Traditionals?

[mb1]

I probably don't need to ask if anyone here is into traditionals. I'm getting bit by that bug a little lately. GEC has my eye and I NEED to pick one up, but of course the 2 models that have my eye aren't in production right now.

I like the #38 Grinling Whittler a lot. Any recommendations for something like this in another brand that you've found to be of equal quality?

The #15 Barlow is also appealing, in sawcut bone with a single clip blade.

[yablanowitz]

I don't know of any offhand, at least in current production. The Schrade 804 and Case 6380 are both very similar to the Grinling except for having small clip point secondaries in place of the pen blade on the GEC.

[jmh58]

GEC Snakewood handled 74 landed here in "The Rocks" today.. Been into traditionals for over 40yrs and do have a few!!! John

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GEC Snakewood handled 74 landed here in "The Rocks" today.. Been into traditionals for over 40yrs and do have a few!!! John

Pics sir!

Just closed on my first GEC, #38 Whittler in Che Chen Rosewood ("sorry honey!"). Should have it early next week.

[mb1]

I don't know of any offhand, at least in current production. The Schrade 804 and Case 6380 are both very similar to the Grinling except for having small clip point secondaries in place of the pen blade on the GEC.

Thx. You do a bit of whittling if I recall from another thread, correct? What are some of your favorite tools of choice?

[spyderg]

In my experience, GEC is at the top of the traditional food chain right now. If I were you I'd be patient and wait for GEC to get around to making something you really like. You can try your luck picking one up on one of the exchanges.

[yablanowitz]

Thx. You do a bit of whittling if I recall from another thread, correct? What are some of your favorite tools of choice?

I use a lot of different knives depending on what I'm doing. I just keep throwing more into my kit (a pretentious word for the plastic tote I haul my crap around in and use for a chip catcher when I whittle). There is an 804, a Gepetto and a Grinling in there, along with a Conductor whittler, Courthouse whittler and a couple of Executive whittlers, a Des Horn, Kiwi4 and WolfSpyder, a Schrade 44OT...geez, no wonder the box is getting heavy. The worst part is, with all those and more to chose from, I usually end up grabbing an old Schrade that I don't even know the model of. It had both blades broken when I got it in a lot of knives I bought at auction, and I reground them to suit me.

[mb1]

Thx. You do a bit of whittling if I recall from another thread, correct? What are some of your favorite tools of choice?

I use a lot of different knives depending on what I'm doing. I just keep throwing more into my kit (a pretentious word for the plastic tote I haul my crap around in and use for a chip catcher when I whittle). There is an 804, a Gepetto and a Grinling in there, along with a Conductor whittler, Courthouse whittler and a couple of Executive whittlers, a Des Horn, Kiwi4 and WolfSpyder, a Schrade 44OT...geez, no wonder the box is getting heavy. The worst part is, with all those and more to chose from, I usually end up grabbing an old Schrade that I don't even know the model of. It had both blades broken when I got it in a lot of knives I bought at auction, and I reground them to suit me.

Made me laugh about the heavy box. :D

Where'd you learn to do work like this? I know the answer to nearly everything is YouTube these days, but curious if there's a better story. I like stories.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I've had and enjoyed different Traditionals. I had a lot of Barlow knives, they are good when made right. And also some stockman folders and non locking folding hunters.

Would you consider a sloyd knife to be a traditional?

[mb1]

I've had and enjoyed different Traditionals. I had a lot of Barlow knives, they are good when made right. And also some stockman folders and non locking folding hunters.

Would you consider a sloyd knife to be a traditional?

Don't think I know that is. :o Educamate me.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thanks for asking! Slojd is the Swedish word for "handiwork" or handcrafting. As you likely know, the Swedes as well as other Scandinavians are world-famous for a long history of quality fixed blade knives using laminated and carbon steel (and now they also make great stainless steel, too).

