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Thread: What’s your woodworking pocketknife?

  1. #16
    I don't carry one. And I don't use one in the shop.

    But my dad gave me my first pocket knife when I was 9 or 10. It's a Barlow and I keep it in my tool chest where I can see it.

  2. #17
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    I carry a Buck Cadet 303 pocket knife. You never know when you need to cut something.03375301279_F.jpg
    Last edited by Lee Schierer; 07-17-2020 at 12:39 PM.
    Lee Schierer
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  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clifford McGuire View Post
    I don't carry one. And I don't use one in the shop.

    But my dad gave me my first pocket knife when I was 9 or 10. It's a Barlow and I keep it in my tool chest where I can see it.
    Clifford, earlier I posted a absolutely wonderful Japanese folding knife. But I do not carry it around. I do not carry knives around. It would go with me to a wood show, otherwise is in my workshop for use when needed. It hangs on the wall behind my bench.

    I have a couple of other folding/pocket knives which are for use, which I will mention here as they are terrific woodworking tools. These also hang on the wall for specific purposes.

    The first is one most people know of, a Stanley .. made popular by Paul Sellers. It is a go-to knife ...



    The next one is extremely useful when you need a knife for scribing lines and riving small pieces for pegs. Mine is highly modified from the original, but it is not difficult to do .. just grinding and polishing. The original is the Lee Valley Woodworker's Knife. The blade is very stout and its back is thick and may be hit with a mallet for riving. This is mine now ...



    The knife I carry - in a briefcase - is a simple, two-bladed, Swiss Army knife. It was my father's.


    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Last edited by Derek Cohen; 07-17-2020 at 1:45 PM.

  4. #19
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    Murphy shop knife

    Murphy "layout" shop knife with replaceable blade.

    The broad brass "barrel" makes manipulating it easy when my creaky hands tire.

    The blade is flat, so it hones reliably.

    It stays in the shop.

    https://i.imgur.com/NPXF0in.jpg

    http://imgur.com/gallery/OBpDYGz

  5. #20
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    Swiss Army

    I see a number of the small Swiss Army knives favored. In that category I would suggest the Rambler model. The bottle opener and small Phillips head has been invaluable to get those tiny screws off the battery covers on test instruments, grandkids toys, etc. I’ve carried one for years and have left many at airports around N America.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #21
    I have a decent collection of traditional (ie. slipjoint and friction folder) pocket knives and I always have one in my pocket. They all get carried and choice depends upon my mood and which pants I’m wearing, and if I’m doing yard work and whatnot.

    I went through a phase where I TRIED to make a pocket knife my woodworking knife. They are lousy and inconvenient compared to the ever present marking knife that sits easily accessible on my bench at all times. I tried, I really did, but it was more annoyance than anything, so I gave up on the idea. The only time a pocket knife gets used in the woodshop is for opening a Lee Valley box (and even then I usually use the marking knife!).

    I peruse traditional knife forums from time to time and the subject of pocket knives and woodworking crop up from time to time. Prior to the days of utility razor knives, the most common knives used by carpenters were stockman and congress patterns. The sheepsfoot blade being the obvious reason. A sheepsfoot or wharncliffe blade can work perfectly adequately for marking lines as they have no belly. I have yet to need to do any carpentry work on my house so…..

    Actually, I’m going to contradict myself slightly. I have a Schrade 44OT which is my primary whittling knife. The 44OT is basically a medium stockman with a fourth blade that is a tiny (1-1/4” ??) wharncliffe blade. I keep the wharni and the sheepsfoot at 9 or 10* per side and leave the clip and spey at the standard 25* per side as those two blades don’t really serve a purpose for whittling. Whittling isn’t exactly the same as woodworking, but…… When I turn on my pole lathe and cut off the end of my piece I DO actually use this pocket knife to trim the sawn end. So THAT would qualify as legitimate non-carpentry woodworking.

