A question for the carvers on LJ's

I find myself doing so much with my utility knife, from roughing out to detailing, so it is my #1. It is hard to pick my #2…I like all my other knives. Here is a detail knife that I really love, but I like my Shipleys and my Denny too! I guess it sometimes depends on what I’m trying to do.

-- Mike P., Arkansas, http://mpounders1.blogspot.com

Hi Jim, I would be ashamed to show mine with yours being so nice. My favorite chip carving knife is in the shape of a short triangle. I find it to be versatile with the small tip. . I love carving but I have arthritis so I can never stay at it long enough to become any good at it. I do admire your work though with all those fine spoons and other work.

-- Mike, American in Norway

I just wish I had the skill to use a carving knife like those beautiful knives! But, even if I did, I’d have to charge a lot more for a gunstock I carved with a knife. Here’s an old project I posted to show how I do precision carving with a 2 1/2 hp router. Using a router that’s mounted in a gunstock duplicator, I can turn a wood blank into a rough carving in about an hour. Then about 15 to 30 minutes of work with hand rasps and files gets the rough blank ready for a series of sanders.

-- Hal, Tennessee http://www.first285.com