What Size Swivel Knife Do I Need For Floral Carving? (First Knife Purchase)

[Jess Jones]

Hi everyone! Need advice!

I want to start learning floral carving and am seeking your wisdom on what barrel and blade size I should purchase for my first swivel knife. I want to start on flowers, leaves, stems etc. Any help on barrel and blade size recommendations would be great! Thanks!

[Bob Blea]

It's hard for me to make a barrel size recommendation because that is going to depend on what feels good in your hand. Some people prefer large barrels and some small. Make sure that the knife has an adjustment for yoke height because that is a big factor in whether your hand will feel like it's cramping up. For the blade I recommend starting with a 3/8" wide flat blade and learning good knife technique on that. Small blades or angled blades help you in some ways when carving tight curves and small details, but they can also cause you to learn poor techniques. Start with the basic flat blade and get good with that then work up to the specialty blades if you think you need them.

If you are looking for a good swivel knife to start off with, you almost can't go wrong with a Barry King one. It's not too expensive and performs well.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[Jess Jones]

That helps so much Bob, thank you!!!