[Tom H]

Am interested in trying flatplane carving. Anyone have recommendation on the size and type of knife blade to use? Maybe even the maker? The blades in use, that I have seen, seem a little longer than what I am used to. Thanks Tom H

[Bartster]

tom,


pinewood forge makes a flat plane carving that harley refsal uses these are great knives from what i understand.thay make 2 different blade lengths. not sure what the address is but you can do search for them.

bart

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I have 3 Harold Woods knives I used on Lynn Diehl's navitivity scene (flat plane) and they work great, in fact they work great for about everything lol.............www.woodysknives.com ..

[carving farmer]

Hello: Get the knife from pinewood forge that they call a "harley knife". I bought one to use for flat plane carving and it really works good. Dell, the guy that makes them, and his wife are both very nice to deal with over the phone and service is usually fast if he has the knife on hand. He makes all of them so sometimes he has to make one up before he can send it to you. I have since bought 4 more knives of different types from him and all of them are really good. Just google pinewood forge to find the website. Their website has some interesting things to look at too, including instructions of how to make a sheath for your knife out of birch bark. I have made several of them and like them. Jared

[Kenny_S]

A good old Case pocket knife does a wonderfull job. You will find that most knives will do Tom. Try whatever knife you have. Bet you will find out, it does a wonderfull job at Flat Plane carving.JMHO

[Just Carving]

Tom,

I just checked Lynn Diel's Flat Plane Carving The Nativity, and he prefers a 2 1/4" thin bladed knife. He particularly prefers "Ron Well's carving knives because they are designed for flat plane carving. They have thin blades that allow carvers to make large flat planes as well as clean cuts across the grain and they hold a sharp edge with minimal maintenance." (pg. 5) Here's a link to see what the knife looks like:

http://www.ronwellswoodcarving.com/knives.htm

Before you go buying a knife, take a look at the different knives used for flat plane carving, and see what you have handy. You might be able to use what you have with equal or better results. All you might need to do is sharpen, and maybe modify the blade to what's needed.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Woodys knives.......

[smurfy]

Hi Ho, can you tell me about your sheaths on your Woodys knives?

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

They are just scraps of basswood from my scrap box. I take a couple pieces about 1/8" thick, draw the blade on, inlay about half the thickness of the blade on each half an glue together, trim on the scroll saw...fast and easy. I make a snug fit, so the covers don't fall off.

[Sam]

The Harley Knive mentioned is at www.pinewoodforge.com. They also sell the stubby which is shorter.

Flat Plane Carving is a technique - not something that a particular knife will do automatically for you. The technique is long bold cuts that you don't round over. You position them to reflect light for the look you want. The Hobos in another thread are a good example of the technique.

You can do this technique with any knife - I have and use a Harley, but I really like using a chip carving knife - Currently, a Flexcut, but I also have a Barton and a Swiss Made - they all work fine. Any sharp knife making long bold cuts will work - try it.