another dumb question - scaple use

[GinnytooU]

A friend of mine gave me a disposable scaple knife. Really Really sharp. Small, great for detail work.
Has anyone tried one ? I'm thinking they might be a good thing to have for carving eyes ,ect.. Plus they are very cheap on E-bay. Tell me what you think. GinnytooU

[AL...]

Hiya Ginny
Aye I have a few of them that I use for working in tight spaces on carvings They are great .

Cheers
AL

[Donsexton]

I think that would work just fine as a detail tool

[TexasSteve]

That's a great idea, I know I bought an exacto knife to help with the detail on eyes and it seems to work ok. I will have to check out ebay for those.

[GinnytooU]

I found out the blade you want is the number 11. Looks a lot like the X-acto blade #2, which I use also. It comes to a point instead of rounded. I bought 100 blades with one handle. Haven't received them yet for under 11 dollars. But the one I was given really works well. GinnytooU

[carver33]

I was given a disposable scalpel by my doctor many years ago, and fell in love with it. It's probably one with a plastic handle - so be careful with the pressure or you will break it - save it for very fine detail work.

I've been using the steel scalpel handle and no. 11 blades for a number of years and really like them for the final detail and clean-up work. The no. 11 blades are a little larger than the disposable scalpel blades that I've seen, but not much. They are a little smaller and thinner than xacto blades, and more flexible, but again, be careful, they will break with too much side pressure.

[Boydman]

I use them quite a bit for relief carvings.....prefer the metal handle for strength as apposed to the plastic disposable type....

[Bandaid]

Lee Valley sells a handle that comes with a set of 3 different configurations of scalpel blades with storage in the handle. I've had one for a few years now and use it a lot for fine detail.

[Robson Valley]

Most College & University bookstores either carry biology dissecting tools or they can order such stuff. In my 45+ years of experience, the Feather handles are the best balanced.
Personally, I don't and won't use blades like the #11 = the tip can break off silently and remain somewhere in the wood. No plans to hit that with a Pfeil gouge any time soon.

[mobjack68]

It is really fun to carve with a scalpel blade. I had a pile of #11 blades with a reusable metal handle. The only problem with something that sharp??? It can do a lot of (skin) damage very quickly. The good thing about scalpel cuts??? They seal very quickly.
As mentioned above, they are great for corner details.....
Keep band-aids handy!!