The word was altered to Sloyd in the 1800s and used for a certain class of schools that taught students how to do hand wood carving and other techniques. The Sloyd knife is basically a fixed blade, small though it can be large, Mora-type knife with a Scandi Grind and rat tailed or drop point blade.

Here are some traditional all carbon steel ones and these are some of the pricier versions:

http://countryworkshops.org/knives.html

That model S-15 has a four inch blade and would be great for outdoor cutting tasks as well as wood carving.

In the late 1700s and through the 1800s and 1900s, a number of Swedish knife makers made some folding Sloyd knives, with the same distinct blade and handle shapes, for the sporting and importing market. They were also called "Swedish Barrel Knives" or just "Barrel Knives".

Here are some lower priced Sloyd knives:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/sloy ... e-set.aspx

They can also have blunt tipped blades and curved blades, for various aspects of wood carving.

This American company, R Murphy Knives, which makes various kitchen, professional, and sporting blades, also makes their own version: https://www.rmurphyknives.com/store/slo ... tails.html

Here are some pics of a popular old Swedish Barrel knife:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... hp?t=23257

I would like to see a modern maker make an updated version, using materials such as stainless steel and FRN or something.

Here was one from 1910 that got sold:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/258752700/ ... stacy-3-34

The Swedes realized that folding pocket and pen knives are a good market, and actually EKA which stands for Eskilstuna Knife Fabricators, began by being one of the first Swedish knife companies to get into the folder market.

More pics:
http://bladesandbushlore.com/index.php?topic=5175.0
http://thebladeblog-ulf.blogspot.com/20 ... nives.html

There was a time, and even today, when the phrase "Swedish Steel" conjured up images of exotic super steel, like we Spyderco fans and users think of such things as H1, VG10, and HAP40.

[mb1]

Thanks for asking! Slojd is the Swedish word for "handiwork" or handcrafting. As you likely know, the Swedes as well as other Scandinavians are world-famous for a long history of quality fixed blade knives using laminated and carbon steel (and now they also make great stainless steel, too).

The word was altered to Sloyd in the 1800s and used for a certain class of schools that taught students how to do hand wood carving and other techniques. The Sloyd knife is basically a fixed blade, small though it can be large, Mora-type knife with a Scandi Grind and rat tailed or drop point blade.

Here are some traditional all carbon steel ones and these are some of the pricier versions:

http://countryworkshops.org/knives.html

That model S-15 has a four inch blade and would be great for outdoor cutting tasks as well as wood carving.

In the late 1700s and through the 1800s and 1900s, a number of Swedish knife makers made some folding Sloyd knives, with the same distinct blade and handle shapes, for the sporting and importing market. They were also called "Swedish Barrel Knives" or just "Barrel Knives".

Here are some lower priced Sloyd knives:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/sloy ... e-set.aspx

They can also have blunt tipped blades and curved blades, for various aspects of wood carving.

This American company, R Murphy Knives, which makes various kitchen, professional, and sporting blades, also makes their own version: https://www.rmurphyknives.com/store/slo ... tails.html

Here are some pics of a popular old Swedish Barrel knife:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... hp?t=23257

I would like to see a modern maker make an updated version, using materials such as stainless steel and FRN or something.

Here was one from 1910 that got sold:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/258752700/ ... stacy-3-34

The Swedes realized that folding pocket and pen knives are a good market, and actually EKA which stands for Eskilstuna Knife Fabricators, began by being one of the first Swedish knife companies to get into the folder market.

More pics:
http://bladesandbushlore.com/index.php?topic=5175.0
http://thebladeblog-ulf.blogspot.com/20 ... nives.html

There was a time, and even today, when the phrase "Swedish Steel" conjured up images of exotic super steel, like we Spyderco fans and users think of such things as H1, VG10, and HAP40.

Those look like amazingly effective tools. I started this thread from a current bug I'm having for GEC slipjoints. But I'm also getting a hankering to try some carving or whittling. I could see something like these in my future, with my wife scratching her head, and my "knife bucket" growing ever heavier.

