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[mpounders]

A good carving knife, like an OCCT or a Helvie might be a little safer to use than a razor blade. Working with power typically will cause some fuzzing on some woods and requires some cleanup. Might try a sanding cone on your Dremel?

[mpounders]

Claude's illustration is pretty accurate. Most carving knives will have a single bevel running all the way to the back of the blade. It is designed to slice through wood and your Drake should cut much better than your sharpest pocket knife. And it should only need stropping/honing for quite some time....

[mpounders]

I wouldn't recommend Hickory as a good carving wood. It is a very tough wood to carve green or dry.

[mpounders]

I am not sure that it depicts an Amish couple, at least not accurately? The bonnet and dress of the woman appears too ornate for Amish dress, too much lace. And Amish men who are married typically grow beards. It is a nice carving, but I don't think it was carved by the Amish or that it depicts them....

[mpounders]

I would have started with a Burke, rather than building various versions of it with motors from a ceiling fan, shoe buffer, and other attempts. A belt sander is useful for changing profiles on bigger tools, but the Burke does everything else. I use full size tools, palm tools, and quite a few knives....

[mpounders]

You can carve with anything if it is sharp enough! I have used a utility knife quite a bit, but a prefer longer blades now, with a smaller tip. I highly recommend Pfeil gouges, either full, intermediate, or palm size, but I don't care for the blade shape or thickness of the blade of their knives. Unfortunately,...

[mpounders]

I bought two, a detailer and a longer rough out knife. The detailer is ok, cuts good and is comfortable, but a few gaps around where the blade goes in the handle. The rough out had some issues, including the same gaps. I had to wait a bit for my knives because he had problems with the steel for the...