[mikeg]

I've seen the ads for the 'Oar Carver' and the 'Carvin Jack'. I was wondering what other 'pocket' knives are out there that have reasonably thin blades in shapes that are useful for whittling away idle time away from home without 'proper' tools. Before I bought an actual carving knife, I started out with a Stanley 3 blade pocket knife and the sheepsfoot blade was the one I used the most. From what I've seen, it seems like the Wharnclif and sheepsfoot blades would be most useful.

I thought I'd read somewhere that stainless steel isn't very desirable for a carving knife yet most of my pocket knives have stainless blades. Am I mis-informed?

Has anybody tried the 'Case Seahorse Whittler' or the 'Case Small Congress'? I have only seen them on-line so I haven't had the chance to handle them.

thanks in advance,
mikeg

[AlArchie]

I have a Camilus 1047 Whittler's Knife, marketed through the Boy Scouts of America catalog for around 25 bucks. (made in the USA, by the way) It is has three high carbon steel blades specifically designed for carving. Â*There is a pretty standard 2 inch carving blade, a shorter 'pen knife' blade and what is called a 'coping blade'. The coping blade is very similar to a squared off bench knife blade. Â*It is also a little like the sheepsfoot, but is thinner and has a good tip for working into tight corners. The other two blades are also made for carving, and are thinner in cross section than the 'stockman' knives, which look a lot lke the whittler.

Try this link Â* Â*http://www.scoutstuff.org/

First click on the 'Enter Here' logo, then go to camping equipment, then to knives and cutting tools, then pocket knives, then whittling kife. Sorry, I can't seem to link you directly to the whiller page.

I have seen similar whittling knives from Schrade, and Case, but these sell for over 40 dollars. Very seldon do you see BSA merchandise lower priced than other brands, but this one is definitely a good buy.

Stainless blades will bring up some discussion......I happen to like them. Â*They area bugger to get sharp the first time, as they are really hard. Â*A diamond stone is the best answer for that. Â*Once they are sharpened to your liking, however, they STAY sharp, and can be stropped very efficiently. Â* They also are not as prone to rusting as the carbon steel blades. Â*Stainless steel, contrary to popular belief, is NOT rust proof. Â*It will rust and corrode if left exposed to moisture long enough, and salt water has a quicker effect on it. Â*Sweat from your hands is salt water, so it's important to care for these blades just like you would carbon steel, dry them off if damp, oil them lightly when storing and store in a dry environment. Â*Good advice for ALL your carving tools.

Al

I use pocketknives for whittling and carving in the field quite often.

Though my favorite knife for this is an old Imperial whittler/stockman three blade with high carbon steel blades I sometimes am carrying a different member of my collection and they all work though I do notice some difference in the brand/alloy and how well they hold an edge. (The Imperial preference is simply that this was the brand that I began collecting first and they are great knives for the $$$)

My favorite stainless steel bladed model is a Schrade/Imperial Frontier stockman made from 4435 surgical stainless. I don't have a Case Seahorse Whittler yet but do have a small Congress and it works nicely.

In my opinion the bias against stainless steel is simply a holdover from the early days when stainless began to replace high carbon steel and some makers were using cheaper and less acceptable alloys. The modern high carbon stainless alloys make just as good a blade.

My advice is to look for a medium or small stockman, medium or small congress, or other knife with the blade styles you think will work best for you. For American brands I prefer Imperial/Schrade, Case, Camillus, and Buck. The only brand I know of that still uses carbon steel is Boker in their Classic line but if you are willing to fork out $80-$100 on a pocketknife you might as well buy the Oar Carver.

http://www.schradeknives.com/index.htm
http://www.wrcase.com/
http://www.buckknives.com/
https://www.bokerusa.com/default2.asp
http://www.camillusknives.com/1mainframe.htm

Oh No!! now I think my 'pocketknife aquisition disorder' is acting up again!!

