Woodcarving Knives Overview: OCCT Knives

[@shawnevens9479]

I own 2 Occ knives, like them very much. I believe the store where I purchased them sharpened the knives for me.

[@bluzman00]

OCC knives are great. I own several. My favorite is the 1 1/2 inch blade as well.

[@tomevans4402]

These are my go to knives

[@2371Anita]

I prefer my occt knives over any other brand.

[@peteswright]

Hi. Can you please do a sharpening demo on the OCC knives. I have 3 and want to keep to the blade profile of the flat grind without getting a bevel at the cutting edge. Thanks in advance.

[@dywoodcarving]

I would like to do a sharpening video at some point, but realistically it will be a while before I am able to. I use wet/dry sandpaper on top of a pane of glass so it's completely flat and then for the OCC knives the process is exactly the same as stropping, keeping the side completely flat. Starting around 1,000 grit, then 2,000 and then something higher if you have have it (and finish with stropping). If you search for MyChipCarving (Marty Leenhouts) his video on sharpening chip carving knives is essentially the process I follow. It's simple and works especially well with the OCC knives.

[@peteswright]

Thanks for your advice ATB.@@dywoodcarving

[@mikereed4876]

I have had superb results sharpening these knives on arkansas stones (I recommend Dan's). You really just need a 4x2x1/2 soft and a strop. Here's what I do: Sharpen it at a 15ish degree angle until you raise a burr and can see the new bevel on each side, minimize the burr on the stone with light passes. Then strop it flat or close to. I use diamond paste at 400-1200 grit on rough leather and it rounds off the corner of that bevel helping to avoid the "bite" caused by the secondary bevel. You can do it.

[@michaelengel7165]

would the one inch flat grind be considered a detail knife or just a short blade for regular carving. I just bought a few because they were on sale and I want to share with my family and friends.

[@dywoodcarving]

It could go either way, although at 1 inch you will be a little limited on the size of cuts you can make. It might take a few more cuts to complete something than with a larger knife. I've seen one inch blades that are so slim and have a lot of flex that I wouldn't want to use them for much anything more than detail. But if it's a sturdier blade it could be used for general carving, assuming you are working on mostly smaller pieces. I don't have any 1 inch OCCT blades, but I would expect them to be pretty sturdy to do a little more than just detailing.

[@grantkerr3925]

I've picked up 6 OCCT knives in the past year - and I love them, especially with the 'large hands' handles. I have from 1-⅞" WK-2 to 1" mini-detail.

[@ThomasKMills]

Was disappointed with the occ knife that I Bought. Wasn't sharp from the factory. Flex cut was ready to carve right out of the box. Just my experience. Did like the handle

[@dywoodcarving]

Yeah, there has been some variation recently I think. Most of these I've had for a while came sharp, but the more recent one I got required some more work to get it whittling sharp. Flexcut does come consistently very sharp.

[@jonathanlee8976]

Glad to know that I am not the only one with that experience

[@leoamattnet4822]

I have a few OCC tools knives. Very hit or miss. However, my deep woods ventures knife cuts better than all of them.

[@baldoldman8083]

The link you provided no longer works.

[@barcibus]

Do not use the occtools link in the video description. It no longer goes to the right place and instead takes you to a site that looks like a great demo for what not to click on.

[@dywoodcarving]

Thank you for pointing this out. I've removed the link that is no longer working and added a few others.

[@barcibus]

@@dywoodcarving Welcome! This video helped me pull the trigger on my 3rd OCCT knife (1 3/8").

[@dywoodcarving]

@@JKS_Crafting I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I would suggest checking out Chipping Away ( www.chippingaway.com/ ). They are based in Canada and I believe they offer international shipping. You may need to contact them to inquire about your specific needs, but I've heard of others using them for international orders successfully.