Carry along carver

[JJireh]

I work in an cube farm with hundreds of other people, so every now and again throughout the day I HAVE to go outside. While venturing out for oxygen, I found an interesting little twig that had fallen off of a gum tree. So I reach into my pocket and pull out the swiss army knife and begin to make chips. I quickly realize that the blades on the SAK aren't conducive to carving. When I get home I pull out the dremel and make a couple of modifications. I transformed the flat head screwdriver into a little carver/chisel and pulled out the toothpick and replaced it with a galvanized nail utility knife. They are still a little rough, but they work very well. I'll clean them up later. Looking to see if I can make some more mods, it has a saw already built in I may try to make a little gouge where the tweezers go. Thanks for looking.

Side note: I brought my little carving back in and gave it to an atheist I work with and told him that I found it outside and guessed it had evolved out there in the yard. Fun fun.

Sean

[tnartist05]

Sean.I like the little tree branch wood spirit! Nice job on getting his nose out and his beard. Nice details!!

Good work from your WORK! LOL

Thk's for sharing how he came about and your carving.

Forrest

[Ron T]

Hi Sean,

I think you did a great job on that little twig.

[markken5889]

you're going to give Carving Jack a run for its money. Great idea, Sean.

Mark

[JJireh]

Thanks Forrest, Ron, and Mark.
Sometimes you have to get out of the bldg! Some people smoke, I have to go chip
That Jack looks dangerous, at least the flathead on this SAK locks.
I'll update when i get it cleaned up and perty.
The twig is just a 'doodle' but thanks for the compliments
Sean

[Riverman]

Hi Sean, that is a great idea for the SAK, I like the small carving!
Bob

[Hollow1]

looks awesome and has a great story behind it

[RUssL.]

For the past few years I have carried a Swiss Army Knife "Tinker" model with me wherever I go.

I modified the smaller of the two blades the knife is equipped with with my Dremel tool in a manner described by Chris Lubkemann in his twig carving books. It really lends itself to whittling just about anything I need it to do for impromptu carving.

I reserve the large blade for other "knife tasks" that I might need a pocket knife for and make sure that the modified smaller blade is ONLY used for whittling. That way is always super sharp and never damaged in everyday use.

For more demanding travel carving I have a Warren kit with interchangeable gouges, but I seldom used. Sure is handy when I do though!


All the best,

Russ

[JJireh]

Thanks all.
Russ, I sure would like to see pics of your tinker. I am keeping the large blade as is as well for knife tasks. This one only has the one blade, so I had to modify the tools.
Sean

[RUssL.]

Sean,

I'll make a note to take a picture, shrink it to fit the board and put it up this weekend. In the meantime I can tell you all I did. It is not rocket science:

Simply grind down the small blade as "pointy" as you can by grinding down the back of the blade as far as you can without eliminating the nail-nick.
Then you just resharpen and polish the blade back up in the usual manner. I use oil stones & leather strop.
You'd never know that it didn't come from the factory already that way.

My first one, the one I carry all the time, came out great.
My second and backup one in case I lose the original, came out a little too ground down and the nail-nick almost got eliminated.

The blade, to my eye, doesn't look as symmetrical as my successful first ground one, but it would work probably just as well...

I'll make a note to myself to take a photo and put it up.

All the best,

Russ