Mike,

I have not used the Oar or Carvin Jack. Â*They appear okay, but I just don't have the desire to spend that money just yet.

I do have a couple of seahorse whittlers, but don't use them much. Â*The blade is too big for my preferences and I don't want to grind them down....I have other knives that I like better.

My favorites are in this order 1. Bear MGC Stockman. 2. Case Whittler. 3. Case Congress. 4. Case Tuxedo.

These were all reworked to take out the bevel grind and to reshape the blades a little. Â*

I forgot one! Â*I have an old Sears Craftsman Stockman that I purchased about 25 years ago that I like quite a bit also. Â*It's high carbon. Maybe you can find some good knives at yardsales or even on an online service such as ebay.

[quote author=AlArchie link=board=Beginner;num=1092319229;start=0#1 date=08/12/04 at 09:40:26]I have a Camilus 1047 Whittler's Knife, marketed through the Boy Scouts of America catalog for around 25 bucks. (made in the USA, by the way) It is has three high carbon steel blades specifically designed for carving. Â*[/quote]

Al,

The Camillus BSA 047 whittler that I have is high carbon stainless and not carbon steel though my older BSA knives are. This is the same knife listed at Camillus as their official BSA whittler.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Mitchell...you don't seem overly fond of the seahorse whittler? It looks like a good design..same design blade as the Oar carver in fact....I really like the oar carver, but the steel is so hard, it is brittle, did a little carving on some walnut and it chipped the blade bad! Really disappointed...time these manufacturers found out, that extreme hardness does not work, they have to be tempered and have just a touch of flexibility or you are forever sharpening out the nicks! imho for what its worth....not much lol ( I just bid on a seahorse whittler on ebay...I would like to try one!)

[AlArchie]

I guess, I'm dating myself........mine is a carbon steel blade, but I've had it for quite a few years. Â*Maybe the newer models have gone to stainless, which would be ok with me. Â*I still have to polish a few little rust dimples out of mine on occasion. Â*It is a model 1047, not an 047. Â*The ones in the Scout Shops still list for just over 25 bucks, and I see from the Camilus site that their MSRP is around $40. I've seen them in hardware stores as high as $65, so if you are looking for the best price on a foldng carving knife, I'd still suggest finding the nearest Scout shop!

On second thought maybe it is a high carbon stainless.....still will rust a little if not used, and I really don't use it a lot. Just really nice when I want it, though!

Al

[mikeg]

Thanks for the input!

Do the terms like 'Stockman', 'Congress' and 'Whittler' refer to the combination of blades? For instance, I notice that the knives I'm seeing that are refered to as 'Stockman' all seem to have clip, spey, and sheepsfoot blades. If so, are the terms fairly consistant accross brands?

If that's the case, the knife I started with would be the Stanley medium stockman.

As far as stainless steel goes, I guess that's why I did have a bear of a time removing the bevel by hand on the sheepsfoot blade. I didn't even try to remove it from the other two blades yet.

Hi all I havent posted much but this is a subject I do enjoy.
Personaly I use an 'OLD' German Eye 3 blade whittler (most of the time)
I have used Kissing cranes and I recently picked up a used Bull Dog congress pattern that seems like a great knife.
from expreiance I can tell you to stay away from the new Kissing cranes and new german eyes. I dont know what type metal there using but I suspect it came from recycled beer cans or something even softer.
german eyes like im talking about are discribed as 3 eyed
meaning they have the eye emblom on the tang and echec two times on the master blade. usualy mede before 1960/.
they really hald an edge.
The Bull Dogs are also very well made and it dosent seem to mater when they were made.
either of those are well worth trying out.
Tom

[Kenny_S]

I have several but the best one is the Boker then the Case whittler. I believe it depends on what one you got use to. I think it should depend on the feeling of a knife in your hand(how confortable it is), the quality of the blades and how easy they are to hone or strop. There are many different Knife companies who make quality knives.