[BigV]

Tthanks guys!

I really do love to whittle. These are all neckerchief slides to be worn with our scout uniforms. They're a couple of inches across at most. The first three, the fleur-de-lis, the knife and the boot are all free form carvings from a small piece of wood. The crocodile at the bottom was from a kit. The first ones are carved from brazillian rosewood, which I had left over from the kayak project. It is *amazing* wood, gorgeous grain and color. It takes a knife well, provided the knife is very sharp. The wood is very hard. It is commonly used to make marimbas. It will make a musical ring when struck. Not pieces this small of course.

The little croc at the bottom is a lot easier to carve being basswood. But the flip side is that is also tears more easily and requires much more sanding. Also, the grain is practically invisible--uninteresting, so it begs to be painted. That's ok, the painting's fun too.

This particular one belongs to SonofV, to whom it was awarded last summer for having the biggest smile at summer camp. Appropos.

I have several more, and I will post them soon.

As to my whittling tools, my principal knife is a Winchester Stockman. Here's a picture.

I keep it very sharp and I make very small cuts. I have a set of carving chisels, but for this kind of work, they are unsuitable. If I was able to dog them down onto the bench and work the chisel with two hands, perhaps. I can do practically everything I want to do using a lever cut with the spey blade. Word to the wise: keep it sharp.