beginner ideas the other day and have watched a bunch of your videos now as my son would love to get into whittling. Will order the basics you recommend for now for and probably get more later. So inspiring!
QUESTION: Could you perhaps film a couple videos on making something with the BeaverCraft C1 Kid knife, please? I'm sure I've seen it in one of your videos and if you've still got the knife, that would be fantastic. The rounded blade probably makes quite a difference with regards to what can be done and achieved, correct?
Thank you for the great content, I really appreciate it!
My son is 8 in a few days and he's very excited to start making his own chess figures. :)
All the best from the UK and have an amazing time leading up to Christmas!
Thank you, Lucienne
Howdy!!
You are absolutely correct in that it will be a different experience as you wont have the sharp tip to create small details with. But projects like the fox should be easy enough to do without the tip. The Christmas tree, ghost, and chess set are also great options to do as well with the C1 knife
@@CarvingisFunAmazing, thank you so much Brian! Much appreciated!
Lucienne
at 6:42 i made that mistake a few weeks ago, instead of carving a dog, i carved my thumb.
Oooch!
@@CarvingisFun indeed
That's commitment. Take my thumbs up and subscription.
6:16 was me!! Don’t be me!! I zoned out and chopped through my nail and finger tip lol
Excellent, thanks.
Hi, I have a question, how do I check which way the grain is going, so I can cut the right way
I watched the video but im still a little confused
I go into more detal for ya in this video here and give examples. ruclips.net/video/c3aaH2Ttz3M/видео.html
Wow this guy really broke his knife for us 🤯
*opens packages*
*breaks knife*
"So yeah, don't do that"
Thank you for breaking your equipment for us.
very good instruction Thank you
Thanks Gene!
Okay I've watched this video before but #5 still just happened to me because dumb me decided to go for some quick whittling in the middle of the night. Came back from the ER with four stitches. Went straight through the glove. 5/5 flexcut knife
ooch, ya sometimes you get reminded in one way or another to watch where that blade can go. Glad you were wearing gloves though!
Thank you so much for this video, trying to teach my twins and this video came in handy quick 😂
Flippity do dah is the new official name for all pocket flip blades
Drawing the blade edge perpendicular is awesome but, use a Stanley razor blade for it. Gets a better finish and takes off a smaller amount of material. Yeah don't use your actual knives for it though.
Is it ok to carve with pocket knives does it work well still
Yep! Most people start and only use pocket knives for whittling
Ok thank you
So in case I cut my finger what would you recommend doing to heal it?
Depends on the cut. If it's shalow and small, clean it and use a bandaid.
Deeper, and you know first aid, thoroughly clean it and use butterfly bandages, tape, astringent powder, and/or superglue.
Otherwise, see a trained medical professional to assess what needs to be done.
But using a slice resistant glove and/or thumb guards will reduce the cances of injuries as well as make sure the injury isn't worse
@@CarvingisFun thank you for replying and for the info
I want to know do you use the sharp side or the blunt side for a beginner and also where did you find the piece of leather on the brick
Not sure what you mean with the sharp side vs blunt side, but I cut witb the sharp side if thats what your asking. But I made my leather strop by gluing a strip of leathet to a block of wood.
How do we tell which way the grain is?
This video will give ya a full explanation with visual examples ruclips.net/video/c3aaH2Ttz3M/видео.html
The only thing I don't do is sharpen the blade as I carve, I am definitely going to start!
Honing the blade as you carve every 20-30 min will help keep that edge nice and sharp :)
@@CarvingisFun Thank you for the advice, it's really gonna help! Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!🎄🎄🎄
Same to you!
Yep broke a tip. Got back to good but dang I wasn’t carving while stoning the blade 😂
Yeppers, would rather be carving than fixing a knife any day.
Can I use any old pocket knife?
Yep!! Thats how most people start :)
Is that cut proof material on your right hand thumb ? I am a total newbie and am really enjoying your videos ,thanks
Howdy!
The green stuff on my right thumb is actually self adhering ace wrap. While it isn't advertised as "slice resistant" it does protect my fingers from accidental cuts and is easy to replace.
More info on this video here: ruclips.net/video/o2ugpgBg8uU/видео.html
Thanks for a useful advices!
My pleasure!
Wow just straight in to it
My first thought was, "Does he really wear those gloves when whittling?" I've never seen anyone whittle with gloves. Then I saw the fingers ahead of the blade, got goose bumps, and thought, keep the gloves on, dude!
Some people done, I know myself well enough that I should have em on just in case
What is the best cheapest wood carving set? Around $30
Unfortunately the super cheap sets from china are all the same and aren't that great. But if you want a good affordable set, pick up one from beavercraft as they are the best quality of the affordable knives. All the super cheap sets are knockoffs of their knives anyways.
@@CarvingisFun what is your take on kakuri kiridashi, made in japan?
They are neat lil knives and are quite effective for carving when you get use to handling em. Personally I would throw some tool tape around the handle for comfort.
@@CarvingisFun in your opinion what is the best, worth saving for?
Best is subjective to what is being made. For me, I really like my Helvie knives. If you are going to be carving harder woods, Deepwoods Ventures is a great option. If you want thinner knives Drake knives are wonderful but prone to damage if mishandled.
Good middle of the road knives are Flexcut and Focuser Carving knives
Very nice crash - test.
Thank You !!!
:)
You're welcome!
What tape is that? Im new to whittling and want to protect my hands a bit more than the gloves.
That would be self adhering ace wrap i got at my local pharmacy.
i just wondered about something since i have a school project where my teacher is making me make knives they arent really carving knives but i started to wonder if you have made a knife handle by carving before?
I've modified knives by carving them, but haven't yet made my own handle from scratch yet. I have plans on doing so in the future though.
@@CarvingisFun i recommend trying since its pretty fun and would be pretty fun if you made a vid about it showing it to the others
I have plans on making my own knife from a high carbon jigsaw blade and making a handle for it, got the wood I want to use too!
@@CarvingisFun i would really look forward to seeing how you do it woulf be fun to see the process and results!
@@CarvingisFun btw do you know about a legal webiste to order from in norway way to get the whittling equipment bc rn i have been trying to find some website that is legal but sloyd detaljer doesnt seem to have those skinnier knife blades
thanks
Extremely useful!
I broke the tip on my whittle knife years ago. I ground the back to look like a hawk bill. I like it better.
thank you!
great tips!
Can you tell me what kind of glove and thumb grip you are using and where i can purchase?
Howdy!
I have the link in this video below but I am using the dex fit cut resistant gloves from amazon and self adhering ace wrap.
ruclips.net/video/CdNTNKvzsGk/видео.html
I'll be publishing an updated video next week with more details too.
Why break a flex cut?
So you dont have to :)
You sacrificed a knife for the video, that earns a like!
No gloves. Bloody fingers. Never tried it again. Also used a hardwood as my first wood.
Guilty of #5. Got nerve damage and super glued it back together.
That must have felt awful! I superglues a cut bact together once, burned like crazy!!