Many years ago I wanted to start carving wood spirits and needed a knife in my tackle box was a Finland fillet knife and the tip was broke off I took this and cut the blade to about 1 1/4 inch and used that to make hundreds of wood spirt walking sticks I sold all of them I also carved a horse head but with chisels that was featured in Woodcarving Illustrated and shown all over the world I got out of carving when my son was killed in a car crash I didn’t feel like carving anymore but it’s been about 20 years and I think I’ll sharpen up my chisels and I’ll have to get a new knife I think I’ll make one out of a file anyway thanks for the inspiration and for your videos.

If anyone plays golf, this is the same discussion that goes on while on the course. I see the same golfer's playing a round everyday with the same set they've had for 20 years and are shooting in the low 80's. A group will come in, each with a $1200 set and never shoot less than 105. It's all about practicing and what's comfortable to you. Sharpen any knife so it will carve wood and an experienced carver can carve you a little caricature in a short time. Thanks for the video Doug!

And thank you for continuing to turn out such approachable projects with clear explanations!!

Thank you Doug! Love hearing your opinions on tools. Thank you for inspiring so many to start and continue carving!!!!

I remember when I first started carving I would go and learn from as many local carvers as I could. Ran across a dulcimer maker in Berea, Ky that carved some aspects of his instruments with a knife. They were gorgeous. I asked him what knives he used and he said "Oh! Apple Peelers!" He was making his own knives from ground down apple peeler blades and making custom handles for himself. Looked like something anybody could do with sand paper and a dollar peeler from a flea market. But the quality of the carving was amazing. So I've just kept right on carving with what I have and honing the skill set. Only recently did I snag a helvie. Great video, Doug!

Thanks Doug!, Your videos were the first I saw when I was looking into carving just a short time ago. Love your videos, appreciate your insight. You inspire me to keep on practicing!

Just catching up with your videos. We appreciate your take on your different knives. Makes sense each person will have a favo. For us just starting, it's nice to hear why a specific knife is a favorite of someone who makes things we enjoy very much. You are a very good teacher as well. Thanks!

Thank you Doug, A great overview for those wanting to own a good small caricature widdling knife. I found an old unopened Dastra 1.5" carving knife at a swap meet and I am loveing it, once sharpened with leather power stop. 4 months into whittling and I'm hooked thanks to you Doug. I had to learn to sharpen my knives correctly which has expanded my joy of carving. A sharp tool can help make a novice look like they may know what they are doing. Keep up the good work.

I've been carving around abit. I'm using the delux flexcut set my Mom and Dad gave me for christmas a few years ago. I did have questions about knives, but not any more. As a blacksmith I could make one, though I like the flexcuts. I'm blathering here. I want to thank you for all the tutorials and knowledge you share. You have inspired me to carve and I love it. Happy carving.

Wow, what a comprehensive and thorough breakdown on carving knives. Very helpful. Great job Doug!

Great video Doug. I've changed my favorite knife quite a few times over the last 4-5 years. As you say, the best knife is a sharp knife. If I'd spent as much time learning to sharpen as I did about getting the perfect knife I'd be a happier carver.

I needed this video - thank you so much for posting. It’s really easy as a beginner to get caught up in all of these different products and finding that magical unicorn of a tool that will transform your block of wood into a work of art. I have a sheepsfoot Drake knife (though I have no clue how to sharpen it) and the Flexcut beginner set... and I like them all just fine. Thanks again for this awesome video!

I love this video Doug! When I started carving more seriously, 1 year ago, I didn't have a carving knife. I was using a carpet knife and I cut myself really often but, it was doing the job: carving small figures. Now, I am using ukrainians Beavercraft knives and they are perfect to me. Keep doing these videos: we all love them! :)

Caricature tree house in the back, is RAWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for this information.. I have whittled stuff for years, without very good tools. Not knowing what is a good tool and the purpose of certain shaped blades. Your talks have really helped. Thanks

Thank you very much. Appreciate your help your opinion is of great value. Thanks. Regards Gareth Wiltshire UK. Gratitude. Quality. Respect.

Thanks Doug! Great advice. Love ya man!!! 🇬🇧✌️

I'm very much a beginner and have a Flexcut KN13 knife so I'm really glad it's got your recommendation as a little validation. I've used your advice on stropping and it's beautifully sharp, as my forefinger can attest!

Been doing every single one of my carving with the roughing Flexcut. Flexcuts are great! I love it but I'm really looking forward to get new knives.

