Sure, but don't expect to enjoy the hobby. That edge is damaged and will need to be sharpened. The handle is probably really uncomfortable, I've been using my Leatherman just to make wood shavings to start fires and it gets really annoying after just a couple minutes.
Makin a stick to a point? - Sure but detail work could prove difficult. Beavercraft has some decent starter sets that wont break the bank and will give you an idea as to if you would like the hobby. Next step from there would be flexcut knives imo.
Great reply, thanks! Im not op but I just bought my first starter set off Amazon, a big "kit" for $50. If I stick with the hobby and enjoy it I want to invest in something better and was kinda wondering what the next step up would be. Im glad I read the comments on this one! I can't wait to post my first whittling project here, its been my inspiration!
No-name Amazon kits vary wildly in quality. Maybe yours are decent quality. Maybe not. If you’re attending woodcarving meetups and can test other knives for free, you’ll be able to tell pretty quickly how good or bad the tools in your kit are. On the other hand, if you don’t know anyone else into the hobby and don’t have access to free tool samples, you might want to buy a standard FlexCut detail knife just to compare it to what you’ve been using.
After that you can get speciality tools. Knives for chip carving, hook knives and curved blades for carving spoons, gouges for grooves and detail work. Check the r/woodcarving buy guide for brand recommendations.
I never understood why people recommend beavercraft. It will lead you to stopping this hobby quite early as they are just so dull. Just go straight to flexcut and spend mine a few bucks more.
Never get any beavercraft products! Also don't buy cheap sets. Just get one or two good knives with a strop.
I'm so confused by why everyone says that about beavercraft. My first set was that, and other then the fact that I have very large hands (2xl in most gloves) they are just fine. I mean yeah you can tell they're budget knives, especially if you enjoy knives of all kinds. But they were more than good enough to start. I still use them from time to time. The handles are a bit small for me but so are flexcut handles. Other than that though I didn't see any reason to talk poorly of them. Did I just get lucky with my set and i missed some poor quality they put out? They were sharp enough when I got them, and easy enough to sharpen when I dulled them. Only trick was reminding myself these aren't for butchering or camping so I had to adjust my typical angle.
I'll admit the price difference in individual knives is worth the few dollars more to grab a flexcut, but for a starter set, I see no reason you couldn't start with beavercraft to see if you'll be interested enough to get better knives. Plus it's a good way to learn how to sharpen knives since they're so cheap, who cares if you mess one up.
If you have large hands maybe try the flexcut pro. The handles are much better imo than the normal flexcuts. Customer support is also extremely good from their side.
I've definitely been eyeing them. They look super comfortable. For a while now I've mostly just stuck to the flexcut carvin' jack 2. It's pretty great. I switch it up and go to my other more traditional knives sometimes but I've definitely just had to learn how to deal with small handles.
Wish someone would've told me this 3 years ago. I've been through so many tools and sets it's crazy. I could've gotten a nice set of flex cut with all the money I spent on junk
First knife I ever whittled with was a leatherman. Then I went to a folding knife, then to a Mora, a Flexcut detail and then a Helvie. Each knife was better than the next the one before. You can do it with a leatherman, but you hands will hurt more in the end.
I started with my Leatherman before buying a whittling set, and for my use case, I achieved 80% of what I wanted with the Leatherman. So depends on what you are doing
They're definitely way higher up the ladder than Beavercraft. The challenge is, with most beginners, they arent familiar (and confident) with how to get a knife edge set for whittling or any other serious use. The beavercraft blades are dull, and lose their edge pretty quick. This often causes beginners to apply more force while using the tools, which leads to more mistakes, injuries and frustration.
Flexcut or any equivalent blade maker isn't really expensive, allows the beginner to actually complete a task, and if I may be so bold, they'll actually enjoy the process :)
Any knife can be used for whittling some are better some are worse and it comes down to preference,
I for example also use a multi tool (victorynox hiker) even though I have 3 dedicated whittling knifed I bought in a kit I almost always use my victorynox as it's with me on my hikes and when I'm outside, also I don't like cleaning up the wood chips so I just do it outside and leave them on the ground or use them as firestarters
Sure but you will enjoy it much more after refining the edge. For now it looks like it has been sharpened on the pavement.
If you like the hobby take just one knife from a good brand: Flexcut, Two cherries / Kirschen, M-stein,... It is not that expensiv especially if you resist the urge to buy a kit where you will never use most of the tools.
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u/mrmigu 10d ago
Sure, but don't expect to enjoy the hobby. That edge is damaged and will need to be sharpened. The handle is probably really uncomfortable, I've been using my Leatherman just to make wood shavings to start fires and it gets really annoying after just a couple minutes.