Hi all, I’m looking to upgrade my whittling knife and wondered if anyone has any suggestions. I’ve been using a mora 120 and 122 for years and while they’re great tools I’ve been thinking of getting something nicer. Cheers.
Whittling knife recommendations
- Thread starter Lindop_Lad
- Start date
-
BushMoot: Come along to the amazing Summer Moot 31st July - 5th August (extended Moot : 27th July - 8th August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
I'm friends with him on facebook. He suffered a loss of someone close a couple of months or so back.. I'm sure he'll be back when he feels ready.
Have a look at Wood Tools from Sheffield. Robin & his team are making some great tools at reasonable money. Very happy with the ones I own.
Fairly sure Kepis uses a slightly modified SAK for most stuff. The Little Book of Whittling intro recommends SAK also. I always fancied a nice Case Seehorse Whittler or a GEC (Tidioute and Northwoods)
I had a tiny Brusletto Balder out the other day for a youngster to use and though the handle is pretty small it's a lovely little thing.
I had a tiny Brusletto Balder out the other day for a youngster to use and though the handle is pretty small it's a lovely little thing.
Laurin make some small blades you could haft yourself.
Pics would be appreciated if you do.
Pics would be appreciated if you do.
Those Moras are shaped very much what I have seen professionals to use. Very simple knives actually, short blades with triangural side profile mostly.
Nice and upgrade are not very precise definition of anything.
Says a man who kicked me out a few times from BB. Probably for trying to be precise. Who knows ...
I like the handle and ergonomics of the mora, but I was thinking about getting something in a better steel. They respond well to a strop but I am sure there is better steel out there. I've been looking at some of the Ben Orford knives too, I'd consider them "nicer" due to the handmade nature of them.
Ben’s knives are also excellent & very pretty to boot.
Also look at Ash & Iron or, if you’re a very patient person, Nic Westermann.
I love my Woodlander in AEB-L.
Then again, I prefer whittling with a smaller blade (SAK size) or dedicated whittling knife. But if you want a knife that does loads of stuff in addition to whittling, Woodlander is pretty decent.
Ben's Campcraft or Pixie would be great choices for a whittling knife. If you're after something a little less pricey, though, the Peltonen M23 is very hard to beat.
Who did you go as on BB?
To the knife question, I really like a Roselli Grandmother ... I have had one since 2010 at least, when it was entirely affordable. Sadly, they are much less so now. Nothing like as slim as those Mora sloyds though.
I had one of these once - gone now, no idea where and I guess it might show up yet - https://www.woodsmith.co.uk/product...t=795&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22898943567
The other one I really like is a German Eye large stockman. But any well made stockman on a 4 1/4" or 4" frame will be good.
There was a carver in Australia years back who made super cheap and very, very good knives .. I have some details somewhere and will dig them out - like 1 1/2" blades
Last edited:
I think my favourite is a frosts blade that's fairly similar to a 120 but with a more interesting handle. It definitely makes a difference using something that feels nicer. I'll dig a picture out!
If one looks at Knife Nerds steel data then very high edge retention is given by S125V or CPM-590V apparently by very high carbide content, as a first guess bitches to sharpen. Much more balanced properties by MagnaCut and Vanax. All these are stainless which property is generally not needed in a whittling knife. Some low alloy steels would give nice properties much cheaper as would some mid alloy non stainless ones.
Edge retention is also affected by edge angle; no easy solution here.
Edge retention is also affected by edge angle; no easy solution here.
Here's a pic of the Australian carver I mentioned above. I can't find the correspondence - I lost an email account - but, the charming old Trevor who made it had retired and was spending his time recreating old Sheffield patterns for the fun of it and with extreme competence.
He sold them for next to nothing to whoever showed an interest. I got lucky, I think.
The other is an old carbon steel Bulldog whittler (which I wish I didn't sell)
He sold them for next to nothing to whoever showed an interest. I got lucky, I think.
The other is an old carbon steel Bulldog whittler (which I wish I didn't sell)
Last edited:
It's this one in here:
Not the best picture but the handle is willow burl at the front, yew at the back and some bits of brass in there too.
Similar threads
