Carbon steel, in general is less brittle than stainless. It is tempered harder for a single purpose, and therefore brittle.

They may be mistakes, but they're just whittle ones.

OMG I felt that knife break... it almost broke my heart 😢😂

The sacrifice of that first OCC blade’s tip… you won’t be forgotten!

“Now when compared to that of a common pocket knife” -proceeds to flip out an absolute unit of an assassin knife

Just for some clarity, the brittleness of the knife is not necessarily a result of carbon vs stainless... both carbon and stainless knives can be very hard or very soft depending on the specific steel makeup and heat treatment. Honestly the main reason your pocket knife didn't snap is the blade thickness and grind geometry.... your flexcut is a pretty darn thin tip compared to the pocket knife + the pocket knife was saber ground vs the 0-ground "scandi" bevel on the carver so the pocket knife also has a lot more meat in the middle reinforcing it. Lastly, knowing CRKT, I'm betting that blade was heat treated in the mid-low 50 range. Just wanted to put that out there so people don't feel like they should or shouldn't buy carbon vs stainless for some reason... it will depend way more on the particular steel itself and how it was heat treated. But, in the end, prying with any knife is a bad plan... just don't do it!

Guilty of #1 with the exact same knife...

I subbed instantly when you broke the tip of that knife

Your experience shines thru superquick, in breaking the tip, and going cross grain and having a chunk pop off. I have everything but just nervous to get started.

I am starting a business and one of the things i will sell is little animals that are hand whittled, so this video helped SO MUCH!! thank you!

Excellent five reminders to put into practice, thank you so much for sharing. Blessings.

A lot of excellent tips here.Thank you kindly!

This was super useful! Ive been whittling with my friend and I decided to get my own set of knives, this was very useful!

Hi! Thanks for this video! I just bought my first knife and got some bass wood here. This will be my first try at whittling and I‘ll make sure to avoid all those mistakes you mentioned👍

Thanks for your video. I was making some mistakes. I started whittling about two weeks ago. I'm fully aware that I'm working with a very sharp razor blade. I've learned not to whittle with my arm or hand pushing the blade. I'm using my two thumbs like you do. This way, I'm sure not to cut myself. I'm 59 and had a fair amount of cuts and bruises. I find this is a beautiful hobby. I can listen to music while whittling. I also find these small carvings very beautiful.

I prefer folding knives: I do a lot of my whittling waiting for the bus and need knives I can throw in my pocket fairly quickly when the bus arrives. Almost the first thing I did with my carbon steel Opinel was break the tip (not too badly, I was able to grind it so that is sorta back to where it was). I mostly use multiple bladed folders which have stainless blades of varying quality but I lost the tip on the clip point of my stainless Buck stockman Christmas Day when I dropped it point first on hard pavement. Same story as the Opinel. Lately I've been whittling dried avocado pits which don't have a grain as such and a texture like hard gingerbread.

Thank you for this, very useful. Saved my knife tip and probably my thumb too!

Thanks dude, just starting out on this amazing hobby

Super useful video!! I got my first set of knives today- I’m going to try them out tomorrow! So excited!! Videos like this are SUPER helpful, and at least from what I’ve seen there aren’t too many great ones, like this video! But anyways- super great video!! Thank you!! :)

Great video. Besides this most of the tricks you learn by doing. Keep it up. I admire what you're doing!

That's what that mystery green stuff is!!! This was super helpful thanks!

That was an expensive demo flexcuts aren't cheap

I started two days ago and am oddly proud I did not commit the stabbing or sideways shaving atrocities. 😆

#1 brought back so many memories. Used to happen to my cutter knife all the time when I used it on anything other then paper LOL

Nice video. Very helpful. Thanks. 👍

Thanks for the tips Brian, very much appreciated

Yes, going against the grain. When you are used to carving/whittling for outdoors tasks you're often not subtle, you have X or y tasks to do before you loose the daylight. I have to check myself when attempting to carve or whittle to this higher standard. Maybe starting out with blades that are more forgiving than the little thin Flexcut knives is something to think about, at least until you have made your initial mistakes. A Congress pocket knife or the Mora/Hultafors Precisions or carving knives for instance.

Outstanding tips😊

Great helpful vid mate

Thank you so much for this video, trying to teach my twins and this video came in handy quick 😂

thank you!

Reading through your comments, great info and responses!

I like what you made. You should show a before and after. 😄

Just getting into wood carving, Look forward to your other vidos

Thanks for a useful advices!

