In woodworking there are hand tools that may seem to be simple and common ones , but their help is essential and the carving knife , belongs for sure in this area .
The carving knife may seem to be nothing more than a simple general use small knife , but it isn’t only that . It has serious differences with the common knives you know and use and its purpose is helpful for a carpenter .
The carving knife is a knife having a specialized design handle ( wooden or not ) and a metalic( steel alloys) sharp blade(straight or curved) having the same bevel across the blade attached in it , with specialized thickness , design , length , width , bevel and pointy edge .
What is wood carving with a Knife , also called ?
You may heard the wood carving as wood whittle and it’s the same , expressing the sculpting design shaping you do on a wooden surface , of any type of wood .
Where is a carving knife , Used for ?
The carving knife is used for wood carving designs only , for extremely accurate wood cuts no matter how tiny they’re , for “surgical” wood piece shaping and whittle and for very small wood slicing and peel removing .
See the best and most popular carving techniques and a big learning “secret” in HERE .
Is a wood carving knife , the Same as a whittling knife ?
These two carving type of knives are almost the same , except that the whittle knife is one level better for more detailed and “surgical” wood whittle job , than the carving knife , but the differences are very small .
Is whittling the Same , as carving ?
No , it isn’t the same because you can carve generally wood using a variety of hand tools or power tools as Dremels , et.c , but you can whittle wood only using a whittling knife totally controlled by your hands , without any other help of a hammer , a mallet , et.c .
Can you whittle with a Kitchen knife ?
No , you cannot whittle wood with a kitchen knife and in my opinion you cannot also carve wood , with a decent level of success . The kitchen knives are designed and created , for a specific area and not for woodworking .
Their designs are different , their metal alloys are different , they handle shapes are different , their thicknesses are different , their bevels are different , et.c .
All blades aren’t the same , because they can cut .
Can you carve wood , with a Pocket knife ?
No , you cannot carve wood using a pocket knife , you can only make a very roughly and not detailed wood shape and a generic “clumsy” wood shape , above a wooden surface , for emergency reasons , et.c .
All blades aren’t the same , all knives aren’t the same .
Can you carve wood , with Any knife ?
No , you cannot carve wood with any knife and that’s why there is such a huge variety of knives with several type of metals , handle shapes , general design , several bevels , several sizes , et.c .
You cannot carve wood with a Rambo type knife . You can roughly cut it , dig into it , chop it using it as an axe , et.c , but for sure you cannot carve it .
Can you carve , Freshly cut wood ?
Yes , for sure you can carve fresh wood if you like , but you’ll face issues with the wood’s fluids making your “surgical” slicing very difficult , because the fibers will be more flexible and not so easy to slice , in the exact spot you want .
Another problem you’ll face is that while the wood will dry during time , its shape will change ( shrink , et.c ) , making the carving result , not stable .
What are the different Types , of carving knives ?
We have two types of carving knives , the straight blade ones and the curved – hook type ones , with a big variety of radius .
The curved ones are made for more “surgical” wood shaping and they need more experience than the straight ones .
What is the Best carving knife for a beginner ?
The straight type of carving knives is the best for a beginner than the more difficult hook ones , in order to make practice to more generic shaping designs and not so detailed ones .
What is the best Angle of a carving knife ?
There is no “golden law” in here and around a 30o angle is very common for carving , but this also depends from the wood carving job , you do , of how deep you want to go and the general design needs , you have .
What is the best metal for a wood carving knife ?
The several types of alloys steel , are suitable for the carving knives with the majority of them having inside a carbon percentage .
How Thick , should a wood carving knife , be ?
A thickness around the 0.4mm is a very common thickness for a carving knife and the most important is the bevel should be the same along the length of the blade .
Should a carving knife , be Sharp ?
Definetely it should be sharp and the sharper the better for your carving perfect results , no matter if you carve a hard type of wood , a soft one or whatever . You cannot work with a knife badly sharpened or having a blade damaged and not razor sharp .
Do you know that your psychology , affects your sharpening skills & more ? See , WHY .
How do i Choose a carving knife ?
The feeling in your arms and the comfortable “bond” you should create with it immediately , should be your first priority , except the correct general design it should have for wood carving and the good quality metal alloy .
Keep woodworking and remain happy .
