chip carving

[Dennis Taylor]

New to this craft, and have a set of tools from Rick, which seem to work great, I am not great, but the tools are...my next question is this:...I would like to try my hand at a little chip carving and looking for good reference material and needed tools.....primarily what knife would be a good choice?...tks in advance for responses..Dennis

[KettleKarver]

I like the Flexcut chip carving knife. A friend of mine swears by his Dennis Moor knife. I don't like my Denny - its too pointy, not enough blade in my opinion.

There are a number of good books for reference. Something by Wayne Barton or Dennis Moor should give you a good start. Check with your local library or club. They might have something you can checkout at no cost.

Hope this helps,
Jim

[papasar]

Welcome!
Ditto Jim on the books because they have great patterns but to get the hang of chip carving a little faster I suggest getting Wayne Bartons tape. Almost as good as sitting next a carver. I have just about every chip carving knife on the market due to the passing of my mentor. He collected them over 25 yrs. They are all good once you get used to them. I prefer the small Notto knife and small Denny for more delicate cuts and Denny's large for larger work. Unlike Jim I like a sharp point to get in deep to remove those little time wasters that show up now and again. By the way my the extra knives wont go to waste. I give them to beginners along with a strop and some compound to get them started.
Bill K.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I started with Wayne Bartons "chip carving techniques and patterns" its a good book...do what he says exactly, seems awkward but will become natural. As for knives I have a Dennis Moor Knife, good knife, flexcut..ok, Barton, good knife....and a knife I designed and had made by Harold Woods which I love! www.woodysknives.com tell him Dave Dunlap told you about it.

[Dennis Taylor]

Well Bill you have a large supply of knives, and I happen to be the beginner!...I think it is hard not being able to handle the knife, I have large hands, so to find a knife that works is hard without holding it...from the posts I am guess, maybe one would need 2 knifes for chip carving, the typical larger, thicker bladed knife, and a 2nd more pointy knife for making deeper cuts...I seen the Barton knife, and it is just that, but his 2nd knife is a stabbing type knife....I will check out my library for reading resources, they don't have any chip carving dvd's, have a series of Rick Butz, and I have watch the first series, pretty good viewing for a beginner.....There are just so many choices, and hard to determine a good one!....dennis

[Irish]

Dennis Moor's large chip knife is perfect for a man with large hands. It's contoured handle is made for a man and very well balanced. I use one of Dennis' original rosewood large chip knives as a bench knife probably more than I do as a chip knife. So it is very versitale (SP). It is great to have all three chip knives but you can do a beautiful detailed carving just using the large.

Susan