Introduction and a few questions

[Cold Mountain]

Greetings all! I am glad to have stumbled upon this
wonderful forum! I have read some posts already and am
already amazed at how helpful and friendly the members are
here!
I live in Vancouver, BC and I like the outdoors. I have
recently been drawn to trying my hand at carving wood.
I have a few questions and please bear with a complete
newbie like me knowing that I don't know the first thing
about wood carving...some of the questions might seem
really basic to you as well. OK...here goes... :-)

a) What is the difference between carving and whittling?
The reason I ask is that I see carving knives and whittling
knives. What is the actual difference? Is Whittling more
detailing work after you carve a piece of wood??
b) I have a Swiss Army "Hiker" knife which has 2 blades..a
longer and a shorter blade. Do you think this is an adequate
tool to get started with? I carry this knife on my hiking
trips and in the future would like to use a portable tool
to collect any pieces of driftwood or broken off branches etc that I find lying around to carve. If not, any other good reasonably priced tools I could get which are portable and light weight to carry in my backpack?
c) How do I start learning how to identify the various different kinds of woods....? I realise that this might be a broad topic so please point me to a resource I can look at if possible...
d) Any other tips etc?

Well thats it for now I guess...I look forward to learning and contributing as much as I can :-)

[AlArchie]

Actually carving and whittling are whatever the carver or whittler decides to call what he does!

Generally, a whittling knife is a folding type knife you can stick in your pocket, and a carving knife has a fixed blade, of various designs.

A whittling knife can have several blades; quite a few of them come with three blades, one large (2 1/2" to 3" long) with a sharp point, a shorter (1 3/4" to 2" long), also with a sharp point and a third short short sheepsfoot, or copeing style blade.

Now, to really clarify things, you can carve with a whittling knife, and you can whittle with a carving knife.

Some folks say that carving is actually making something recognizable, and whittling is the process of making only two things.

1. A pointed stick.
2. A really nice pile of shavings on the front porch.

A sharp Swiss Army style knife will serve well for a starter....I've carved (or whittled) quite a few small objects with mine!

For collecting wood, Sears has a plastic handled folding saw that you can actually stick in your back pocket. Kinda small but fine for cutting walking stick size stuff.

There is also a portable folding bow saw called a Sven Saw that sells for under 20 bucks, (used to anyhow). It all collapses into a round tubular handle with the blade protected inside. They come in 18 and 24 inch styles. either one will fit nicely into a day pack. Check here.......

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...71&cat=1,42884

or here..........

http://www.svensaw.com/

If I were you I'd look around for a good bench knife and a pocket whittler for starters. Whittler can be found for between 25 and 30 bucks and a decent bench knife will set you back between 10 and 30 bucks, depending on how much youwant to spend.

Little Shavers offers a good starting set for a reasonable price. (not including a whittler), but a bench knife and small gouge set. www.littleshavers.com
there are other suppliers of starter kits out there too, but I'm familiar with this one.

Identifying found wood is almost impossible, especially dead wood and driftwood. Live standing wood is best ID's in the summer when the leaves are out. Pick up an Audubon tree book for 20 bucks....they are made for packing along, have a soft cover (but sturdy) and have good pictures of bark, leaves, needles, flowers and seeds.

Al

[papasar]

Welcome welcome!
Man you got me envious. I'm city born and bred but hunted, fished, camped and most anything else to get into the woods or on the water most of my life.
Life caught up with me and my activities are limited. But I have great memories of the outdoors.

You sure asked a mouthful. Don't worry, the members will give you more info, advice, suggestions etc. than you can handle. Your in the right place. Just hold on for the responses. I'm kinda of a newbie so I defer to the old timers to help you out.
Again welcome.
Bill K.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

All the bases have been pretty well covered. The only thing I can think of to add is to be very careful if you are going to buy a "whittler" knife. There are many knives called "whittlers" by the manufacturers that are very poor whittling knives. In the knife inducstry the term "whittler" referes to a constgruction method rather than a purpose. A whittler is a knife of usually three blades, A single large one at one end of the frame and two equal sized (not necessarily shaped) at the other. The knife has two back springs. One ofr each of the smaller blades and the large blade bears on both backsprings at the other end. Some are decent whittling/carving knives while others are not so good. If that's confusing, I'd be happy to try again.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Rick at little shavers has a kershaw double cross knife that some swear by (after he modifies it!) I have not seen one and am tool poor or I would get one! Al just about covered everything...I personally like to carve basswood.....part because it carves nice and mostly because I hate sanding and it sands easy!! LOL Welcome, what is this a Colin invasion by Canadians ha haSarcastic Happy

[mikeg]

You'll probably get a different answer from each person on what's best. That being said, I have the Kershaw Double Cross that Hi-Ho mentioned and I love it. It has two blades and they're both lock-blades. Rick's modifications help make it a great carving pocket knife.

