Ahh, a Very interesting question Rick. And one of the major factors in my developing an interest in custom knives of all kinds.
All good woodcarving blades are full flat double ground. Most have zero or maybe even slightly concave edge bevels. This grind is the strongest for woodcarving and can be sharpened to an extremely acute edge. Surpisingly, such an edge will last for a long time (several hours of hard work) without resharpening on a stone if a leather strop is used frequently.
The old time whittlers primarily used carbon steel multibladed folders (three bladed whittler, congress, and stockman patterns) with one to three inch blades. Several different tip shapes allows for a greater range of cuts. You can buy good carbon steel knives in these patterns from several manufacturers and custom makers. I often carry a Boker carbon steel whittler.
The traditional whittling knife in Scandavia is a longer fixed bladed guardless knife (similar to a pukko). It has a long swelled handle, and generally has a blade in the two to five inch range.
You can find very servicable german style carbon steel carving knives for around $10 at craftwoods and woodcraft. But my favorite whittling (and general carving) knives are custom knives. You can see some of them at both the woodcraft and craftwoods web sites linked above.
A good American style whittling knife has a very short blade (0.75 to 2 inch blades) and a relatively long (4 to 6 inch) carefully shaped handle. Many different handle shapes are used, depending on the intended function of the knife. The handle is probably more important than the blade. This allows much more leverage to be exterted while making cuts. I like fixed blade carving knives. They are less likely to cause serious injury and are a joy to use. Many makers produce fine carving knives in the $30 to $60 dollar range.
I'm in the planning stages of ordering some carving knives forged from 52100 steel from a very famous mastersmith. He offered to make them and it should prove to be an interesting project for both of us. But I anticipate paying more for these knives than the price range I just mentioned.
Learning proper technique is very important. With either a slip-joint, or fixed blade knife, cuts should be made in such a manner that the path of the blade is limited. The usual stroke Away from you is very powerful, but provides less control. Many whittling motions draw the blade Towards the hands of the carver. Various hand positions are used to limit the potential path of the blade, and provide for more powerful and accurate cuts. Probably the first thing to learn is what is a Stop Cut and why they Necessary. I'll leave this one for you budding carvers to find out about on your own.
Woodcarving and whittling is an skill that must be learned by Doing. Reading a good book is a good way to start. But you really won't begin to understand how wood is best cut and shaped until you try. The choice of wood is probably as important as your choice of tools. The traditional carvers wood is called Basswood (linden wood in England). But I also like to carve all the fruitwoods (walnut, cherry, apple, pear, etc). Sugar pine can be carved well, but most pine wood is too sappy and knotty and splits to readily to make good carving material.
I spent the first few months making lots of woodchips, breaking a lot of pieces, and finally realized that I did not know how to properly sharpen a whittling knife, let alone a gouge (curved edge chisel). Having VERY sharp tools is probably the Most important thing. Stropping edges to a high degree of polish is really a good idea.
I am a fan of all of FallsRun woodcarving tools (Flex Cut). This company has reinvented the traditional carving gouge by using very thin spring steel stock, tempered so that the edge is very hard, and the shaft bends. Coupled with ergonomic handles, these tools allow for a much wider range of carving motions and cuts with a single tool. They have recently come out with some very nice whittling knives as well:
FlexCut Carving Tools
The National Woodcarvers Association home page is
http://www.chipchats.org/
This is a great organization. And the publication (Chip Chats) that comes with the Membership fee ($14 annually) is really a great value and resource.
Hope I haven't gone on too long. I know this reply is more than you asked for, but all of the things I've talked about are important aspects of carving. Woodcarving is a Passion of mine. I hope so others get as interested as I have. There is nothing more relaxing and meditative for me than wood carving. It's good fun and is very relaxing. You can get started with a minimum of tools and materials. One good knife and one good piece of found wood are enough. Enjoy!
Paracelsus
[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 08-07-2000).]
