I am not a wood carver or whittler. I did take a brief class on chip carving and I enjoyed it. I do have a couple of decent chip carving knives.

My 13 year old daughter expressed an interest in whittling. She did not want any special tools, just to use a regular (pocket??) knife. I have long wanted to carve some faces onto the end of my walking sticks.

So, I purchased an Old Timer 240T Carvin' Pocket Knife (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XRDZ61M). I hade a vague notion that this thing would show up needing work, but, my previous Shrade Oldtimer knives at least came sharp. This thing is not even almost sharp. I did not try it on wood, but, even though I probably do not really know sharp, I am pretty sure this is not sharp enough.

old_timer_240t.jpg

First, if I take to it, I will probably purchase individual tools. Also, I do have a Flexcut version on order for over $100, but, for $20, it was a decent risk to see if I could make it go a little bit.

I do have a few specific questions. Understand that this is a new direction for me. My friends bring over their plane blades and chisels and I put a decent edge on them and send them packing. I have never dealt with tools like these. A straight blade is not a problem, and things are complicated here because the tools are part of a pocket knife.

Question 1: painted blades

If you look at the image above, tools have a black finish (paint??). It looks to me like the painted the entire blade and then ground a bevel leaving bare metal exposed. As an example, the left most tool, is a gouge. The inside is shown and it is black. If you saw it from the back, like the other two tools on the left, it would be silver (and definitely not polished, I can see grind marks).

When I sharpen my chisels, I remove a burr from the back, then create a new burr on the bevel then move up a grit. When I think of the gouge, if I apply any abrasive to the inside of that tool, I will be removing the paint (or whatever that finish is). How worried should I be about that? I assume that I will need to do that to really get this sharp. I mean, I cannot just work on one side of the tool, right?


Question 2: What do I need

With the flexcut, I see that it will come with something that I can use to polish / strop the edge. I saw a video some time back, of a person creating something similar out of a 2x4 to sharpen a set of gauges. Is that a good way to go? I have not done it, but I guess that I should be able to. Again, not having done this before, I am unsure if I want a set of "slips" or what.

I am very close to a woodcraft store, so I can probably just stop in with my tool and see what they have that will fit those specific items.



Question 3: how to sharpen

Links to videos, specific recommendations, are welcome. I have never used a slip or specialty things.

I was given one gouge by a member of this forum some years back and I managed to get it very sharp. For the inside I think that I had a dowel of about the correct diameter and that worked very well.

Thanks for any help.