[SmallJawz]

Nancy, I have been carving caricatures for about three months now and prior to that have carved four birds. I have carved four heads using Marv's book and am working on a full caricature now. I don’t have a digital camera but will find a way to get some pics on the net. I've been lurking around for a while and will post an Introduction on the Welcome Members .

Thanks for the input on the knives. I guess its all personal taste and feel as I believe all the blades discussed have good steel.

My experience was:

Ron Wells> though I liked the knife when I attempted to sharpen the blade it eroded in the center and looked like a crescent moon. Maybe I just got a bad one.

Helvie> Also nice knives but the blade is rounded and needs to be re-shaped. I also like a little give in the knife and the Helvie's are very stiff.

Lyons> Great knives but the handle in uncomfortable in my hand.

Just my $0.02

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

SmallJawz - What kind of stones are you using for sharpening?

Smallmouth, love 'em. My best is 23" no weight, didn't have a scale. Just measured it and put it back in it's house.

[mikeg]

Small_Jawz, you could always send your knives to Rick at little shavers, he'll get them SHARP for you for a very reasonable price. Then you can keep them sharp for quite a while by stropping.

I've got a Denny detail knife that I like. I also use a couple of Murphy's a lot. A Ron Wells is on my list to buy since I've heard a lot of good things about them.

As far as pocket knives go, I carry a Kershaw Double Cross and a Case Small Congress for carving and a Swiss Army knife for cutting anything else.

mikeg

[Sam]

Most of my carving is done with knives. I have CapeForge, Denny, Flexcut, Harley from Pinewood Forge, Two Cherries, and 2 Swedish Moras. I like them all, but the favorite is the Harley. I do everything from roughout to detail with it. The Moras are laminated steel and hold an edge like nothing I have seen before.

I carry a Kershaw Double Cross for 'emergency carving'.

[Mike-in-WV]

It seems that I have heard others say they don't like the Flexcut knives for one reason or another but I can't figure out why. They are super sharp with great steel and shapes to the blade . Maybe they don't like the shape or size of the handle but with my big hands the handle seems to fit just fine. Mike

[SmallJawz]

Yep for right now the Flexcut are my preferred choice, but as with anything else I'm sure I'll find others to try.

As for the stones I use right now I am using an oil stone combination 220/320. If I don't need to re-shape I just use wet/dry sandpaper which I have glued to a small board the size of my oil stones. They are in grits 400, 600, 800, 1200 and 2000. Works great for me and it's cheap. I do want diamond stones in the future....maybe.

[SmallJawz]

Sam where can I see the Harley knives or are you speaking of Harley Davidson knives.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Smalljaws - The reason I asked about the stones was that one of the causes for the blade becomes half moon shaped (like on your wells) is a stone that has a high spot. This is relatively common on ceramic stones. If you lay a straight edge across the stone from edge to edge you will see daylight under the center of the straight edge. Not sure why ceramics have that problem, but suspect it has to do with uneven shrinkage during the manufacuring process. Another cause is uneven pressure along the length of the knife blade while sharpening.

Ed

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

smalljawz...you didn't mention a strop, you need a strop when you don't need to sharpen or reshape, not sandpaper...

[SmallJawz]

I know what you mean Ed, but I do not go side to side, I go in and out AS I go side to side…….. fewwwwww. Did you get all that.........I'm not sure how to explain it but I would think that that would make a difference ?????Right?????. I have sharpened other knives and chisels with great results but then again I'm still very green at all of this ,and very well may have made a mistake while sharpening it. As I did sharpen the wire edge formed and the center of the blade just fell out.
Well, anyway I'm sure I'll mess up a few blades learning. Just hope I don’t mess up any of my chisels.

As for a strop, I do use several. For knives I have a leather strop and for my chisels I use either a piece of cardboard or a rubber stop.

I didn't know when I started this hobby that I needed another hobby as well that goes along with it. Thats (Sharpening). But thats OK because I enjoy that as well, it's a good feeling to make your tools sharp again.