Thread: new to whittling

Hi Bigshan,

Whilst not quite in your area I would recommend a drive to Adelaide one weekend to attend the course offered by forum member Whittling. They are held on a Saturday so it could be an opportunity to make a weekend of it with some wineries on the Sunday! The class is very reasonably priced and class sizes are small enough to be able to get plenty of assistance.

I have attended the course and found it good fun. Unfortunately I didn't spend the necessary hours practicing in order to feel confident to advance to the next class level but I plan on going back and doing the beginners course again.

Here is a recent post in relation to it:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f10/whittling-project-147569

As mentioned in the post try and get some poplar.

Cheers

Stinky

Hmm Adelaide huh, i dont i could sit in the car that long, as i have recently had knee surgery and i can only just now start driving, i can drive for an hour before i have to stop for 2 hours, defiantly somthing to keep in mind tho, once i get my knee sorted anyway. im goin into town later for some shopping, any ideas for places to check out to get some wood? i tried the hobby centre the other day and all they could offer me is balsa wood, then they said it will probably snap as soon as i tried to put my knife into it

Hi Bigshan,

Poplar is relatively easy to find as is willow. Either one work well for whittling green.

I've posted a few photos of what poplar looks like below. Its not a native wood and its usually considered a bit soft for conventional carving, but its great as a 'beginner' wood for whittling. It can often be found on road sides or in stream courses. Its not popular with most councils as it shoots runners underground which emerge meters away as new trees... very hard to eradicate. Consequently most autorities have no difficulty allowing carvers to cut the odd bough.

This is what the bark looks like


This is the leaf


Here are a couple of shots of what it looks like in summer. Being a deciduous (sp?) tree, it sheds it leaves in winter.


Finally, there is a difference in end product if you use dry (dead) poplar or green. Sometimes you can find a dead limb on a living tree. If its still sound (not rotten) it will make good carving and give a richer colour to your finished work.

The two photos below are of staves, both carved from poplar. The one on the left was harvested as a dead limb while the one on the right was cut green.


If you have a timber yard nearby, you could try buying Jelutong, Huon Pine, King Billie Pine or English Lime. All work well for this kind of carving but can be a bit dear. You may have to 'let your fingers do the walking' and check out a few yellow pages or Google ads for you area to find a dealer in these woods.

If all else fails, PM me and I can arrange to send you some bits and pieces to try.

Hope it helps and good luck.

Fruit trees are often a goer: apple pear, orange, name it... I mean just for practice at least. Its okay if fresh. Its simple to cure and protect wood. Pine is too erratic often - all that sap having to move around all the time. Fruit trees are generally more stable in temperament and therefore physical characteristics, though be careful of tropical fruits; but can't imagine there are too many in the neighbourhood there! Sometimes old furniture has good carving grain. Check out throwaways. Don't be shy about laminating either.

thanks for all the info guys, i will look around and see what i can find, also we are remodeling the kitchen here at we found that the walls that we demolished has some cedar(?) in them, so i might have a bit of a play with that, while i play with that i will keep on the lookout for more for when i run out. also what do you mean by laminating?

Hi Bigshan,
There is a rather active Scroll Saw Group in Wodonga / Albury Area.
They can more than likely help you out, & point you in the right direction .
I'm reasonably certain there is a Wood Club there as well, & maybe a Mens Shed.

i didnt even think about looking up info for that, looks like im goin for a drive tomorrow now i know where to go, i need to get out of the house. also i cant seem to find my knife anywhere i spent the whole day looking for it with no luck, so i may be in the market for another knife, im told the carbon steel ones are easier to sharpen and stay sharp for longer is this true? im also open for recommendations for what knife i should get, knowing my luck my old knife will show up as soon as i get another one, ah well even if it pops up im probably better off getting a knife shaped differently anyway, it was not designed for carving wood

Hi bigshan,
Find an old Hacksaw Blade, & I think some are as wide as 20mm.
So Grind it down Slowly, to what you want, grab a bit of Wood, slice down the middle, draw around the Blade as it sits on the Wood. Carve it out, so the Blade sits nicely.
You might be able to Drill 2 holes through the HSS Steel, or just glue it together.
A bit more Grinding to put an Edge & Shape on the Blade.
Sand the handle to your liking, a bit of finish, & Presto, a Knife.

Its not easy to do any serious whittling work with just one blade. Blade shapes play a big part in the process of creating something interesting. I use a multi-bladed pocket knife that has the blades reshaped to suit whittling. This way all of the blades fold into the handle and the whole thing goes in your pocket. You can't get much more portable than that.

Carbon steel will usually hold an edge a bit longer than a good stainless but if you are just getting started and only using soft woods, its not going to make a huge difference to you for a year or more. Stainless has some advantages in that it won't rust or react with tree sap the way carbon steel does. You can get pocket knives with both sorts of steel in any case, but the carbon steel ones will be dearer.

Using tool steel from old hacksaw blades and files is ok but remember that this type of steel was designed for a different use. Its very hard and will hold an edge well, but its also brittle and will snap relatively easily. Whittling involves the movement of the blade through the wood with a lot of twists and turns which can cause these sort of blades to break off if one isn't careful... especially in medium to hard woods. This solution also leaves you with the need to make more than one knife. This is perfectly possible but they are not as practical to cart around. Below is a photo of some made from old 'mini-files'.


For your interest, I've attached a few photos of a modern 3 bladed pocket knife that has been modified for whittling. It also shows one before modification so you can see what has been done with each blade. The shapes are important but the reasons are complicated.

Below is a photo of two knives... a 'before' and 'after' picture of a standard 'stockman' formated 3 blade pocket knife. You can see the changes to the blades in the lower knife which is the one that has been modified. The steel in this knife is 440c stainless. The manufacturer is Frost Cutlery Company, an American firm who take their own materials (including the blade steel) to China for the assembly. (There are lots of other companies that make good knives for this, but not many to be found in Oz unfortunately. PM me if you want to know more.)



Here's a closer look at the two blades that get the most modification... again a 'before' and 'after' photo for each of the two blades.




Hope it helps... let us know how you go.

thanks for that i will head into town in a bit and see if i can get my hands on a knife similar to the same as that and have a crack at modifying it, there is also a woodcraft store in wodonga that may be worth a look that i found while looking on the net last night.

well i got a new knife, then i went to the woodcraft store, and a found out that there is a small carving group in wodonga, the guy at the store also recommend that i get wood from //http://www.afttimbers.com/home.htm

apparently they are a bit cheaper than a place based in sydney that also posts wood, he also recomeds makeing a knife out of a old hacksaw blade, so i might as well have a go, just a question about that tho that i didnt think to ask do i need to heat treat the saw blade or just sharpen an edge and put a handle on it? i have a blade about 2mm think that should do the job i just have to wait till my uncle has finished cutting out a plaster wall with it

Hi ,
The H/S Blade is High Speed Steel, HSS. Well most times they are.

yep thats what the blade is im looking at is, i have to wait a couple more days till i can turn it into a knife, then i guess i will fish it out of the bin if he forgets to give it to me. going to buy some Jelutong a bit later and have a go at some simple things