I also like to carry a small Case Congress knife as it has some nice, small, blades for detail work. The Case Seahorse Whittler is also pretty nice although it's respective blades are little bigger than the Congress or the Double Cross.

I carry a Swiss Army knife for cutting everything else. I don't want to ruin the great job that Rick did on the Double Cross nor the adequate job I did sharpening the Congress.

Welcome to the site and feel free to ask any questions, I certainly have asked more than my share!! Talking

mikeg

[squbrigg]

Welcome aboard Cold Mountain, great to see another Canadian with us. This place is getting right popular with them! Great country out your way, lots of wood to whittle or carve, what ever your pleasure, and no end to the possibilities of subject matter. Enjoy!

Bob

[Irish]

What a wonderful question: What’s the difference between whittling and carving? I agree some what with Al, but I think it has more to do with the time period in today’s carving world.

In yester-year when Great Grandpa was sittin’ on the stone steps of the cabin’s front porch the term Carvers referred to Stone Carvers or furniture carvers. They were highly trained men that had spent years in apprenticeships to perfect their craft. The rest of us, those front porch carvers, were then called Whittlers.

Home whittlers were adding a touch of folk art to the everyday necessities that they were creating. So as Grandma was weaving a fanny basket to collect them taters come harvest, Grandpa was a whittlin’ on a walking stick or on a wooden jointed doll that was destined to be a beloved treasures toy.

Somehow I just don’t see Great Grandpa working on a fully realistic feather detailed pintail duck sculpture using just his pocket knife and the az back then. However in today's carving craft he not only is working on that duck he probably has a full set of tools to use, a local carver's group to go to for advice, and lots of resources on the net for guidance ... what a different world.


Susan Irish

[Clifford_Parker]

whittle

VERB:

tr.

1. a. To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood).

b. To fashion or shape in this way: whittle a toy boat.

2. To reduce or eliminate gradually, as if by whittling with a knife: whittled down the debt by making small payments.


intr.

1. To cut or shape wood with a knife.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle English whyttel, knife, variant of thwitel, from thwiten, to whittle, from Old English thwitel, from thwiten, from Old English thwitan, to strike, whittle down



carve

VERB:

tr.

2. To cut into a desired shape; fashion by cutting: carve the wood into a figure.

3. To make or form by or as if by cutting: carve initials in the bark; carved out an empire.

4. To decorate by cutting and shaping carefully.


As a long time whittler ( 30+ years) and relatively new carver ( about 5 years) I feel very strongly about this distinction and about teaching others the true definition of whittling.

While you can carve with any number of tools you can only whittle with a knife.

[Lightningbolt]

Always nice to hear from our carving friends in the Pacific Northwest. I spent quite a bit of my younger years roaming all over B.C., especially the far northern areas along the Cassiar Route 37 and the Alcan Highway, AND all of the Inside Passage. I could write on and on about some of my life defining experiences there but suppose that I'd better revert back to your questions.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE: I use my Swiss Army Knife almost everyday of my life and it is always in my pocket. I work for an outdoor adventure program and I still have the same one that I was issued 23 1/2 years ago and except for the semi-wearing down of the main blade, it continues to be my favorite and most reliable. It has accompanied me on many multi-month wilderness excursions all over North America.

I carry the knife including the four internal tools, including the large and small blade, both of which I use for "whittlin" my slingshots or "carving" my woodspirit faces. I found that the little piece of protruding metal that the key chain is attached tended to make my thumb sore after an hours worth of push cuts... so I just put it on the grinder and "presto" it was gone.

For my multi-month long distance backpacking trips I have packed the small 'key chain' Swiss Army Knife for many thousands of miles and at only 1/2 ounce you get a cutting blade, fingernail file, scissors, tweezers, and a plastic toothpick. A direct link to all of my ultralight backpacking gear can be found at: http://members.tripod.com/gohike/pct/gearreview.html I just can't say enough good things about the Swiss Army Knife!

My most important advice is to carve something every single day whether you're in the mood or not. I see so many friends that are very excited at first and invest a few hundred dollars up front for knives and such, then never pick them up after a month or so. Sooooo... I have no better advice to offer than to simply carve on something every single day and you will begin to see pleasing results.