woodcraft 2 blade folder carving knife? any owners

[Thomp]

if i had learned to carve with a real chip carving plunge blade it might not be so hard to learn with this knife,
but today like mark said, it forces you to hold it differently than a straight bladed detail knife,

i been pushing the edge on the power tools and i finely got the blades carving sharp using the 42" sanding belt 80grit and 320 grit wet/dry and my stacked 3" leather disk power hone Tripoli, it now preforms like a carving knife...

im always tense around a sanding belt with a possibly good blade but i got it satisfactory ground... more carving i have planned tonight will tell the story...

i still want to bend the handle 10-15 degrees more straight...
thomas

[Eddy-Smiles]

Thomp... I have no problems with putting an edge on a kinfe but I sure don't have the power capabilities that you have. It sure sounds like a lot of work to me. So perhaps this isn't the knife for me. With that said, what would be a good alternate selection? The CJ is expensive and not really in my price range now but one thing that I do like about it, at least from what I can see, is that it has a V and a gouge along with the blades. I'm just wondering for general whittling if the added cost for these tools is worth it and if not what other knife would perhaps be a better selection for a whittler. I see myself only using this type of knife when my regular carving tools weren't available, like waiting for the wife outside the doctor's office...etc... Does anyone have any recoomendations or suggestions?

[Thomp]

this 2 blade folder worked well after i got up the courage to put it to the belt grinder last night, due to lack of finding my good stones,

I finished a hillbilly, business man in a cab driver looking hat, pirate, li'l sheriff, well it makes half dozen lil guys now, got to work on kids and animals and other things...

Eddy,
a suggestion might be the double cross from kershaw, i got one that was modified for carving,
Rick Ferry, the owner of littleshavers.com sells the doublecross kershaw 2 blade folding knife, and can modify them for little of nothing it should run about half price of the carving jack.. you can bet it will arrive carving sharp if you ask rick to sharpen it, but still only 2 blades.. mine is a fine parking lot carving knife.

I dont know of anybody that modifies folding carving pocket knife blades into v tools or gouges, it would be nice if there was someone that did that service

So, if you really like the idea of a flexcut carvin jack, but dont like the price, all i can say is save up, or ask for gift certificates fathers day and birthday, i started that tradition here years ago, after getting $25.00 t shirts and coffee cups,

back to putting an edge on the woodcraft 2 blade Sarge folder the task probably wasn't as hard as i put on about it, i got the right tools but my shop scattered over 3 rooms and the front porch. hard to find any thing and with no lighting setup where the tools are located at the present, my bad eye sight and tools packed up here and there no luck finding my good sharpening stones, guess ill find them just as i happen up on them, it was the first thing that made me squawk.

but still a $19.00 knife with a couple hours on a good stone should get you a knife that preforms as well as mine dose now, but its still got the weird bend/offset blade/handle...

Thomas

[whittlinJim]

Hi,

I,ve had one of these knives since January. Carry it around in my pocket next to my swiss army knife along with a small piece of wood to carve on whenever the mood strikes me. It's real theraputic to have on hand when I have to wait for the wife to finish (for the moment) shopping. I figure that for the money I spend, the least they can do is vacume up a few wood chips!
When I got the knife it hadnt been sharpened, you could see that the edge had been roughly ground to shape but that was all. It took a little work on the stones to get the edge sharp, but now it will leave a mirror finish when I cut across the grain on oak! So far had the knife has held its edge well and I havent had to sharpen it anymore than any other knife I own.
I like my little knife, if I was going to chip carve all day long I'd use a different knife, but for the occasional use that I'd intended it for, its a perfect fit.

