Posted: Wed Mar 30, 22 10:41 am Post subject: hook knife for spoons etc
starting with an aside' sister bliss on woman's hour is rather fun
ok spoon knives is where i should be
a mention in our pages reminded me to try the one i got a while ago, looked at and put back in the envelope
it is a good morakniv, swedish made one
a little sharpening and quite a lot of honing got the edge sorted(that may be an issue if you do not have the kit and skills for proper sharpening of a strange shaped blade)
instinctive to use with decent wood, a test provided the basics of a spoon quite quickly
craft or bushcraft, a hook knife is rather nice kit
I do a bit of spoon making as well as the other crafts. I started with a Mora, but now have a British craftsman made one. Mine needs sharpening I know. I need to sharpen both it and the straight knife before I use them again, but haven't done any spoon carving for a couple of years as it is a thing I do mainly at shows, and we have only done one in the last 2 years.
sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 7380 Location: Just south of north.
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 22 7:56 am Post subject:
Is there a preferred wood people like to use for their spoons? Do they need treating before you use them and if so what do you treat them with?
No preferred wood really. I frequently use sycamore as it is easy to work, doesn't look bad, especially if you get some of the medullary rays, and is said to have some antiseptic properties. It was traditionally used in the dairy, the kitchen and the laundry as it is non-tainting and non-staining. Fruit woods such as apple and pear are good, beech, ash (although it can end up a bit 'fuzzy', birch. I would avoid things like oak and chestnut which have a lot of tannin, cherry might be a bit dubious and do not use yew as it can be a bit toxic. Green wood is best as it is softer.
sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 7380 Location: Just south of north.
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 22 10:16 am Post subject:
Thank you for that MR. Seems there are plenty of woods to choose from.
Nicky cigreen
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 9865 Location: Devon, uk
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 22 11:25 am Post subject:
People seem to recommend willow.
I inherited a basic spoon carving knife from mr Cig.
top tip - don't try spoon carving whilst watching tv.... guess how I found this out. Still, I healed in time....
You may find a larger hook knife of scorp easier for that Dpack. A spoon knife may be a bit small.
I made my first spoon for a couple of years today out of a piece of hazel. Not quite as I would like, but I did incorporate some ideas I had got from other, rather better spoon carvers. I was working by roughing out with an axe; a special little one that is no longer available, and I prefer a draw knife for some parts, although an axe is useful for others. Anyway, I got it pretty well finished and hope I can improve it.
the diameter or the hook circle is a little under 3 cm
i have no idea if that is small, medium or large for this sort of tool
too big for a thimble, ok for a spoon and probably ok for larger things
axe is an ace tool for roughing blanks out of a log by cleaving
i also use my go to "historic" all edge and button for cleaving among other separating tasks
3cm is suitable for a spoon. A larger diameter would be better for a larger hollow such as you want for beating out a dish.
I split the log with a froe, as it gives a good split and is designed for that. Otherwise, I used the axe for cutting away the larger sections that I didn't want; sawing and splitting always risks the split going too far, as you can never be sure the grain is straight. I used the axe very carefully to remove some other parts such as the rear profile of the bowl. The advantage of it being very small is that I can hold the head in my hand it I want and control it very carefully. Outer profile of bowl and the handle finished with a straight knife and inner profile of bowl finished with hook knife.
Didn't go quite as I wanted, but not too bad, and hope to be able to remove the rough bits with a scraper.
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