I cut down some Bradford Pear last weekend, I have some branches cut for ladles and kuksas, I hope to work on some this weekend.
Good morning sir. I've been looking at those carving jacks on line. In the online photos they look chunky. How does it feel in hand ? And now that you have had time to use it. What are your thoughts on it ? And most importantly if you lost that one. Would you buy another one ? Thank you for your time.
Thank you for the kind words brother ! All I can see is my mistakes. I enjoy carving but I'm not very good at it. I'll keep at it. And I'll get better, or I won't. Time will tell.
If you want to see mistake take a look at one of my attempts! I'm no amateur when it comes to whittlin' but I suck at spoon carving (tried a spatula once, just for the heck of it). If that was done with only a fixed blade knife there's really nothing wrong with it at all.
Full discloser brother. I use a hatchet to split blanks down to aprox. Size. Also I used a gouge to hollow out the bowl of the kuksa and both of the spoons. And I used a power drill for the hole in the kuksa handle. I'm sure that I would use a spoon knife to hollow out the bowls if I owned one. The rest of the carving was done with a old hickory pairing knife that I cut down into a sheepsfoot blade.
I am not going to lie it is a little chunky in hand but it’s not unwieldy. The quality is great but it does not work as well as the free standing version. I carry it in my HPG chest bag for when I’m out and want a variety of tools. If I lost it yes I would eventually replace it.
Thank you brother ! I was thinking along those same lines. It would be nice to have a variety of tools in a small easy to pack unit.
@Strigidae no sir I never did oil it. When I finished it I poured a cup of coffee in it and to my surprise it did not leak. I've been using it every day sense. It's getting darker daily. I've got a walnut blank split big enuf for another kuksa but have not started carving it yet.