gordo

[gordo]

i must be missing something i have watched videos of some vary good carvers and i still can not cut as easy as they do. i have tryed to use a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water ,and it works somewhat but not that good . i have tryed to soak it . the basswood i have seems to be hard . the soaking helped , but i still can not cut it like the guys in any video do. my knifes are sharp but it makes it hard to get a good carving when you have to force it and besides it is dangers.i need help or i will lose intrest help!

[Buffalo Bif]

How sharp is sharp? You should be able to cut croos grain and leave no lines/scratches from the knife. It is also possible you got a dense piece(s) of Bass. Try a different piece or supplier, try another 100 passes on the strop and get back to us.

[Mark Dellinger]

Are you sure that your knife is sharp. I know a lot of times people feel that their knife is shaerp, and it is but its not sharp enough to carve with. I have never used the water mixture myself. If I have issues with getting good cuts I strop the knife more often. Do you have another piece of wood to try, even if its a piece of pine, just to verify that it is the wood.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[Claude]

Hi, Gordo.
Could be several things. If you are using a knife with a thick blade, it will not cut basswood as easily as one with a thinner blade. You may just not have good basswood - I buy mine from Heinecke Wood Products and recommend them highly. It could also just be hand strength or wrist strength. The people on the videos have been carving for years and have strong hands.

Absolutely do not force it. You should not be using your shoulder or upper arms at all to carve with a knife. If you do, you'll eventually slip or the wood will split and you'll hurt yourself.

There's a carving club over in Mt. Juliet - go visit them and compare your knife to some of theirs, compare your wood to theirs.

Claude

[gordo]

well i can cut cross grain and get good a smoth cut, how else can i tell if it is sharp i guess i have to find a different way to tell . every body ask if it is sharp .as far as i can tell itis

[Claude]

One easy way to tell if it's sharp is to hold you head next to a lamp with a single bulb in it. Hold the knife below you and the lamp about a foot. Hold the knife horizontal so the flat of the blade reflects light up into your eyes. Slowly rotate the blade around the long axis until the cutting edge is up. You'll notice the amount of reflected light fades away. When the cutting edge is up, if you see any light at all reflected from the edge, the knife is not yet sharp. Try this on a kitchen knife first and look at all the reflected light so you'll know what to look for, then try your carving knife.

Claude

[Curly Early]

Gordo, I have a hunch that your knife is sharpened much like a hunting knife is. In the scan the knife on the left is much preferred by many of us carvers. I had a Denny sharpened like this, thin blade, slightly flexible, first time I put it to the wood, it became my favorite. With that blade, you could slice off pieces of basswood that would look like doing balsa. I am sitting here looking at a pretty knife made for me by a knifemaker specializing in hunting knives, thick blade, plenty strong, sharpened like example two, the one on the right. It will cut cross grain, about four times as hard as the Denny to pull through, but it will leave a shiny cut path just like the Denny and will cut across the end grain, ----but---- with much more effort. I suppose I am saying, it's not that your knife isn't sharp, it may not be sharpened the best way for basswood carving. As for mine, I am going to glue some abrasive cloth to a flat surface and start rubbing both sides until I get that flat surface, edge to back. I'm hoping this helps. By the way, the computer will not upload the drawing of the knife sections I had for you.

[STAR]

This is an interesting thread. How sharp is sharp? because I am struggling too, I have no one to ask although their is a person that apparently is at a few wood shows here, who has a world class reputation.

But I will not see him until May and by then I will have got it, or given up. Not trying to hijack Gordo's thread but to add some other perspectives too it. Can the more experienced carvers tell me does a carving knife and gouge need to be on a higher level then woodworking tools?

I have a 1000 grit and 6000 grit waterstones and I use the Veritas mark 11 honing guide. I can sharpen freehand but find this jig the star of the woodworking ones. So, I know how sharp quality woodworking tools need to be I am rapidly coming to realise this may not be sharp enough for carving.

Also, here is another query, I have also an Irwin Utility knife with the blue blade which is supposed to stay sharper longer then the usual ones. First time I used it I was not that impressed but have put a new blade in and it is at a new level.

Lynn uses one, and I have found for certain difficult cuts it is starting to be my go to. Now, my reason for saying this do you feel that the utility knife is a good standard for somebody like Gordo and myself to physical tell if our knives compare more or less favorably until we become more proficient.

Pete

[STAR]

..... ( double post )

[kdispoto]

As I see it, aside from a sharp and polished knife, getting a good piece of wood is critical. After that, it's knowledge of where to cut, wrist pressure and confidence.