What is the difference between Flexcut KN12 and KN14

[invasion1973]

Just was wondering what the difference is between the Flexcut cutting knife KN12
and the roughing knife KN14 is the roughing knife really needed wouldn't the cutting knife do the same thing ??

Thanks
Adam

[Claude]

I have the KN12 Cutting Knife and hardly ever use it. My KN13 Detail Knife does all I need on 2 inch square and smaller basswood. For larger pieces, I use mallet and gouges until I get down fairly close, and the use the Detail Knife to get to places where it seems to be easier to use than the gouges.

Claude

[Alfwok]

The difference is the blade length kn12=1-1/8" kn13=1-1/2" kn14=2" but as Claude said all you really need is the kn13.

[jmischel]

I have a KN12. It was the first carving knife I ever bought. Before that I was using a pocket knife and a utility knife. I still use the KN12 quite a bit on "found wood" projects, but I often wish the blade were longer. I certainly wouldn't buy both and given the choice to do it over again, I'd go for the KN14.

[Robson Valley]

The blade of my 14 is skinny when compared with a Moor or the big Pfeil Brienz. Just that little bit extra "reach" into corners and undercuts. The edge is a longer, more stable "keel" to drag around for making stop cuts along the center line of big smooth curves.

[CycleCoder]

When I was young and wanted to buy some tool to make things easier, an old golfer I knew used to always tell me "It's the Indian, not the arrow" and then he'd go into a very long explanation about some old pawn-shop golf clubs vs new $500 clubs and that it doesn't matter if you can't swing it.

All that said, it's only a $20 knife. But it's easy to then want to buy more specialized knives/tools, and it racks up pretty quick.

Now I'm just a beginner too, but if carving is like any other hobby I've dabbled in, then more specialized tools may not make much difference at all in improving your skill set, and using the wrong tools might make things harder.

I've been using a good ol' swiss army knife (which has both a 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" blades and if you keep it on your keychain you'll find the phillips head screwdriver very handy) and occasionally an xacto knife.

The only thing I can think of that makes the flexcut more attractive to a bigger is that they say it's already sharp. I had originally bought a carving knife set from a local hobby store for around $30, and the knives were all dull. I had to learn to sharpen them before I could safely carve anything at all. Learning to sharpen the knives before I could start doing anything fun almost made me give up, but once I figured it out I sharped my pocket knife and haven't looked back. A pocket knife also has the benefit of being able to be used virtually anywhere.

[Eddy-Smiles]

If you're collecting Flex Cut knives I don't think that I'd waste my money on a KN12 (cutting knife) until I got used to working with my KN14 (roughing knife) and KN13 (Detail knife) first. Like Claude says, the KN13 is a work horse that will in most cases get you to where you want to go. The KN14 does comes in handy when you have an extra wide piece of wood that you want to take down or skim off. It's also good for taking a lot of wood off at once if you're a whittler and not a carver and don't generally resort to gouges and chisels to roughout.

And while it's true that you don't need a fancy selection of knives to get the job done ( I do a lot of my whittlin' with just my Flex Cut Carvin' Jack), it's nice to have specialty kinves that you know you can depend on to perform certain tasks because they're longer, shorter, thinner, fatter, bent, or a combination thereof. Besides, what's the fun of carvin' if you can't collect a few knives along the way?