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Whittlers - it's not your run-of-the-mill penknife!

left to right:

Rough Rider Sleeveboard Whittler in Black Pearl
Case Seahorse Whittler in Sawcut Bone
Rough Rider Swell Canter Whittler in Yellow Comp

A famous knife expert (who shall remain anonymous) claimed in his book that the Whittler is not a true traditional pattern but simply a pen knife that knife companies have opted to call whittlers for marketing purposes. After all you can whittle wood with just about any knife! This may in fact be technically true but if you ask people who collect whittlers what a whittler is, they will give you a very succinct description of specific knife!

While it is true Whittlers are type of pen knife and that they come in all shapes and sizes, it is also true that with very few exceptions they all share some very specific traits.

First, the whittler features three blades with the primary blade being a large blade located at one end of the knife and two smaller secondary blades located at the other end.

Second, the large main blade, when closed, will drop dead center between to the two smaller blades at the other end.

Third, the knife will normally have two back springs, with each of the smaller blades being held in place with its own spring and the main blade getting tension form both back springs. This allows the blades to by straight in the handle when closed and opened with minimal, if any blade rub.

The reason the blades are arranged in such a fashion is so that there will be less stress when on the blades when whittling and it also gives more tension on the big blade. In short it reduces the risk of blade play.

As for the exceptions – well there are canitlers, half-whittlers, and then that stockman style Boy Scout Whittler that come to mind. And in every case, these knives were designed for the purpose of whittling.

Typical blades found on whittlers, are the ever popular Coping , Pen, Wharncliffe, and Clip for secondary blades. For the primary blade the Clip, Spear and Wharncliffe lead the field however you will see the occasional sheepfoot. All of these blades are found on whittlers because of their wood working potential.

The wharncliffe is an excellent choice because it can scribe, ream and shave with the best of them. The clip and spear excellent for shaving and reaming as is the pen . Coping and sheepfoot blades are good for shaving wood and scribing but not as good when it comes to reaming.

Yes there are other knife patterns that are often associated with whittling but these particular knives were designed with whittling in mind! Thus is a stockman was designed to be used for Cattle work and Trappers were designed for use in the trapping industry, then it is somewhat pretentious of a knife expert to say a whittler is just a pen knife that has been given a name for marketing purposes.

So let’s show of our Traditional Pattern WHITTLERS and tell the expert what we think of his opinion!

6 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 16, 2015 at 21:23

Wow! I like that Schrade J.J. I've been thinking about getting the RR Stomeworxs Whittler which is done in Bloody Basin Jasper but this one has a more interesting frame. The RR uses the same frame as the Arrowhead I've already got!

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 16, 2015 at 21:43

My wife gave me this one for our 35th anniversary.

Quicksilver (a Jim Frost Brand), Cigar Whittler.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 17, 2015 at 9:39

JJ, I was thinking of grabbing this one or one of the MOP Cigars they offer. What do you think of it? I'm not sure how useful the pattern would be but I doubt I'd be whittling or carving with it. I'm more conserned with how solid the build is? It looks really nice!

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 17, 2015 at 13:08

I've got an Owl Head, that I wharnie modded, some time ago. Looks loke the same factory made them, along with the Schrade/Uncle Henry versions. Build is not too bad. I always worry about the backsprings when they've had filework done, though these seem solid.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 17, 2015 at 14:33

I know what you mean about the file work. It seems like you've purposely cut week points into the springs. THey make a big deal out and I can see it as a bid DEAL if it were done by a person who actually does custom filing but on these knives it is all done on a jig in the factory. Still I've got a couple knives with file work and it quite often it does look good! Frost and Schrade seem to do more file work than SMKW.

J.J. Smith III said:

I've got an Owl Head, that I wharnie modded, some time ago. Looks loke the same factory made them, along with the Schrade/Uncle Henry versions. Build is not too bad. I always worry about the backsprings when they've had filework done, though these seem solid.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 17, 2015 at 14:37

I know there is a discussion on the Camillus #72 Whittlers and its clones already running and I'll post this one there as well but If there is a knife I get all higglety-pigglety over it is this one. I can deal with canoe whittlers and sunfish whittlers and half-whittlers but this is all wrong! It looks like a Stockman when the blades are all closed! And the blades open up like a stockman but then they went and swapped out the sheepfoot with a coping blade and gave the knife a large and small clip blade! It's like they were PURPOSELY MESSING WITH MY HEAD!!!!

And why it a whittler when the blades are laid like those on a whittler? Because Camillus said so! That's why!