Extremely useful!

Recommend information on the flexcut knife, the glove, the basswood, and a book, and the thumb wrap

Just got into whittling, your videos are * *chef's kiss* * Also, I thought you were just going to be talking about common occurrences.. When that knife broke I audibly winced! 😅

This was great 🙏🏽 but most of this I would never do. As an Army cook, I was taught to respect knives 😉😳

I made my first wood carving in the pandemic it was long strips of wood and I put them in a weave pattern I still have it today i do wish I had saw this when I was doing this cut my thumb a few times

I’m just starting carving and have a freshly cut piece of mesquite, is it a good type to carve? Also thanks for all your videos and tips, it makes getting into this hobby a lot easier!

That's commitment. Take my thumbs up and subscription.

getting a carving kit for my bday cant wait! great vid by the way

Its more about the geometry and heat treat vs material choice. Theres plenty of stainless that will harden deeper than a carbon steel.

Guilty of #5. Got nerve damage and super glued it back together.

I use wood rasp s rasp s and files. Alot to shape. Then sand it. I have big ones and tiny ones. Over the year a I found them very useful. But you make some really good points for beginners. Saves you alot of mistakes. In the end.ps I've cut my fingers several times. So now I really keep my digits out of the way.

very good instruction Thank you

Wow just straight in to it

thanks

These are excellent tips, we all know about 5 biggest mistakes, right? We are not perfect, no matter how long we have been carving. If we simply follow these tips, we can be efficient and effective wood carvers. It makes no difference to me how atrong a metal is, I never use my pocketknife or detail knife as a prying tool. I've had my pockeknife as well as my carving tools for years and, never broke a blade or even chipped one: being 62 years old, I had a pocketknife since I was 8 years old, in fact I still have my first Case 2 blade pocketknife and, it's just as sharp when I was given it. I sharpen all my wood carving tool, U tool, v tool, angle blade, palm sets daily but, I don't sharpen them every 20 minutes. You can over sharpen carving tools too, the edges become brittle and loss of the edge is not wise. If I'm wood carving and, see my tools is not cutting as easy or smoothly, it's time to sharpen again, otherwise I keep on carving. You can never have an over sharpened blade or tool but, you can weaken the tool or blade by over doing it, a sharp blade is a happy blade. As long as it still has it's strength? A weakened blade can hurt or injury you the same way a dull blade does by the wood giving way. If the blade chips from a weakened point it can becomes a disaster by jumping out of the wood. I always use high grade cut protection gloves on my hands because I know how sharp my tools are, I need my hands.

Thanks for the tips. wished I'd seen it sooner. Better late than never. I do have a question for you. Been watching your videos and posts along with a couple others. I am a retired custom cabinet maker and have always wanted to whittle, so now I'm starting to play. You and everyone else I see, are cutting through the wood like it is soft butter. I'm closer to 70 than 60 and my knifes are sharper than all get out, but the bass wood I'm buying seems to be hard as a rock, where can I get some wood that looks as easy to cut into as yours does for you?

Very nice crash - test. Thank You !!! :)

wow!!! i do believe that carving knives either stainless or carbon have a higher hardness than other everyday knives...hardness to retain edge; softness to easily bring edge up!!!

Hey Brian, thank you sooooo much for your videos! Was looking at beginner ideas the other day and have watched a bunch of your videos now as my son would love to get into whittling. Will order the basics you recommend for now for and probably get more later. So inspiring! QUESTION: Could you perhaps film a couple videos on making something with the BeaverCraft C1 Kid knife, please? I'm sure I've seen it in one of your videos and if you've still got the knife, that would be fantastic. The rounded blade probably makes quite a difference with regards to what can be done and achieved, correct? Thank you for the great content, I really appreciate it! My son is 8 in a few days and he's very excited to start making his own chess figures. :) All the best from the UK and have an amazing time leading up to Christmas! Thank you, Lucienne

I've chopped off so many fox legs and dog snoots by going against the grain... I see now how and why. Thank you.

*opens packages* *breaks knife* "So yeah, don't do that" Thank you for breaking your equipment for us.

Hello there, I dont use leather and was wondering if a whetstone would suffice for sharpening? Thank you in advance. Love your videos!

Yep broke a tip. Got back to good but dang I wasn’t carving while stoning the blade 😂

Going against the grain is what I done at first where I was pushing with the gouge, a bit of wood broke and the gouge went shooting off into my finger which left me with a lovely eye lid shaped hole.