Doug I agree the skill is within the artist. The one thing I would like to share is blade hardness makes a big difference. A harder steel will hold a sharp edge longer but it will be harder to sharpen. A soft steel will be easy to sharpen and will need to be sharpened more often. I found my first knife to get dull often. I had to strop constantly and found it rediculous. Carving knife makers and carvers rarely discuss this important topic. If anyone has any thoughts please share.

+1 for the OCC 1-1/2 inch knife. Been a wonderful all around knife for basswood character carving and cottonwood bark carving. I love the feel of the blade, it holds an edge great.

I've been making my own carving knives for a long time now. When I carve with them it's a great feeling to create something using something you created. My favorite grind is a flat grind with just a slight convex. And thin. The thinner the blade (within reason) the better it cuts. Thanks for some more fun stuff to watch!

Another great video. I learned why I like some knives and not others---it is the style of the grind on the blade. I have collected some knives but not as many as you. There is one thing that you touched on in the video that may be more important than the blade. I find that the knife I use the most is the one that is MOST comfortable in my hand regardless of the blade. If the handle is too small it causes my hand to cramp after a short period of carving and I stop. I would suggest finding a handle that is comfortable as is OR a little bit BIG so you can do what you do and grind it down to your own comfort. If it is too small to start it is more complicated to fix. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge with us.

Very useful video for both beginners and experienced carvers! Great as always 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🔥👍🏻

Excellent commentary on all sorts of knives a great help to beginners like me. Many thanks Doug.

the tiny books were an inspiration! my grand daughter loves re-purposing things for her dolls - furniture and accessories. but they didn't have books - so i carved a dozen and made a wild pink bookshelf. It'll be in the mail monday. Thanks for sharing - love your site!

I been trying to get a Helvie for the last 3 months, good luck to all of you that wants one 👍👊

Thank you for this video. I always learn things from you. Very much appreciate the encouragement to practice and try things. Excellent advice - find what works for the individual carver.

Thanks Doug, that was really helpful.

I just carved my first hillbilly with a Swiss Army knife. I’m definitely gonna get a carving set. But it was a great way to see if I liked carving and to make you appreciate carving knives. Thank you for videos and inspiration.

I've got into carving just a week ago and I see a ton of progress. Your videos are really helpful, keep it going

I don’t know the first thing about carving, but I sure do enjoy watching you create beautiful things Doug. Blessings! 🤩🤩🤩👏👏👏👍👍👍💯💯💯

Great video! Learned two things: it’s OK to give up on trying to like scandi grinds, but I did try LOL. Never thought of using my one chip knife to get that elbow chip out-great suggestion. Thanks.

Another great video Doug Linker! You’re the one who got me into wood carving, I’ve tried but I’m terrible haha but I love the ones you make

Thanks Doug. Glad to know my Flexcut is a good knife for my skill level

Loved the video Doug thanks for sharing I currently have 2 carving knives a mora 120 and a flexcut detail knife, I hopefully going to get 1 more knife probably a OCC inch 3/4 knife I love the knives I already have great all around set use the mora to rough out my stuff then the flexcut for smaller details and small stuff in general thanks again for sharing Doug God Bless yall 👍👍

Hi Doug, a while back I bought Stanley's Pocket Foldable Utility knife and was pleasantly surprised how comfortable and efficient it carves. The upside is that the blades are replacable! The downside is that the blade is a bit flexible but MUCH safer than scalpel blades which can come loose. I use the no 60 scalpel blades also in scalpels but made handles to partially cover the blade connection in order to prevent the blades coming off when twisting the knife. I thoroughly enjoy your channel and would LOVE your thinking on replacable blades - stay safe, from a chilly South Africa.

I have carved 5 pretty good figures for my family using only a beaver craft c13 fine detail knife and it is amazing .

I think I will also downsizing my crazy collection, thank you so much for your videos

Thanks Doug. Have a great day.

thanks so much I've been looking for tool tips since I wanted to start wood carving keep up the good work

I've been learning carving watching your channel. First, thanks for doing such a great job with it. I follow a couple of carving channels and If I offered any advice whatsoever to you, it'd be keep doing exactly what you're doing. Great stuff. So, about knives. I had some Flexcut knives hanging around that I bought years ago and started my carving with them. After watching your carving knife video I modified a couple of them to a full scandi grind, essentially bringing the cutting edge bevel all the way to the spine. This mirrors the grind used on your favorite knives. The improvement in performance is substantial! I own a professional sharpening business so the sharpness of my knives was never a question, but the modified blade geometry is definitely a big step. I know not everyone has the skill and/or equipment to modify their knives substantially, but it seems like a good way to get a tip-top performing carving knife at a low price.

Thanks Doug, great piece.

