The Good, The Bad, and The Meh - Knife edition part 2

 

…and now for an improved knife kit.

 I decided right off the bat, this would be a kit that would be waiting for me at a location I’ll be travelling to and would contain the things I use.  

I used the case from the previous kit as I felt if would provide protection and would travel well

 

I wanted a set of knifes which that were compact enough to fit in the case as well as a supply of blades. I chose the x-acto handles #1 for fine carving, #2 for most carving, and the heavy duty handle that came with the original kit. For blades, I equipped the kit with #11 and #16 for the small handle, #2 and #19 for the medium handle, and chisel tip, U and V gouges for the heavy duty handle. For the case, I also printed out some cases for some of the blades. I also created a magnetic “pick up” tool, using an old paint brush with a magnet glued to it, to retrieve a new blade from the cases.

A quick note: I've used x-acto and excel blades because they are thicker and less liable to break when carving. I tired of cheap thin blades breaking and not keeping an edge. 

 

I also have need for a pin vise quite often, so I included one in the kit along with drills and small chisels for tight areas. (Yes, the chisels are made from old cheap mini screwdrivers.)

 

To fit them in the bottom of the kit, I used some rigid foam cutting out the shapes into the foam

 

As for the top of the kit, I wanted to have a small cutting mat, a small silicone mat, a diamond coated sharpening plates, sandpaper, the drills for the pin vice, the calipers  (from the original kit), and a carving glove.

 

I cut the cutting mat to fit just inside the top of the kit to keep the other items in place. To keep the mat for moving when the kit is opened, I embedded some small screw into the top.

 

Now this is a traveling carving kit!

The Good, the Bad, and the Meh – Knife Edition part 1

(Cue the western theme song)

A while back I did an offshoot series on the loops I use on my slides, and after giving it as little thought as possible, I now present my thoughts on knives. I’m starting with a recent purchase that was picked up for me so I wouldn’t have to check a bag while traveling. (Hint: more vacation slides coming.) What follows is my review.

This set was purchased at a famous hobby store (the one closed on Sundays), though you can find the same kit under different branding in other stores.

Right off the bat, the small screwdriver was broken—or perhaps it had never been glued properly into the handle. I eventually inserted the “bit” into one of the knife handles, sharpened it, and used it as a small chisel.

The blades were thin and brittle. I broke one within five minutes of starting my carving. They also don’t hold an edge for long, which meant frequent sharpening. 

The silver blades, which only fit the larger handle, arrive with no real edge and are so soft that they bend in half with even light pressure. By the time I had roughed out my first slide, I had already gone through about three-quarters of the blades in the kit.

I’m not sure why tweezers are included, but after gripping a single object they bent out of shape—another example of very soft metal.

Three of the four handles have soft “comfort” rubber grips that slide forward during use. After pushing them back into place several times, I eventually removed them altogether.

The calipers are very cheap, but surprisingly they are fairly close in measurement.

In all fairness, I didn’t end up using the scribes, but they actually appeared to be the best tools in the kit.

Five days later, I threw away the last unbroken and unbent blade, three of the handles, the tweezers, and the scribes (I couldn’t bring them on the plane). I kept the large handle, the calipers, and the case after stripping it out (keeping the magnets). I’ll rebuild the kit and post the results in a future installment.

Despite the low price, it’s my opinion that this knife set is suitable only for very light-duty work—and even then, I’d recommend using Kevlar cut-resistant gloves. I would not recommend this set for general use or for wood carving.

Slide of Model: The Ranger Mile

 
April 1st, 2026

Time to make: a ranger minute

Finishing: 1/2 a ranger minute

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane


You've hiked miles and endured the elements getting ready. Sat through hours of planning and readiness talks. Boarded plans, trains and automobiles to finally arrive at Philmont. So many things to do as a crew before you hit the trail and now, as crew chief, you are sitting with logistics staff planning out your trek on the crew map. But did you ever take the time to look at the mileage scale at the bottom of the map? Ah yes, the infamous Ranger Mile!

(If you know, you know.)

 













Why are you looking down here?