Monday, December 10, 2012

Fuzzy Prevention!

Definition of a whittling fuzzy:  Fine slivers of wood left in the bottom of knife cuts.  They can appear when slicing up to a stop cut, and when removing a chip that is formed at the intersection of knife cuts.
How to prevent a whittling fuzzy that appears when removing a chip that is formed at the intersection of knife cuts:  A critical first level of defense is the knife blade.  Or more precisely the tip of the knife blade.  It must not be rounded!  The knife tip must come to a point, to remove a chip from a corner.  If your knife has a rounded tip you can return the tip to a point by using a stone or a diamond sharpening tool.  One way to put a new point on the blade is to use the stone on the back/top of the blade tip.  A few strokes (pull or push) will re point the tip.



DISCLAIMER
I also need to say again, that I am no expert wood carver.  In fact I've only been whittling and carving for  about 8 or 9 years.  I am still learning, and discovering, and yes, making mistakes.  I hope I'm not coming across as a know it all.  I'm just sharing some of the things that I run across on my whittling and carving journey.  Hopefully you can pick some morsels from these posts that you can use.

1 comment:

Tom H said...

Point on the knife blade is kinda like the point on cowboy boots. Easier to step on bugs in the corners.