I've ordered a set of OCC knives. Took me an age to find a company who would ship to the UK. Its goona be along 5 weeks before I get my hands on them. You are bang on about using any tool. I still have tools I use from my apprenticeship. (In the 70's).

I have a Mora for prepping branches for carving. I do have a helvie , took me months checking the website. I have found the knifes I grab the most is my OCCTs, 1 3/8 is my go to. Great video. As a kid I carved everything with an old jack knife.

Thanks for this video, I was really contemplating spending more on knives, but now I think I will stick with flexcut and develop my skills... Practice makes perfect right

I have been watching and rewatching your videos for a couple of months. Watch other carving videos but keep coming back the your’s. Ordered a knife and 2 chisels and carved my 1st tiny wood spirit this week! Would love to see a video on chisels expanding on the types and sizes as one increases one’s chisel inventory. Thank you so much for putting these videos together.

Yay Mr Linker, loving the yeards progress! Very helpful video, I'm a fan of the homemade knives, got a few now & you can shape & sharpen to suit each task...🇬🇧🔪

Doug great video , always learn from you !

Thanks Doug. Good solid, honest advice...although "downsizing my knife collection" is a sentence I will never use. 😄

Absolutely the best video Thank you so much

i'm still pretty new at carving but i like the deep woods venture knives i have so far, seem pretty good

Just ordered me a 1.5” occ detailing knife. I enjoyed the helvie I had. I broke it on a bench grinder a few years ago. You live and learn.

I just started not too long ago carving , Flex Cut first and only knife I own. It takes a while to get the stropping of them down but Meh , it's does the job pretty well. I am hooked on carving now so I will be exploring other brands , even thinking of attempting to making my own from an old lawn mower blade. This is a very good video Doug.

Thank you for making this video, I learned a lot as a beginner!

There must be a lot more carving folks out there than what I ever imagined. Every website I visited (9/1/22), they are sold out of several, if not all their knives. 😱

I would like to thank you for this great video. After viewing it I ordered a couple of OCCT knives. I am very happy with them. They sharpen easily on a strop and are very sharp. I already had some Pfeil and Flexcut knives, but the Occt have moved to the top of my list.

I just got my nic westerman carving knife in with my greenwood order and I fell in love with it. Great knife great price long wait lol

Thanks for this. Great explained!

90% of these brands don't deliver to my country. The ones that do, the sellers sell a 15 dollar knife for 100 hundred dollars on Amazon. I use a Victorinox hunstman swiss army knife. Not the best but definitely not the worst. It makes me happy and does the job pretty well. Doug, can't thank you enough for your tutorials. They are of great help. Even my parents are addicted to your videos. Keep up the great work

If it's of any help to newbie's in UK/Europe, BeaverCraft (in Ukraine, I believe) do similar knives to USA FlexCut at a much cheaper price (obviously, because they are closer and their economy is much lower than us in Western Europe). Also, Mora knives (Morakniv in UK) do time tested high quality knives that are great for what we do most here - greenwood carving (just use the greenwood while it is green and not seasoned). Both BeaverCraft and Mora now offer their most popular whittling/carving knives in carbon as well as the stainless options (at least, here in UK anyway). I've just ordered a BeaverCraft 16 Carbon and a Mora 120 carbon for the same price as the stainless versions would have cost me; much cheaper than Flexcut versions of the same things. I hope Doug doesn't mind me adding a point here - if you have a chance, always opt for the bigger size handle because I have small hands and I prefer to trim it down to what I want, rather than have it too small to begin with.

Doug, I'm a Newby whittler and have fallen in love with the hobby. I find I can'tbhelp trying new knives. My favorite so far is kind of a strange one I got from Lee Valley. It is a Japanese wood carving knife kit where you get the full tang blade that has been presharpened to a super sharp edge. The handle halves come predrilled and have a basic shape that you can reshape and finish to your liking. The unusual thing is the shape of the blade. Which is nice and thin. It kind of dips in on the back for a nice spot to push with your thumb. It doesn't have a real sharp poit for detail work, but I find it works just fine. Anyway it may be worth a try😉

Awesome as always, Doug!!

Doug I have to tell you and the other Linker followers I took your advice and bought OCCT knives from Chipping Away. They arrived this morning and I'm carving just like Doug!!!! Beautiful cuts, easy as cutting cheese, all the difficult basswood I've encountered now is just easy to carve. I bought the mini detail and the detail. Blades are exactly the same, just the handles are different. Both are razor sharp out of the box. I've stropped them after using for an hour and the edge is just fantastic. Sometimes good tools do matter.For the price these are an absolute bargain. Now I can enjoy!!!!! Pete

Great overview on knives. Thank you.

