Woodcarving knife on a budget

[Gear Dog]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I made the mistake of picking up a knife and basswood blocks from Michaels. The blade didn't have an edge at all and the wood was rock hard. Lucky for me I found a carving club close by and they've taught me so much. The first thing they did was sharpen my knife for me so that I knew what sharp really meant. They gave me some fresh basswood to practice on. What a difference that made in my decision to keep carving. Soon after that I picked up a Butz knife and it was like night and day. At the advice of the club I stuck with that one for a while before picking up anymore knives. Many new carvers think getting a "better knife" will make them a better carver. A sharp edge and practice is all you need to become better. I agree little shavers is a great starting point. Good luck and date and keep all of your carvings. You will be suprized how you can learn from the ones tha didn't come out the way you wanted them to.

[Dan S]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

For a quality knife try cape forge or perhaps Brian Ferguson..

Dan

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I guess I have some strong opinions towards knife quality, especially for carvers. I made the mistake of buying a very low quality knife from a local craft store to start with and turned out a couple of pitiful carvings with a huge amout of effort. Luckily I stuck with it and bought a good quality knife, and it made all the difference. My suggestion to new carvers is always buy a high quality knife to start with. They carve soooo much better, and if you don't fall in love with carving, I'm sure you can find a buyer for the knife.

By the way, high quality does not always mean high price.

Well said Brandant!

Dave

[Eddy-Smiles]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

Great advice Brandant! I think we've all had similar experiences with tools and can only hope that these new members give some thought to what is said before going out and wasting their money on carving tools at stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Harbor Freight. Not that these stores don't have some craft items that carvers can use, it's just that you need to shop for the right item at the right place.

[BrandantR]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I guess I have some strong opinions towards knife quality, especially for carvers. I made the mistake of buying a very low quality knife from a local craft store to start with and turned out a couple of pitiful carvings with a huge amout of effort. Luckily I stuck with it and bought a good quality knife, and it made all the difference. My suggestion to new carvers is always buy a high quality knife to start with. They carve soooo much better, and if you don't fall in love with carving, I'm sure you can find a buyer for the knife.

By the way, high quality does not always mean high price.

[Tim Gillane]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

Definitely check out Lil Shavers.

[Siva Ramasamy]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I did buy mine at Michael's, and it was really cheap for a real beginner like myself.
Siva

[Canopener]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I would suggest going to Little Shavers, Rick and Teresa will sell you what you want and need and how to keep it sharp. It is a rare pleasure to do business with them.
You already found out what cheap will buy you.
Jim

[Eddy-Smiles]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

MC... For a just a few bucks more, and I do mean just a few, you can call or email Mike Shipley at Ozark County Characters Ozark County Characters and get a really decent knife that you'll never regret buying and the best part about it is that he'll send it to you first and you pay him when you receive it and you only pay what it actually costs to ship it, usually less than $2.00. These are the same quality knives that Ron Wells use to make! I recommend that mini 1-3/8" detail for small whittling!

[davidinsarasota]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

Dave's suggestion of a Murphey knife from Little Shavers gets my vote. Good steel (unlike Xacto), good handle, longish blade. Little Shavers is a long time friend of the forum, and I've read many posts of carvers sending in problem blades for him to fix or tune; thats the kind of vendor you want to have a relationship with.

[Whittled Thumb]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I used Xacto knives but not what was posted above. Those look like no. 11 blades to me. To flexable to bendable, not durable. You can buy CARVING blades just for carving for them. Then I just strop them out when needed or re sharpen them. Also I make my own blades from jig saw blades that I break while doing projects. I've found I'd rather use my blades than the XACTO ones. Anyway I paid 9 bux for the knfe with blade and I think you can buy a pack of blades for 4 bux or so. With stropping and keeping them fine tuned you won't need to buy them often. I found that when I sharpen and strop them myself, they are sharper than they came in the package. I'm gona make my own knife soon. I think I have blade making down to an art, knife is next.

This is the XACTO knife i use. I like that blade okay but they have other blades aswell. They are type D blades. Very hard very durable blades made for carving.

http://www.xacto.com/ProductImages/images/X3261.jpg

Also as stated above, you can get a stanley utility knife and use that. HomeDeopt and lowes now carry a couple of lines of them that re non retractable type. They are smaller than what Lynn uses and I think they'd be perfect for carving.

[mcooksy]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. I don't think I'll be doin much chip carving, but I'll definitely be checkin out all these knives. I bought the only whittling knife they had at Michael's on sale for 13 bucks a few weeks ago but it wasn't sharpened and I can't seem to get it sharp enough. The Murphy knife looks exactly like it, but I assume the Michael's knife is some cheap foreign knock off. Thanks for the info guys, enjoy your day.
-Mike

[uvawyo]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I, too like the Murphy, but just getting started a stanley knife is very inexpensive

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

I carver for many years using xacto knives and blades. I still use them for some detail work. about $18. I did have to sharpen them some.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Re: Woodcarving knife on a budget

Here is what I would go with, Murphy Knives at Little Shavers

Dave