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Dear all,
Happy holiday..
I am wondering whether anyone has used these "Bubinga Carving Knives" from Lee Valley?
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 40&p=45740
are they any good? They look well made and not too expensive.

I am thinking about getting some carving knife for myself to rough shape the heel.
I have heard that the Hock blade is great. (Instrument Maker's Knives sold in LMI.)
But I don't know how to make a handle...

If any one can give me any recommendation, that will be great.

Thank you so much.

I love my Hock violin knife for heel carving http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Knives+%26+Saws&NameProdHeader=Instrument+Maker%27s+Knives. Get the big one.

I have the Flexcut skew knife http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 43393&ap=1 and a pair of Lee Valley skew chisels that are pretty good for shaping

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Heel shaping is so wonderfully personal. I've gravitated to using a No 7 curved gouge for hogging off material followed by No 5 and then No 3 straight 18mm gouges for getting to a scraper ready surface. I was heavily into rasps prior to the last two months, and have several good French ones, but out of the blue, the carving gouges have just interjected themselves and taken over. I'm glad to be cleaning up chips rather than dust, too.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Look at Lemuel Violins,
Great selection of violin knives. I have the Goldsteel 18mm and it's greatfor heel/neck carving. #80-59H.18, comes with handle.

My favorite vln knife is a ground down 1.25in width by 1/4in thick file . I made for bowmaking ,super sharp, works well in vy tight curves.Will second the hock knife, and frosts/mora knives from sweden these vy reasonably priced knives when sharpened work extremely well. 2nd sharpest knife is a 3/4in rt or left hand bevel knife from jap woodworker.Recycled files can be ground to any desired shape and can be picked up for pennies at yard sales

I would say get the Hock - I'd be lost without mine. Very high quality.

As far as a handle goes, you should be able to cobble one together; it's pretty easy. I personally don't use a handle, as I don't like the extra bulk in tight places. I wrap leather or bicycle handlebar tape around it, and call it good.

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

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I made mine from a saw blade. I use it constantly.
Somehow I oil-tempered and hardened it correctly (blind luck) and it holds an edge a long time.
It is thinner than a regular Luthier's knife I have, but I've never taken to it.

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For me, I like a multi-tasker with a curved blade. I made one from a design I saw in American Luthierie about twenty five years ago. It was an article on luthiers in Paracho Mexico and the knife is called a 'cuchillo'. I also love a Japanese three sided chisel/scraper I have, I'm not even sure what it's called, but it works great on compound curves.In the end, you just have to try a few and see what you're comfortable with.

"chuchillo" is spanish for "knife"

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Jim Hansen

Thank you all for your comments.

For those of you who use the Hock knives, which size do you like?
Do you use the one has bevels on both sides of the blade?

Thanks again.

I'm sure these recommendations are all very good, but I've never purchased a carving knife.
By all means, purchase one based on the input you've received and your own judgement. Work with it a while and then think about what other blade shapes and handle modifications you'd like. Then, I encourage you to try to make some of your own. I've made several small knives, chisels, etc., from old saw blades. In particular, discarded industrial hacksaw blades are great for this purpose. I make small plane irons from them, too. They can often be scrounged from a metal working shop. You will need a grinder of some sort. David Newton has made a great carving knife, as illustrated in his post. When I made mine, I didn't even bother to anneal and then re-harden and temper the steel. I just ground carefully (so as not to burn the steel), made a long tang on the blade, and epoxied it into a two-piece walnut handle which I made from scraps. In fact, I made a carving knife, a skew chisel, a small straight chisel, an extremely thin bottoming chisel, a marking knife, and three small plane irons in this manner. More than twenty years later, they are all still in service. It's not difficult at all, and it's a lot of fun. And it's extremely satisfying to do work with a tool that you have made with your own hands.

I use the 3/4 inch Hock - double bevel - I just got it and made a handle for it (simple - look up instructions on google). It is sharp enough that it will do anything I ask it to do with no issues - you have to hone it when you get it - awesome knife and quickly made itself my goto tool on my bench. I was so happy I made a post dedicated to my knife - with it's new handle. funny thing is the same day i bought that blade, I bought a Pfiel violin knife as well, with handle - and I have not even bothered to use it. I have used the Hock as a marking knife, cutting, and carving -

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=34737&hilit=hock

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I have a set of flexcut knives and some of their chisels. I love their stuff....Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

I am mostly "Hock" too, but try a Sloyd knife from Scandanavia(Frost is good) with the laminated blade. They are relatively inexpensive, the simple handle is comfortable and honing is a breeze.

+1 on the Flexcut offerings

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

knives can be personalized by making a custom made handle to suit your hand and style of working.I made 2 new handles for the frost/mora scandinavian knives , as the shape of the birch handles were un comfortable to me for protracted periods of carving. My vote is for the single bevel 3/4in laminated hand made knives from japan woodworker.They are IMHO the sharpest, easy to resharpen, and hold a keen edge for a long time.

These:
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/Mo ... 5QodlQxNbA

I use the Hock knife for many things.... However here,where I live, there are two well known knife makers. One has built and sold internationally Traditional Northwest Native [Kestrel Tools] curved knives most often associated with totem and mask carving. Another fellow made a line of "Swiss" chip carving knives. Sadly both have moved on to other projects as the economy has stagnated. Happily I have a fair collection of both of their knives.
I find my self using several of them during the construction process, one or the other just seems to match the task at hand. I like having the options.

Mike J