I'm only 15 months behind. All your advice has been taken inboard, Doug. My sharpened broken hacksaw blades don't seem to cut it no more.

Thank you. I learned alot!

Started off with a set of Flexcut knives a few years ago and still use them also got a Mora 120 and a few others but Flexcut is my go to Knife .cheers Doug

I prefer chip carving knives (straight blade). I bought two different mora's for camping. But my knives for home are OCC. I bought one 1 1/2" then bought three different sizes of blades then made the handles myself. All have their ups and downs. Thank you for explaining this!

I can't confirm, flex cut is a great knife for a beginner. I tried a few knives and once I bought a flex cut and it cuts so smoothly. My favorite knife at the moment. But I'm only a few months into the craft

Thank you for the videos and the effort. I decided to start whittling/wood carving this winter to keep my mind and hands busy. I started out with a big set of knives from Beavercraft. Though they are good to start with and give you a lot of options, they were difficult for me to use due to my larger hands. One afternoon, after massaging the cramps from my hands, I saw one of your videos where you were using a OCC knife. I immediately found a supplier online and ordered one. Since it was delivered, I've been carving for at least no hour every day with great success. Thanks for the tip and keep the videos coming. I'd love to see you do a Sasquatch carving too.

Good advice Doug!

Am new to carving and have followed your tutorials religiously. They are great. As for knives, like any newbie, I bought a ton of stuff not knowing what was good or ??? So, I kept reading, ordering knives and paying attention to the “old timers” on you tube. After watching your video am glad to say I am in good company with your decision ….Helvie and OCC Tools. Two of my favorite knives. It took awhile to get here but the thin blades seem to work best for me which are the standard for the Helvie and OCC design. Stropping the knives and putting a sharp blade on them has made all the difference for me. Thanks for the video because I have experienced many of the problems that you describe and I am sure lots of carvers have done the same, as well. Again, thanks for the video. Now, how does one go about buying you a cup of coffee?

Thank you , Mr Doug .

thank you for starter knife info

I have a couple MORA from Sweden. Very sharp! Also a set of Hiro from Japan. Like you say you adapt to what you have. Thanks for the very interesting review of all of those amazing knives! Flat blades and curved blades each seem to have a purpose.

Great overview. Very naturally presented. :)

Great video Doug - fully agree with all you said in that - the knife doesn't maketh the carver :) (a sharp knife most certainly help though :) - keep up the great work and videos

Great info, thanks for sharing.

Inspiring as usual…thank you for your advice. I agree that the tool doesn’t make the carver.

Absolutely 💯👍 Thanks Doug

Great vid! I have been using my Mora 120 for a while now.... Fantastic knife!

So a pile of knives is called a wak. I didn't know that. Lol . Love your channel doug!

Lynn Doughty, carver extraordinaire, in YT "Old reliable- Why I use this knife" (referring to his still-used Stanley #199 utility knife), published 1/12/16, 11:37 "It's the hand that's behind the tool that does the work, it's not necessarily the tool. The tool is just an extension of this hand."

I started out whittling with a Case stockman, and I feel a lot more happier using a fixed blade now. I just dislike having to put lateral stress on something with no tang. 👍

Well done Doug!

I’ve just spent £1000 on eBay on pheil and flexcut knives chisels and palm gouges don’t need any other great video Doug 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇮🇪👍🏼

Excellent presentation.

Thanks Doug. I sent this to a friend wanting to get started but not sure what to buy.

The scandi grind wont cut in as good for stop cuts too. I have made a few now from an old saw blade. I like a bigger handle I get cramp with the thinner ones. Interesting to hear your thoughts on knifes. I keep adding to mine... Yes its an addiction.

I bought myself a starters kit from Beavercraft. I'm excited to begin my wood carving journey. I've never done anything like this before. I just wish it came with some instruction as to what purpose the 3 different knives are for.

Thank you for your videos keep going ☺️☺️☺️

Hi , Doug we need more video about daily practice for beginners . Thank you

Just started to watch and I ordered a few OCCT knives that will be with me in a few weeks.

It's the same for everything. Knives, axes, camping equipment, fountain pens and art supplies. I keep gathering more, because I want to try them all. But everything except a few favorites end up lying around taking up space, and hopefully get used once in a blue moon (mainly just to justify their existence).

Great video bud u got a good collection there I use a set 2nd generation that passed down from my paps..yep those are the best I prefer those for most of my work I have 2 one is a little better im always looking for them ...awesome workshop and art 😁😉

As always, sage advice.

Very useful video for carvers. Thanks, Doug! 🇷🇺

Thank you for sharing and the advice. Peace?

I've got a UJ ramelson bench knife and it's great for a beginner like me.