    So that would be my woodworking pocketknife: Schrade 44OT. But it’s really a specialty tool that only comes out once in a while for a very specific task.


    whittling.jpg

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Schierer View Post
    I carry a Buck Cadet pocket knife. You never know when you need to cut something.03375301279_F.jpg
    I carry a Buck 373. When I was a boy, Buck knives were the ultimate. I ran across mine in in a store and it came home with me.

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by chris carter View Post
    ...

    So that would be my woodworking pocketknife: Schrade 44OT. But it’s really a specialty tool that only comes out once in a while for a very specific task.


    whittling.jpg
    Love it. It is woodworking.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    When I was a boy, Buck knives were the ultimate.
    I also have a fondness for Buck knives. I have at least half dozen of them that are over 40 years old..... There are "better" knives now, but I still love them. Probably the rosewood handles.

  10. #25
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    I have favorite patterns: Stockman, Barlow, to name two, in my extensive collection. I will be 68 in two months, and I've had a pocketknife with me going on six decades, until last year. Why? Several groups I'm involved with require going in places where knives are not permitted, and I had to break the habit.

    (Favorite brands: Case, Boker, Tree, Queen, to name a few!)
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Frederick View Post
    I see a number of the small Swiss Army knives favored. In that category I would suggest the Rambler model. The bottle opener and small Phillips head has been invaluable to get those tiny screws off the battery covers on test instruments, grandkids toys, etc. I’ve carried one for years and have left many at airports around N America.
    +1. Harder to find, but so much more useful than the Classic without being much bigger. (3 places thick, instead of 2.)

    (I've got to add, it was better back when it was the Rogue. I guess they wanted to improve it's image and renamed it Rambler for broader appeal. )

  12. #27
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    I have the Opinel I bought 40 years ago when Garrett Wade was still a wood working tool catalog. That get's used for light prying and scraping.

    For cutting veneer, wire stripping, and opening packages, the blue folding Kobalt razor knife has no equal. Especially for veneer.

    My actual family heirloom pocket knife is maybe 80 years old, has carbon blades, and whatever marking that was on the shield totally worn off.

    IMG_4955.jpg
    Nostalgia isn't what it used to be

  13. #28
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    Since I was a Boy Scout, my favourite knife is an Opinel.
    As I grew up I had several versions, from 6 to 10 I believe. They are dirt cheap, strong, versatile and you find them in every corner shop.

    For the workshop I like a number 8, I use the point to mark things and carve and the edge to cut all sort of things.

    In my region by the Alps some people shorten the blade drastically and use them for whittling.

    9B7B74FE-ED05-428B-93A8-2B69AA0A2979.jpeg
    Last edited by Axel de Pugey; 07-17-2020 at 5:50 PM.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    I carry a Buck 373. When I was a boy, Buck knives were the ultimate. I ran across mine in in a store and it came home with me.
    The 303 / 373 is a very nice size. The 303 is made in the USA and has a special heat treatment so the same steel from Buck made in the USA generally holds an edge better than the same steel from another company. They did not share that heat treatment for their Chinese facilities I am told.

    The almost equivalent and a bit smaller is the Case small Stockman. I am partial to the 2333 pattern, which has a synthetic handle (black) and is a small stockman. 2 indicates the handle material and 333 is the patterns. 8327 is another small stockman from case; Mother of Pearl for the handle and the body is just slightly different. I don't care for the Case small stockman with stag handles, it is for some crazy reason very wide.

    If you want something just a bit smaller and only two blades, get a Buck Lancer (305/375 for USA/China). The clip point blade is actually pretty long and can really get in there for marking, but I still prefer my marking knife so I can put one flat edge against the side of the wood more easily.

  15. #30
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    964CEA8B-C58F-4201-9D05-98FFACE373C9.jpg
    Rarely use it as a marking knife but have always carried an old timer, uncle Henry, or currently this case, which my wife got me and I have come to like although I though it was too big and pretty when she first got it. Marking knife is a cheap kitchen paring knife that I’ve sharpened...

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