Ball in Cage

[CreekRunner]

OK guys, here is my masterpiece.

[Ramrod]

Cool! Nice job!
Mark

[CCBill]

...Nicely done...
...CCBill...

[biglmbass]

Well done.

[zed6309]

nice job, i really must get whittling

[Knife Nut]

I like it a lot.
How many hours do you have in it?

Paul

[CreekRunner]

Thanks guys. This is my first attempt. Done with a pocket knive totally. Well, actually about three pocket knives. I'm trying to decide on a every day carry that will do for carving. I used a medium stockman, a whittler, and a humpback whittler. I liked the whittler best because of the blade shapes and thicknesses. I don't have a whittler in cv though, all ss (yet) . Oh, by the way all are Cases'.

Paul, I'd guess about 6 to 10 hours total knife time over a couple weeks.

Got some of my dna on it also. Man that hurts.

[biglmbass]

Basswood?

[CreekRunner]

Yes Big, it's basswood. I bought a sack of it at Hobby Lobby with various sizes for about 8 bucks. First time I've ever worked with bass wood. It carves good for the most part but the grain on the cut ends are a little tough.

[Big Barn]

Good result, but I would recommend you get a decent fixed blade carving knife. Pocket knives are ok, but too often the blades are too thick or the bevel is too steep (more than 12%). Plus, carving knives tend to be fully flat ground. There are tons of good brand names that run around $20-$30. Denny, Murphy, Two Cherries, Dunphy, FlexCut, Warren and the list goes on. One other point, wood bought from Hobby Lobby is not very good quality (IMHO). If you have a WoodCrafters in your area, try there or many places on the web.

[kamagong]

Good result, but I would recommend you get a decent fixed blade carving knife. Pocket knives are ok, but too often the blades are too thick or the bevel is too steep (more than 12%). Plus, carving knives tend to be fully flat ground. There are tons of good brand names that run around $20-$30. Denny, Murphy, Two Cherries, Dunphy, FlexCut, Warren and the list goes on. One other point, wood bought from Hobby Lobby is not very good quality (IMHO). If you have a WoodCrafters in your area, try there or many places on the web.

I like the do-it-anywhere nature of pocketknives. And since anyone who works with wood should know how to sharpen a knife, the NIB sharpness of most slipjoints isn't that big a problem. Once you tune up the edges, a slipjoint is a fine tool for whittling.

[Big Barn]

I do not disagree and you can whittle with a pocket knife as long as the blade is sharp & proper bevel. my point, which I didn't make too well, is pocket knives tend to be small & narrow and quickly become uncomfortable after extended use. But for carry & go - a pocket knife is just fine. As you continue your whittling, you may want to add a link to two of chain & whatever else you can think of. Here's something I did from a broken 2x4. I don't recommend using pine - it can be a PITA. F.Y.I. - FlexCut is coming out with a new two blade 'pocket knife' whittler this Sep: part number - JKN88 Whittlin Jack

[FRJ]

That's pretty impressive, Big Barn. Are you sure the 2X4 was pine?
Any that I have handled was Douglas fir or spruce. Dougfir, when it dries is quite hard.

Great whittling!!!

[Big Barn]

That's pretty impressive, Big Barn. Are you sure the 2X4 was pine?
Any that I have handled was Douglas fir or spruce. Dougfir, when it dries is quite hard.

Great whittling!!!

Yep, construction grade 2x4 pine. I was installing a window in my shop & this was scrap from that project. Again, I DO NOT recommend using pine - there are much better woods out there. My favorite is Butternut. It's a littler harder than Basswood & takes decent detail. Plus the grain pattern is wonderful if you just finish it naturally with tung oil.

[carvin don]

Great whittlin's creekrunner and BigBarn...That chain link is real nice, and construction grade pine to boot, impressive! I like butternut as well, wonderful grain and fairly easy to work with with.

Thanks for postin' your whittlin's, you guys do some outstanding work!