Jim

[Thomp]

Jim,

After i ran mine across the belt grinder with 80 grit, being careful not to heat it, dip, grind.dip.. then on to the Arkansas stones and some fine wet dry it honed out nice,
i didnt have but 2 hours of patients for wetstone work while i was looking at that belt grinder within arms reach,

mine knife is apperently of hard steel to take 2 hours of work on a 3m carborandom stone corse side and still resist getting changed much, and then to a harbor freight diamond stone, but i done expect much for harbor freight stuff no how and dont know why i waste my time on it...

but the knife is now really sharp and im happy with it,

havn't used it much, when i try, i always find a reason like a tight spot where i need a different profile and lay down the pocket knife and wind up carving with some other knife, its a little difficult to get use to the handle or the wat the blade sets off the handle...

thanks for commenting on your knife
thomas

[Eddy-Smiles]

It's always been said or at least I've been told, "better late than never!" This past weekend my wife and daughter had a girls day out so I was left free do some errands and get in some exploring. I finally made it up to Woodcraft to see that knife Thomp talked about. I spent a good half hour in the store thinking about it and even took a good look at the "Carvin Jack" that they had on display. I finally ended up leaving without either one.

I'd recently modified an old pocket two blade Case knife that I've had stored away in a tool box to a carving knife with a small 1-1/4" detail and a 2" roughout blade. And although I like the way it cuts one of the problems that I have with it is that it's too small for my hand. After looking at the Sarge knife at Woodcraft I decided that I'd only have the same problem with it. My hands craqmp up after only a short period of carving, something that doesn't happen with a regular knife handle, especially the ones that I've made.

And the problem that I saw with the "Carvin Jack" is that it looked awfully uncomfortable to hold and use with those extra blades in the closed position. One of the drawbacks to the Leatherman Tool that I have is that it's uncomfortable to use because of all the extra tools. It looked to me that it would be the same with the "Carvin Jack."

So it looks like I'll just continue to carry a regular detail knife in a sheath with me and keep the little Case in my pocket as a back up. Perhaps one of these days when I'm at a flea market I'll run across a larger handled pocket knife with some beat up old blades that I can modify to fit my needs,

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by Thomp

i rechecked the S&h it was $6.99 still more than you would think but i guess there is a standard envlope you can pack full oe put in one sheet of paper in that runs $7- but for $16.98 after G.C. guess i shouldnt fuss..

on another dubject i did obtain a kershaw double cross that rick ferry had modified, and their aint no flys on that 2 blade folding, lock 2 blade carving knife,
i have used many times and never dulled it, even though i always hone it before putting it up...

hopefully ill test out the woodcraft knife hopefully wed-thur

Well, now that you are getting that new woodcraft knife, you can send me that ol' worn out used Kershaw!

[mikeg]

Eddy,

I love my Kershaw Double Cross. It's got a fair sized handle. If that handle isn't big enough for you, you might try the Kershaw Double Duty. It's got a larger handle and blades. I modified my DC so that it's got a detail blade and a roughout blade. I keep thinking that one of these days I'll do the same to the DD I picked up cheap on ebay but I don't have time to carve, let alone modify the knife. Angry

mikeg

[Thomp]

the sargent at wood craft is got good blades in it, and preforms well if your in need of a chip knife, but its aquardness that makes it a good chipknife makes it tough for regular carving the offset of the blade and the small bent handle makes you feel as if your wrist is cranked to its limit if you use it for 30 minuets doing carving in the round,

except for the occasional triangle chip needed to be removed like in a flatplain eye of a charter, or deep power cuts, its too much sugar for a nickle for me to force myself to use it on a continual basises,
i keep it open with the little blade ready poked down in a tube ice tray i use for a rack, incase i need that type cut, but its been stored 2 weeks without being touched,

i guess if wood craft hadent let me do the survey and then sent me a $10.00 guift certificate i wouldnt own the knife.
never the less for about $19.00 a better knife could have been found at micheals walnut hollow brand for all around carving.

as to the kershaw double cross, naw hi ho, that baby is my gooder'ist pocket knife... the blade is a little thick in the backbone for my idea, but probobally would weaken the top to reduce it, i renamed it my waiting room knife. but im not complaining with the kershaws preformance, ive honed it very few times used it a lot, and never have dulled it , there fore it will be here long after im gone.