Bro broke a brand new knife just to mske a point to us rookies. That alone was worth a like. Thank you for the video

do you have any recommendations for a whittling knife? I got a pack off amazon recently and the actual blade is abysmal, although the polishing agent and leather are fine.

Bonjour et merci pour cette vidéo instructive. Si on a le malheur de casser la pointe du Flexcut, comment peut-on reformer la nouvelle pointe ? Est-ce simplement en la passant sur la pierre ? Ou faut-il la limer ? Vu que le métal a l’air d’être tellement mince et fragile. Lorsque que vous sculptez le chien assis, est-ce que vous mentionnez le type de Flexcut que vous employez pour commencer le travail ? À chaque nouvelle opération de sculpture pour le chien, vu que je n’ai pas encore essayé les autres, pouvez-vous mentionner le type de couteau à utiliser. Car je suppose que les autres petits sujets suivront le même principe d’utilisation que pour le chien dans le cas présent. Merci pour votre réponse. Michèle

Looks like a fun relatively cheap hobby might give it a go.

Wow this guy really broke his knife for us 🤯

Thank you

only128k subs, you deserve more

Do you recommend a brand of gloves and thumb protector for newbies who might want extra protection to the fingers without losing too much agility while carving?

Is that cut proof material on your right hand thumb ? I am a total newbie and am really enjoying your videos ,thanks

Hi, I have a question, how do I check which way the grain is going, so I can cut the right way I watched the video but im still a little confused

I want to know do you use the sharp side or the blunt side for a beginner and also where did you find the piece of leather on the brick

This is very helpful! Is there any way to sharpen your blade without this sharpening tool?

Learned #5 the hard way when I was about 10. Still have a scar almost 30 years later.

i think ill try to carve a hammer tomorrow, thanks for making this video, because i am new to carving and i never knew that those were mistakes so this helps. also, can i use a chefs knife for woodcarving? i find it really hard to carve wood with small pocket knives

Omg totem carver here.... Good advice folks ... Native pool carving is 6 hrs 3 sharpening

Can you tell me what kind of glove and thumb grip you are using and where i can purchase?

6:16 was me!! Don’t be me!! I zoned out and chopped through my nail and finger tip lol

My first thought was, "Does he really wear those gloves when whittling?" I've never seen anyone whittle with gloves. Then I saw the fingers ahead of the blade, got goose bumps, and thought, keep the gloves on, dude!

Do a lot of wood carvings with My Dremel. My Awesome Son got Me a Beavercraft Whittling& Chip Carving Kit for Christmas 🎄 which I just Love.. Problem is I've never Whittled or Carved any kind of wood in My Life using a Knife. Won't say how old I am..lol. Do You know of Any Video's I can Watch to Help Me out? Any Feed Back with Help Immensely.. Thank's Paul..😎

Nice big slicer! 😁

Drawing the blade edge perpendicular is awesome but, use a Stanley razor blade for it. Gets a better finish and takes off a smaller amount of material. Yeah don't use your actual knives for it though.

Hello, would pine wood work well for whittling, thanks 😊

Nearly stopped my heart watching you break that blade right out of the box 😬

Okay I've watched this video before but #5 still just happened to me because dumb me decided to go for some quick whittling in the middle of the night. Came back from the ER with four stitches. Went straight through the glove. 5/5 flexcut knife

The only thing I don't do is sharpen the blade as I carve, I am definitely going to start!

Could you a video on how to identify the direction of the wood grain?

👍craving tip

Good basic video

Amazing tips Brian could you plz do a bird tutorial

i just wondered about something since i have a school project where my teacher is making me make knives they arent really carving knives but i started to wonder if you have made a knife handle by carving before?

How do you plan out your design before you start cutting

What tape is that? Im new to whittling and want to protect my hands a bit more than the gloves.

You broke a brand new Flex Cut 😳

You sacrificed a knife for the video, that earns a like!

I will now be calling all folding knives by their true name, the flippity doo da blade 1:56

Is it ok to carve with pocket knives does it work well still

So in case I cut my finger what would you recommend doing to heal it?

How the knife cut like butter tho 😎

How do I tell which way the wood grain is going? Its always been hard for me to tell, havent carved in a while but want to get back into it

What a monster. Not even a minute in and he snaps the tip right off. 😂

at 6:42 i made that mistake a few weeks ago, instead of carving a dog, i carved my thumb.