Wooden pocketknives for cub scout training

[merrill77]

I've been pondering how to safely introduce our cub scout den to carving and whittling. A few of our scouts (including one of my twins) are more than a little scary with a pointy metal object in their hands, so I've been thinking about how to do this safely. After the basic safety stuff, I am planning the usual activity - carving something from a potato or a bar of soap. It occurred to me that a wooden blade might carve these nicely, but not hold a sharp enough edge to cut skin. After a quick test to verify this, I decided to try making a wooden pocketknife. The first one was ok, but as Phil pointed out Friday, I should not let a prototype out of the shop dressed in luan plywood. So today I knocked out two more in walnut with white oak blades. There is something really compelling about these - they feel nice in the hand and seem to grab the attention of people I show them to. Not useful for much other than a letter opener, but still fun.

One of my boys spent an hour carving a boat out of a bar of soap with the prototype, so I seem to be on the road to success. I have to refine the design a bit for the scouts, but these are keepers regardless.

And if anyone has any tips on teaching 9-10 year olds the first steps in carving, please direct them my way. Any ideas for their first few carving/whittling exercises would be appreciated, too!

 

[Rick M]

Those turned out very nice.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Very nice, Chris. I like the idea of using something like this to introduce youngsters to sharp tools.

 

[CrealBilly]

Pretty cool idea really... my experience - kids is they don't have a very good concept of cause and effect (risk), it's even worse today with the introduction of video games and such... Your idea should help familiarize with them with how a pocket knife cuts and how to hold a pocket knife so they wont get cut.

 

[Graywolf]

I think they're great, and a great idea to introduce young children to knives and the proper uses.

 

[Charlie]

Great idea and I like the knives. Nice job.

 

[Rick M]

I bought swiss army knives for both my daughters when they were around 9 or 10 years old, and taught them how to sharpen and use them responsibly. My dad gave me a knife when I was about six and said, 'here, don't cut yourself.' It was so dull I couldn't have cut butter. By the time I learned how to sharpen it I had also learned to be careful.

 

[MagGeorge]

Very clever idea on using those wooden pocket knives and they look great and interesting to boot. Parents and little carvers will love it. Great job!

 

[Sealeveler]

Fine looking knives.I let my daughter use my carving chisels and knives when she was 8 or 9 with supervision.I made sure she wore a glove on the left hand and to never cut towards any skin.Also showed her about using her left hand as a pivot or brace for the hand holding the tool and using her left thumb on the back of the knife for more controlled cutting.I usually clamped the wood so she could concentrate on the tool rather than trying to hold the wood.My knives and chisels were sharp enough to slice mahogany clean,but my daughter preferred juniper.A dull knife will cause more force to be used and loss of control.
Tony

 

[kommon_sense]

Have you looked at the requirements for a scout to earn their "totin' chip" . It is required for any scout to use a knife, axe, or saw. It is fairly decent at teaching basic safety.

 

[merrill77]

Yes -- that is what we're going to be working on. I wanted to start them off with something a little safer than a real knife. Some of these boys really need something safer.

 

[kommon_sense]

Cool. I was a scoutmaster a few years back. Some of the kids were awesome, and some of them I wouldn't trust with a sharp spoon. lol...

 

[Michael Mathews]

Chris, are you making these with a locking blade? When I lived in Alabama, there was a guy in our little group that was making these with all kinds of exotics. He perfected the locking blade wooden pocket knife that really worked...well! He was gluing his together with CA glue. He would sell them on the street markets for $20 to $50 each.

 

[merrill77]

Chris, are you making these with a locking blade? When I lived in Alabama, there was a guy in our little group that was making these with all kinds of exotics. He perfected the locking blade wooden pocket knife that really worked...well! He was gluing his together with CA glue. He would sell them on the street markets for $20 to $50 each.

No, I'm not. Trying to keep it simple since I need to build a dozen of them. Plus - a locking blade is safer and not all the scouts will have those, so I'd prefer that they practice with the more dangerous design (since it's unlikely to hurt them anyway).

I did run across at least one design with a locking blade, though.

Chris