I've always referred to the this a Boy Scout Whittler. This one is by Bear & Son. The fit and finish is just so so in my book. The brown jigged comp scales are sort of cheezy compared to those found on Camillus #72s. Mine had some pieces I needed to file off and what is worse, the second day that i had it, I dropped the knife on a hardwood floor from waist high on one of the scales popped off. I snapped it back on but jeez, talk about a lack of quality control. This one dates from around 2009-2010, when Bear got the contract with the Boy Scouts (Before the Acme take over of the Camillus brand)

Below are the tang stamp, etch and BSA shield. The Boy Scouts currently offer a Chinese version with wood scales for the same price that Bear was sold. The scales on the China made one are probably better attached than the Bear one was. Sorry USA fans but I've got several of the Chinese BSA knives and they are rock solid excellent!

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 17, 2015 at 17:31

I read the discussion on the #72 "whittler". While companies can call them what they wish, they are not whittlers, and neither are "half whittlers", in my opinion.

Whittlers are not based on a frame pattern but are based on a clearly defined configuration of the blades. Whittlers have 3 blades, master blade and the 2 secondary blades on opposite ends of the knife, with the master blade falling between the secondaries when closed.

Canitlers are still whittlers, just on a canoe frame.

Sunfish whittlers are still whittlers, just on a sunfish frame.

Serpentine whittlers are still whittlers, just put on a traditional stockman frame.

Putting a different blade configuration on a traditional swellcenter frame does not make it a whittler.

I'll yeald the soapbox, for opposition opinions.

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 17, 2015 at 19:41

Here's the modified Owl Head cigar whittler, Toby.

The pattern is actually nice, because of the length. 4" fits the hand really well.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 17, 2015 at 21:42

Don't look at me for an argument, JJ. I prefer to call this knife the "Stockman the Boy Scouts mistakenly call a whittler!" I think this is one of those knives that a certain knife expert who will remain nameless uses in his argument that the whittler pattern isn't really a pattern but a marketing tool created by knife companies.

Many years ago the Boy Scouts also had "Whitt-L-Kraft Knives. Again not a true whittler, actually more congress than whittler. (and yes I do think the Congress is great knife for whittling but it is a different pattern!)

Mike Botts has a great example of a Whitt-L-Kraft knife: http://iknifecollector.com/photo/cattaraugus-whitt-l-craft-bsa-knife

Below is an ad I found on line:

J.J. Smith III said:

I read the discussion on the #72 "whittler". While companies can call them what they wish, they are not whittlers, and neither are "half whittlers", in my opinion.

Whittlers are not based on a frame pattern but are based on a clearly defined configuration of the blades. Whittlers have 3 blades, master blade and the 2 secondary blades on opposite ends of the knife, with the master blade falling between the secondaries when closed.

Canitlers are still whittlers, just on a canoe frame.

Sunfish whittlers are still whittlers, just on a sunfish frame.

Serpentine whittlers are still whittlers, just put on a traditional stockman frame.

Putting a different blade configuration on a traditional swellcenter frame does not make it a whittler.

I'll yeald the soapbox, for opposition opinions.

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 17, 2015 at 22:36

To be perfectly honest, you can whittle with about any knife (well DUH), that doesn't make them whittlers.

Just about all comanies have, at one time or another, marketed knives as whittling knives. This is a favorite of ine, the Rough Rider "Whittlin Buddy". Comes with a wharncliffe and a sheepsfoot blade.

Note that I modified the sheepefoot, on this one, to be more wharnitized...

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 17, 2015 at 22:49

Boker makes a nice congress pattern, for whittlin, they just dont call it a whittlin knfe. It's rightly called the Carvers Congress.

It deals with my complaint with most congress patterns by having 4 different blades.

Award winning decoy carver Len Yule has used the Boker Congress model 4-blade knife for years because of its high carbon steel blades. Len asked Boker if they could redesign the blades to meet the needs of the whittler, and Boker did just that. Solid brass liners and nickel silver bolsters. Len Yule endorses it as just what he was looking for: 4 beautiful blades, each for a different job. The closed length of the knife is 3-5/8". Made in Solingen, Germany.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Doug Webber on August 7, 2015 at 9:44

I'll have to agree with J.J. A swell center is a stockman with a coping blade. HOWEVER..tradition will beat out common sense about every time. I'll be darned if I can figure out the thinking behind Schrade's full congress pattern, the same 2 blades on each end??? it must be for someone too lazy to sharpen their knife...but it is an old and much collected pattern.