Table of Contents
Foreword 6
Introduction 8
Why Another Whittling Book? 8
Child's Play? 8
Sizes and Dimensions 9
Videos and instructions 9
The Right Knife 9
The Go-To Tools in My Backpack 9
Swiss Army Knife Projects
Things That Float, Splash, Write, and Spin 11
Pop-Pop Boat 12
Reed Boat 16
Raft 20
Water Gun 25
Eight-Blade Waterwheel 30
Windmill 35
Elder Wood Pencil 41
Yo-Yo 45
Paddle Steamer 49
Things That Sling, Shoot, and Fly 56
General Safety Rules for Shooting, Throwing, and Slinging Objects 57
Crossbow 58
Two-Stick Bow 66
Swiss Arrow 72
Apple Slingshot 75
Indian Bow and Arrow 79
Slingshot Tube 85
Dart Arrow 89
Parachute 94
Boomerang 102
Shingle Arrow 108
String Catapult 112
Slingshot 116
Three-Shot Rubber Band Gun 120
Things That Whistle, Ring, and Rattle 128
Reed Flute 129
Balloon Saxophone 134
Willow Flute 140
Bird Whistle 144
Kazoo 148
Elder Wood Flute 154
Dandelion Trumpet 160
Signal and Trill Whistles 164
Rattle 168
Acorn Whistle 174
Knotweed Whistle 177
Basics and Techniques
Safely Handling a Swiss Army Knife 181
Safety Rules for Whittling 182
The Correct Posture for Whittling 184
Opening and Closing the Tools 185
The Hand Grip 187
The Most Important Swiss Army Knife Tools When Working with Wood 187
Whittling Techniques with the Large Blade 188
The Rough Cut 188
The Power Cut 189
Splitting (Batoning) 190
Splitting with Homemade Wooden Wedges 191
Scraping 192
Whittling Techniques with the Small Blade 193
The Fine Cut 193
Fine Cut against the Thumb 194
Whittling against the Body 194
Techniques with the Saw Blade 195
Stabilizing Your Tools 195
Stabbing, Drilling, and Sewing with the Awl 197
The Safety Technique 197
Sewing with the Awl 198
Caring for Your Swiss Army Knife 199
Cleaning Your Swiss Army Knife 199
Sharpening the Tools 199
The Mini Sharpy 200
The Right Wood 201
Which Types of Wood Are Best? 201
Where to Find the Right Wood 201
Acknowledgments 202
Index 204
About the Author 208
