Customer Reviews

Flexcut Carvin Jack, Right Hand

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this tool as my first serious (beyond generic pocketknife) woodcarving knife. It offered a decent range of tools to try and included a leather sheath and strop/polishing compound. This is a very sturdy, well-made, serious woodcarving tool. The various blades really do flex as advertised - it's very responsive. I've had several other wood carvers eyeball it wistfully, mentioning price as the major factor they lacked one of their own. However, since most woodcarving gouges/knives run at least $15-$20 per tool, the price is not unreasonable for six tools - especially if you shop for sales! (Mine was an internet Christmas sale for $79.95.) The blades are incredibly sharp and hold an edge for a long time. (It's easy to slice skin without even trying. I'd strongly recommend a carver's glove.) The tools are easy to hone so it's not hard to maintain that razor edge. I've not had to sharpen/grind this since I got it three years ago. Honing has been sufficient. Even when I knicked the blade on my first project, a good stropping fixed it. Eventually, the blades will become rounded and I'll need to do something about it, but Flexcut will resharpen any of their blades to razor edge for a nominal fee if I don't want to fuss with it myself.

I purchased the right handed jack thinking that I would carve toward myself most of the time. However, I find that I personally get more control with the blade facing away, pushing against the back with my left hand and using my right thumb as a fulcrum. If I had to do it over, I'd pay the $10 extra and get the left handed jack. I cope OK with the scorps, but I finally bought a left handed hook knife from Flexcut which I also carry in my bag.

The carving jack handles most small and medium projects, hard woods and soft. I use wood from my husband's wood pile (oak, maple, sassafras, sourwood and dogwood) and scrap boards off my son's woodworking projects (walnut and hickory). I keep the tool in a shoulder bag with my glove, strop/polishing compound, some small files and one or two current projects. It's always ready to go when I head out the door. Since I do most of my projects sitting in a folding chair watching my children in various places, this tool really works for me. I don't have to worry about bare gouges and bare feet, someone sitting on a sharp blade when I get up to adjust a life jacket, or make a major production about putting away my project when someone wants to sit on my lap for a few minutes.

All tools have quirks and peculiarities - this is no different. The blades are stiff. It is not easy to pull them out even after three years of use. I also have to be careful to make sure the straight chisel stays seated within the pocket (it tends to stick out a bit) once I lock open the knife blade or I'll cut my hand. Once the locks are engaged, the tool operates as though it were a fixed blade knife, but folding the blades up takes a certain amount of hand strength. It would be really rough for someone with arthritis. If it weren't for the fact that these irritations also make it virtually impossible for one of my younger boys to open it and slice off his thumb, I might have given it four stars instead of five...

On the whole, I am very pleased with the carving jack. I have since acquired other wood carving tools, but I still find myself using this one the most.

This was a gift for my dad who carves all shapes and sizes. Out of the box it was razor sharp, and obviously would make short work of soft or hard wood. The tools allow for all but the most very detailed work, but this pocket tool wasn't meant for that. Now that my dad's retired, he can travel more, and having a small handy tool for impromptu carving will certainly make his vacations (a carving show visits) a little more relaxing. The only beef he had with it was the thumbnail slots for the tools were somewhat small for his larger than normal hands, and opening the individual blades was made even tougher because the springs holding them in place were very tight, although I'm sure they'll loosen up with time and a little oil. Overall this was a very nifty tool if you like to travel and carve on bits of wood you find while you're there.

I really like my Carvin' Jack.

Nice assortment of tools for whittling- convenetly located in the tools body.

Same GREAT quality of steel in all Flexcuts- comes razor sharp, and is easly stropped into sharp with the supplies that come with the knife. Not something you get from any other knife maker. Shieth is very tight fit as new from the package... after month or so, is perfect fit now.

Tool 'seems' expensive, but if you consider the six different blades, the steels quality and the extras... it's a very good buy. ( I just paid $30.00 for one Flexcut scrope knife and one of these is that blade.)

