Flexcut Carvin' Jack

[Kenny_S]

Did anyone recieve a Carvin' Jack for Christmas and if so, how do you like it? Pros and cons.

My number 2 son in law gave me one. I found it less useful than my swiss army knife and gave it to my number 1 son in law for his bday. Mostly it's got a lot of stuff that just isn't very useful to the day to day whittler. At least with the swiss army knife you can open bottles, turn screws, use the tooth pick, and even whittle a bit if you modify the blades a tad.

While I don't have one I have a friend who received one for Christmas and he loves it. He has no other carving tools other than knives and Dremels, no gouges, v tools, etc. He likes to go to ballgames etc. and finds that it is great for carrying around to events such as that, loves it.

[Kenny_S]

Thanks guys. I looked at one at Woodcraft and asked if I could handle it and they were more than willing and let me use it on some bass wood. I did not find it was all that handy myself. For what Woodcraft was selling it for, I could get a couple sets of gouges for the same amount . So I did not purchase it.
Thanks for the replies.

[Ric]

While on a road trip last year I tried one from a vender who had a pre-sale demo. I did not care for it personnally. I used it on a piece of basswood and did not like the feel of it, and as said above, you can do better for your investment. JMHO.
Ric

Kenny,
I teach at the Tulsa Woodcraft and have had an opportunity to 'play' with the Carvin' Jack. I can see it as a tool to take along on one of my motorcycle trips when hauling my tool box isn't practical but beside that, I'm pretty sure opening and closing one blade and another would ultimately mean more band-aids.
jerry

[Kenny_S]

I have seen your name on the fliers and Greg has said he has been had some help from you. Thanks for the reply and I hope Woodcraft is there for a long time as I am 70 miles north of Tulsa and get down ther often. Woodcraft is one of the stops.

Personally, I will not be investing in a Carvin' Jack but do like the other Flexcut products. I plan to stick with my Boker as a carry carving knife or the Case as they have been handy and allowed me to carve away the hours when the little bride is shopping.
Best to you

[Woodwose Carving]

Useful post guys, I have been looking at the Carving Jack but have held off due to the price. its up to £96 here in the uk. I cant understand why its so expensive. I could get a Flexicut Palm Travel set for £66.
I am however a bit of a tool hoarder/collector and this is sufficiently unique to still be interesting. Regards Dave

[Farmall]

I have a Carvin' Jack and, like someone said, it is a great piece to take with you when you travel as it has several tools in a small package. BUT, like others have also said, you have to be careful making sure all the blades are all the way inside as they will cut you if you grip it to use it and they protrude (especially the straight gouge-I've been nipped a couple of times by the sharp corner sticking up).

I really think its usefulness is based upon your style of carving...if you mainly use a straight blade, why bother with one? Any sharp pocket knife will work. However, if you use v-tools, gouges, and a knife, it is a nice piece to carry in your pocket to use like when waiting on your special someone to get out of the store, or similar.

It is expensive, though.

[Lightningbolt]

I think that this thread was started about when the first Carvin' Jack came onto the scene about 5ish years ago. When I first saw it advertised on the back cover of WCI I knew that I'd have to have one. (And they say marketing don't work!! )

I've elaborated on it in other threads over the years but speaking for myself I'm addicted to the Carvin' Jack like I was to smokeless tobacco about 30 years ago. Yes, it takes some getting used to and yes, it's easy to nick your finger if all the blades aren't completely closed, and yes, it is expensive... buttttttttt... once you've either mastered and/or accepted all of the above then I've found it one of the most useful things that I've ever put on my belt. It's definitely a tool that took a little more time to learn to use than a conventional tool, but once there I knew there was no turning back.

I guess that I just love the idea of having a complete carving set on me all the time and there's never a chance that I can't carve because it stays on my pants belt 24/7 so it's there like it or not. I so much love it that last fall when I thought that I'd lost it I immediately ordered another one, then found the original under my bed about a month later. Now I've even got a back-up so there's never a need to hyperventilate during a moment of crisis again!