The Cleaver

Here's my latest go at knife making.  I call it the Cleaver.

Many carvers out there are using the Stanley utility knife for their knife of choice and a few years ago I gave it a try.  I admit that I liked the utility blade shape with its wedge point and broad width, not to mention the thinness of the blade.  The only problem I had with the utility knife was the handle.  A cold, hard metal handle just wasn't comforatable so I gave up using it. 

Tip from the Stump: make sure when buying or using a knife that it fits your hand and is comfortable to use.  A poor fitting handle will cause blisters and greatly reduce the quality of your carving experience.

The thought occured to me recently that I could use the tool steel that I have been using for my custom knife work to fashion a blade with the same profile as a utility blade and mount it into a comfortable hardwood handle.  So, PRESTO!!!  The Cleaver was born.

I have been using this knife as my roughout knife of choice for my Pegasus (incidentally there are a few new progress pics on The Carving Bench page).  I am very pleased with its performance and I find myself using it for a lot of general carving and even some detail work as well.

The only problem with this blade shape is the width of the blade.  It just doesn't get into those tight or hard to reach places.

In summary I give this little feller a score of 8 out of 10:

Pros:

• Great for roughing out
• Crosses over into general carving and detail categories
• COMFORTABLE HANDLE!!!

Cons:

• Not good in tight or hard to reach places

If anyone would like to try one out, I would be happy to custom make one to your specifications.  Details are on the Knife Gallery page.