Many of those look an awful lot like a Puukko btw. What's the difference?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Basically the puukko is the Finnish version of the same knife shape and style.

I also like Opinels and would consider them to be in the "Traditionals" class.

http://www.opinel-usa.com/collections/o ... ood-handle

The Opinel Stainless Steel knives now use Sandvik Swedish Stainless on their blades. Very good but the carbon steel is good too.

I used the Opinel the other day to cut up some sausages for a sandwich, and I simply rinsed the blade and hand-dried it, and folded it up. Checking back now there is not a spot of rust on the blade or the Ring-Lock components.

[mb1]

Oh yeah. I gifted an Opinel for Christmas this year to a young family member. But when it came in I thought, hmm, not sure I wanna give this away! These have to be right there with Mora's in terms of value.

Makes sense on the Puukkos.

[yablanowitz]

Made me laugh about the heavy box. :D

Where'd you learn to do work like this? I know the answer to nearly everything is YouTube these days, but curious if there's a better story. I like stories.

Story, huh. Okay. When I was young, we used to go to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving most years. She had a curio cabinet with all kinds of fascinating stuff in it. One of the things that really caught my imagination was a length of wooden chain with a cage on the end and a pair of wooden dice in the cage. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get the dice out of there, much less how they got in there in the first place. When I asked how they got in there, Grandma laughed and told me they had always been in there and they don't come out. I don't remember now whether it was her brother or her uncle who carved it, but she'd had it for many years.

I did a bit of whittling while I was growing up (the video game had not yet been invented back then, much less the Internet), mostly making long sticks shorter, although Dad still has the one figurine I did sitting on a shelf. I did eventually grow up (well, I got old anyway) and learned how to sharpen a knife (critical to enjoyable whittling). I ran an Internet search for ball in cage carving and found a simple tutorial for how to go about it, scanned from some old book on whittling. From there, it has just been practice. Doing chains was something I figured out for myself. I've been told I do it the hard way. So what, I'm not in a hurry. Combining the ball in cage into a chain was just a hare-brained idea I got one day. My longest chain (complete with a ball in a cage at one end) took nearly a year to complete using the Nilakka almost exclusively (I tried a few other knives at the beginning, and the blade was just too wide to round the ball, so I did it with that knife in the picture). I dropped that one off at the SFO the day before the last seconds sale, so it may be hanging in there somewhere now.



This picture was taken before I rounded the ball. I've done some other things as well.

[mb1]

[quote="yablanowitz"][/quote]

Good story. Oh the things one could/can accomplish when the TV is off.

I have about 102 questions now, so off to YouTube. But I will ask...what type of wood do you use?

[yablanowitz]

Mostly I use basswood carving blocks, but there are several other kinds in there as well. The long chain was made from a paint roller handle, I have no idea what kind of wood it is. There is pine, ash, silver maple and locust growing around here, so they get used too. Basswood (linden) is easier to carve and the grain doesn't fight as hard.

[valenciamanu]

Some traditional Spanish. There are more types. These are artesanas. From left to right. 1Taramundi knife forged by Pedro Bermúdez, 2 cabritera of Rafael Wizner, 3 Machete of Rafael Wizner, 4Machete of tapitas of Francisco Valencia, 5 Machete JJ.Martínez . I hope you like it. A greeting

[mb1]

Some traditional Spanish. There are more types. These are artesanas. From left to right. 1Taramundi knife forged by Pedro Bermúdez, 2 cabritera of Rafael Wizner, 3 Machete of Rafael Wizner, 4Machete of tapitas of Francisco Valencia, 5 Machete JJ.Martínez . I hope you like it. A greeting

Beautiful!

[mb1]

Found a couple of Whittlers I'm looking forward to receiving. The USPS has apparently eaten my first order. Hopefully it shows up soon.

I got bored and decided to play with a discarded broken old Schrade my dad had passed along. I really like this size. Makes a Dragonfly looks huge, and a Cadet look chunky!