Modifying Flexcut carving knife

[Brian T]

There's all sorts of dull steels worth fooling with to make wood carving edges.
First Nations here use mostly sawmill blades and assorted truck leaf springs.
Hack saw blades and SawzAll blades are magic (go slow and don't cook the temper out of them.)

I've used a lot of old farrier's hoof trimming knife blades in my own handles.
They are so cheap that I fix up some and give them away as gifts to people who might have an interest in carving some day.

[Eddy-Smiles]

I have a wide selection of knives and I agree that the thinner the blade the easier it is to pass it through the wood. However, I'm not sure that I'd be able to successfully change the grind of a Flexcut knife to a flat grind without screwing it up. This past week I was just surfing the wood carving supply houses looking at available knives and reinforced my opinion that if I was just starting out again I would have ordered an OCCT (Shipley) products to begin with. They're relatively available, offer a wide selection, and I believe that for the quality they probably offer the most bang for the buck. That's not to say that I'd give up my Goodman or Helvi knives but there are more choices out there than Flexcut.

[Mark N. Akers]

Ihow actually there isn't but a few that i don't have to resharpen to my liken, most of it is the bevel, allot of knives come from the factory with there bevel, which can be 15% which is very steep for soft wood carving. the ones i use now is my preference and he sharpens them from the front to the back bevel thats a Helvie, i like mine about 5% at the most, the flatter the better.

[DiLeon]

At the bottom of my own list is Pheif and Flexcut,.... why I do not use them much at all. Pheif knife does not cut as well as many other knives. Flex cut I only use for rare things, they sit most in my knife cases but are normally not used. I do consider these Ok knives but not great.

I want a good knife that cuts awesome and stays sharp.....top of my list and go to knife is Drake, next is Lyons, then....Deepwood Venture, Cape Forge, OCCI, BrandantR, and my Lee Ferguson detail is awesome. I have many others. But I do not own a Helvie so can not compare...but I do know that I have one too many knives.

[Brian T]

BrandantR. There's a name that has not come up here for a long time.
He made a genuine "detail" knife for me that gave new meaning to the words: "fine cuts."

I got a couple of Pfeil knives in tool consignments which were a disappointment for what I like to do.
So I looked up the prices and sold them off cheap just to move them off my bench.

If you want serious straight knives, you should look at Kestrel, North Bay Forge and Herb Rice. Jamie Sharp isn't moving too fast and he's now smack dab in the middle of the horrendous flooding in the Fraser River valley of BC.

These knives are just little flakes of steel. I encourage everybody, if you can, to make one or more.
Look at the fantastic blades from the First Nations carvers here in the Pacific Northwest. In the beginnings, of course, those blades were sharpened with a rock and water.

[tbox61]

It looks like some knife brands are hard to get right now. From what I understand, Helvie is back logged 5-6 months. If you have any excess Helvie knives you may want to get rid of, they are bringing $100 to $150 on ebay right now.

I have a Gerald Sears #3 signature knife I am really considering listing as I don't use it much...

[NoDNA]

I made some small gouges out of hacksaw blades, work great. Had to reharden & temper after shaping the gouges, but no problems.

Wood love to see that,, but great IDEA..!
Thanks for that one.
Chuck

[joepaulbutler]

Chuck, here they are. the widths are 2, 9, & 13 64ths. Attached like Brian T. shows he connects his blades. Overall length ±4-1/4", handle I turned out on my small lath.

C7Cs welcomed

[buckbeans]

I'd begin by having a chat with your local blade smith. Get the blade of your desired shape made with experience. Then, you make the handle to fit your hands.

Handle hardware, like different sorts of rivets, are not difficult to find.
Snoop around anyplace which sells horse tack and the like sorts of leather and parts.

I agree with you completely. I do very little whittling although i do use a long knife when carving around eyes. I cannot see spending more than ten bucks for a good hardened and tempered blade then glue and rivet on a handle.

[buckbeans]

It looks like some knife brands are hard to get right now. From what I understand, Helvie is back logged 5-6 months. If you have any excess Helvie knives you may want to get rid of, they are bringing $100 to $150 on ebay right now.

I have a Gerald Sears #3 signature knife I am really considering listing as I don't use it much...

I do have a Helvie that I don't particularly prefer over other knifes and may go ahead and do that with a two year waiting list.

[NoDNA]

Chuck, here they are. the widths are 2, 9, & 13 64ths. Attached like Brian T. shows he connects his blades. Overall length ±4-1/4", handle I turned out on my small lath.

C7Cs welcomed

I like!! I'd best get to work, I think I will put the metal in the wood though? My lathe is my bench drill I have an attachment for making small handles.

[Brian T]

I've been surface mounting crooked knife blades in handles of my own making for 10 years+.
I've been rough on them, like to break one to see where they fail. No such problem. Not ever.
I've broken adze handles, cracked them under the cord even. Don't care.

If you get $2,000.00/foot for a serious welcome pole, you don't need factory knives.