First Bone Carving update

Wow! I am eally impressed with how easy this bone carving is when you have a really sharp and hard blade. I always have preferred a very hard steel for my knives, so much so that I don’t bother tempering them when I’ve heat treated them. I know many knifemakers would pour scorn on that idea and many users would be frustrated with the amount of effort needed to sharpen such hard edges but I don’t care. I love the fact that once I’ve sharpened a knife it stays sharp. That is especially important when carving bone as it is a much harder substance than wood and a really sharp and hard edge works very well with it.

I gather that most of the bone carvers I see posting work on FB and similar tend to use rotary tools, needle files or other grinding type tools. more traditional methods involve ‘gravers’ and I am forever indebted to the great Ian Thorne for showing me how to use these. Being, at heart a bit of a whittler though I still like to use a knife for my work and although I was initially a little worried that a knife would not be able to ‘cut’ bone and I might be left with no alternative but to revert to files etc I have been pleasantly surprised.

The blade I’ve been using most is my simpe little kiridashi, made from a file it has a slightly skewed edge and is chisel ground. mirror polished and sharp enough to shave with. it takes lovely little slivers of bone off and also works really well as a scraper.
Carving this way is undoubtedly slower than using power tools but it does allow me to carve my way, ie, anywhere I please. I am not tied down by the need for a work bench or shed. Once I’ve got the basic shape cut out I can literally sit anywhere and carve.
In the past I have even been known to carve in a coach on my way back from a woodworking show. The woodturners I was travelling with were distinctly envious of the fact that my entire toolkit could be carried in my pocket. Although I did get some funny looks, still, I waste a lot less wood than they do.