How To Whittle With A Knife

Youll be surprised about the things you can whittle out of wood.
How to whittle with a knife. Many parents who enjoy whittling themselves want to show their children the joys and creativeness that whittling has to offer and often ask at what age should you start whittling. In order to keep your pocketknife as sharp as possible consider whittling a backup for less demanding duties. In this video tutorial Little Book of Whittling author Chris Lubkemann demonstrates this simple task using a pocketknife and some sandpaper.
Position the thumb of that hand against the wood and press those fingers inside to draw the sharp edge toward your thumb that holds the blade. This is distinctly different from something like carving where one uses a chisel and mallet. If you want to take off a large chunk at once cut into the grain and split the wood.
A sharp knife will make the whittling process fun and easy. The most important thing to know about how to whittle is that it is is much easier if you have a very sharp knife. If youve ever pared an apple by pulling your knife towards your thumb then youve already mastered this cut.
This is probably the technique youd see most people using if you went around watching people whittle. A Sharp Whittling Knife. Using the knife cut away from your body to decrease chances of injury.
Whittling by definition is the shaping of wood by repeatedly scraping small bits of it away. How do you sharpen your whittling knife blade. You will want to use a high carbon steel blade or a knife with a Rockwell Hardness between 58 and 62.
A low-quality knife will make it harder to produce clean cuts and carvings as the blade edge dulls faster. Hold the wood in your left hand the blade in your privilege with the cutting edge looking towards you. Use thinner knives They will glide through wood easier.