Some have reviewed that they have had trouble opening blades. When I got mine, I used alot of 3 in 1 oil, and 'worked' each blade in and out and side to side many times, to break in the knife. It was very tight at first, but has since loosened up nicely.

My one 'con' is that the knife blade is a little bigger and thicker than my regular detail whittling knife. Just a small nitpick for me. This is a very handy Whittling knife- use it everyday.

I just recieved the Carvin' Jack a few days ago, and I was a little wary, having read several reviews saying the knife was difficult to open, and the blades went in too far.

I must say that the people who say it is too difficult to open must not have tried a couple things:

1.) Working the knives back and forth to loosen them up and adding oil

2.) PRESSING THE LOCK BUTTON ON THE BACK OF THE KNIFE SO THE BACKS OF THE BLADES AREN'T RUBBING AGAINST IT WHILE YOU OPEN IT!

Doing action #2 makes opening the knives significantly easier. Granted, multiple blades still come out, but at that point, it is a simple task to just push them back in.

Be sure not to read the instructions on opening and closing the blades so you don't jam the locking mechanism.

Now, I am not going to say that this is the best carving tool in existence. Frankly, that is up to the carver. If you are a serious carver looking for specialized tools for great works of art, invest in a set of regular knives that will most likely perform better than this. However, if you are just looking for an easy-to-carry, convenient, every-once-in-a-while carving tool that can still perform pretty dang well, I would highly recommend this knife.

The package includes honing compound and a strop that fits all the different blade shapes (although I will say that the section for the outside of the straight u-gouge was much too small to fit the blade in. Regardless, it is not too much more difficult to sharpen that side on the flat strop.) Altogether, a pretty decent deal for 6 of your basic knives, a case, and the tools to keep the blades sharp for a long time.

The case color was a little light for my taste (lighter than pictured), but I think I'm just going to stain it... The case fits VERY snuggly (I had to force the knife in to fit the first time but now it's fine)

I'm looking forward to seeing what I can make with this thing!

I got my Carvin Jack today and my first impression was that it was smaller than I expected which is actually a benefit as it turns out. The tool sits comfortably in the hand and all the blades are so sharp they put razors to shame. I've only played around with it a little using some scraps from a recent wood project but I can tell already that this little guy is going to get a lot of use. The mechanism is a little stiff which sometimes causes more than one blade to come out when you try to select one but that will change as the tool gets broken in. I like that it came with the strop and sharpening and care instructions. It has a very intuitive and easy to use blade lock and it comes with a lifetime warranty provided you don't do anything stupid with it. For those saying the price looks rather steep I say, "you get what you pay for" and this tool looks to me like it will last forever and then some.

So my husband saw this in a magazine and asked to receive it for his birthday. We gladly bought this for him, however, we didn't realize we would create a wood-carving monster. I don't think he has put this down even for one day. Everyday he is using this carving knife to carve something or another...he loves it!!! I would highly recommend this to any wood-carver and their family as a great gift.

First, a disclaimer: I'm not an expert on woodcarving.

The Flexcut works very well, and comes with a nice sharpening kit to keep the edges polished (which matters a great deal, according to the directions.) I really appreciate the portability aspect, as I'm a casual woodcarver, and don't like to carry around a mess of tools. The most surprising disappointment is that it's designed to operate by pulling the blades towards your thumb, rather than pushing away, which creates a substantial safety issue -- I've already cut myself twice. If you're going to get one, make sure you get a leather glove (or some sort of specialized woodcarver's protection) for your thumb on your carving hand.

This product was a gift and the recepient has used it daily with glowing reviews. He advises using a thumb guard because it is very sharp. The company that it was ordered from provided exceptionally speedy service, far exceeding both their claims and my expectations. By far the easiest and most successful of all my holiday purchases and any of many online purchases.

Good fit to my hand, very handy. All blades extremely sharp except the gouge, right out of the box. I have used in for details in small box work and conors as well as whittling.

I've always liked flexcut tools and this is no exception. very sharp and tools lock in place for safety. Already completed a couple small projects just with this tool to see if I could.