I have used the very long Exacto blade to carve with (don't know the number of this one). You need to be careful with this knife and you also need to know which way the grain is running when you do thisl You need to carve so the grain doesn't take the blade deeper and deeper. Great Planes has a power plain that is my new best friend for this type of work; although, I still carve when I have a lot of wood to remove. A wood rasp is another method. Many ways to skin a cat and you'll likely come up with a method different then any of those mentioned here.