# Ancient cheap carving knives



## EllenWoodHead (Feb 9, 2020)

I wrote up a Projects post about my old jewelry box I made from a chunk of maple from my woodpile eons ago, and I got to thinking about the old cheap Niji carving knives I used, and still have. They're at least 25 years old, I paid $7.00 for a set of 7. I still use them. They have been through the wars: dropped, sharpened in every weird way you can think of, bashed on knots, and glued back together after the blades fell out of the handles. No idea what the steel is, it feels like an O1, easy to sharpen and holds an edge for not long enough.

As a hardcore tool nerd I'm always dreaming about new shiny stuff, but I also have a good bit of old kit that I am still happy with. These little knives are great for all kinds of odd jobs like digging into tight spaces to smooth rough bits, boring pilot holes, chamfering edges, and they make nice marking knives. They're usually not my first choice, but they're great when I don't feel like honing a chisel or plane iron for some little thing and just want to get on with the job.


----------



## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Thing is back then 7 bux wasn't that hard to come up with. Maybe in reality equal to 20 bux today.

The same chisels would likely be 200 bux though. I kinda miss those old days.


----------



## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

Its funny what different people opinions of "ancient" is. I have some hand planes and other tools from mid 1800s I use. Was expecting to see some 16th or 17th century tool that I normally only see on Bode's site, lol. 25 years old is some of my more recent home depot purchases lol.


----------



## EllenWoodHead (Feb 9, 2020)

> Its funny what different people opinions of "ancient" is.


True  I moved a lot, so anything that survived more than a couple of moves is ancient to me.


----------



## EllenWoodHead (Feb 9, 2020)

> Thing is back then 7 bux wasn t that hard to come up with. Maybe in reality equal to 20 bux today.
> 
> The same chisels would likely be 200 bux though. I kinda miss those old days.
> 
> - therealSteveN


They're still cheap! Amazon has a set of 12 for $14.96.


----------

