Dave Budd mk II crook knife

[Mesquite]

I bought one of Dave Budds new style crook knifes at the Bushmoot and just wanted to share my personal impressions of it with folks.

First of all I just want to say I am a total novice when it comes to spoon carving and my impressions should be taken as that. In fact I have only carved one spoon that I've been willing to show people (which you can see in the first picture). The only other crook knife I have experience of is the frosts version and I just could not get on with it at all.

I bought the small version which is designed more for spoons and smaller items. Dave does another version which has a longer sweeping profile which allows for deeper cuts such as for bowl carving. The difference in blade length is approximately 25-30mm and the blade is less curved. He does all the manufacturing of the knife including the handles himself and he was very happy to demonstrate how to sharpen and maintain it.

As you can see it comes with a coffin shaped ash handle which is hexagonal in cross section. It felt really comfortable to handle and I didn't feel any pressure points building up in my hand when I was using it. I felt totally in control which gave me extra confidence when I started to use it.

The knife cut very easily and removed wood quite quickly without much effort at all. I was able to do very precise shaving with it when cleaning up the bowl. It cuts very cleanly and didn't leave any jagged areas and I never felt I was having to use extra force to cut.

As I said at the start I'm just a novice spoon carver and I'm sure a much more experienced carver can give a more in depth anaylses of the knife against other makes, however, all in all I was extremely pleased with my purchase and would happily recommend this crook knife to anyone thinking of starting out to carve spoons and was wondering what to get.

I've added his longer version to the list of things I'm saving up to buy

As usual, I have no affiliation with or interests in Dave. I'm just a very happy and satisfied customer

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

I also bought one of these, very good tool, well made, razor sharp.

 

[andyn]

You didnt mention how much it cost, how does it compare to other hand made spoon knives?

 

[Mesquite]

You didnt mention how much it cost,

Sorry, I paid £35 for it and the longer version is the same price.

how does it compare to other hand made spoon knives?

As I said I'm a real novice when it comes to spoon carving and was giving a perspective from that stand point. I don't have any experience of other hand made spoon knives simply because I've never used any but I think it would stand up against them and come out with good reports.

 

[Dave Budd]

I'm glad you like it

I've got a few vriations in the works at the moment, but they are basically the two sorts. The longer one is more gently curved and leaves a smooth finish on a broad shallow bowl, while the shorter one (like yours) allows you to get in and carve the thing out without leaving too much furrowing.

teh handles are becoming a little more refined as I work out teh best processes in making hem

 

[Ozhaggishead]

Looks like a nice bit of kit mate well done.

 

[robin wood]

Looking good Dave, I like the profile with a gradually tightening curve.

 

[DoctorSpoon]

If anyone feels like lending me one for a week I'll do you a review ...

 

[Dave Budd]

I'll have to make one of each to send to you I was hoping to see you at teh moot last week

 

[chas brookes]

Hi All
I can second what a good blade Daves crook knives are, I brought a blade at the moot which I made my own handle for out of a piece of plum I had laying around looking for a use. Having quite big hands I always tended to not get on with the mora spoon knives.
With the blade I got from Dave and an hour or so whittling and sanding I have ended up with a crook knife that really fits my hand comfortably, and the best bit it is really sharp as well.

thanks for a great blade Dave :You_Rock_

 

[DoctorSpoon]

I'll have to make one of each to send to you I was hoping to see you at teh moot last week

thanks! (We couldn't make the moot this year 'cos of other commitments but hope to make it next year.)

 

[brancho]

Thanks for the review it is interesting and the spoon looks good.

I think I would like one but as a blade only when I get some cash depending on how moding the knife I own comes out.

 

[Schwert]

The only other crook knife I have experience of is the frosts version and I just could not get on with it at all.

Nice review and a real nice spoon too. I have to agree with you on the Frosts. These seem like about the worst tool ever for a beginner to acquire. I bet they have turned off more budding carvers than just about any other tool.

It took me years to recover from trying out one of those Frost hooks. Once I got a decent tool I found carving to be so much easier...I did not realize that the poorly done Frosts had held me back for so long.

Good stuff.

 

[DoctorSpoon]

I have to agree with you on the Frosts. These seem like about the worst tool ever for a beginner to acquire. I bet they have turned off more budding carvers than just about any other tool.

I have to disagree with you there. The huuuuuuge advantage of the Frosts is that it is cheap (around a tenner here) and so it is easily accessible. I know loads of people (many on here) who used it as a starter knife, as Robin and I did when we first started years ago, and many who still swear by them. The reason it is difficult to use out of the packet is the grind is wrong and you need to remove the secondary bevel. However, no knife is any good long term unless you can learn to sharpen it, it's just with this one you need to learn to sharpen it right from the beginning rather than a few spoons in. I think it's only once you have a bit more experience you'll really appreciate a thirty+ quid knife.

 

[Schwert]

I have to totally disagree with you on the Frosts as a beginner knife. I think it is much better to have a proper tool first to even remotely understand what a hook knife can do. Starting out with an improperly ground one is no way at all to learn how one should be properly ground. Only by long trial and effort can one find out just how badly made these are.

I likely wasted a decade carving by starting out with a Frosts. Only after I bought a properly made Stubbs did I learn just how easy a hook knife can make carving.

I see spending any amount on a Frosts as money down the drain for a beginner. A Frosts is a hook knife kit....not a knife....it requires a major amont of work to get it ready for use....that is just not how a beginner should start in my view.

Any beginner who springs for a proper hook and does not enjoy the carving can always sell the knife off, so there is little risk in the expenditure. Buying a Frosts hook almost assures that the beginner will not enjoy the experience and hoping a beginner can properly regrind a Frosts seems a silly notion to me.

A cheap knife that cannot properly do its job is a waste. Loads of people indeed started with a Frosts, but loads likely gave up the effort just as fast.

A proper hook is the way to go. You can then see how it was ground and learn how a hook needs to be sharpened. Then buy a Frosts kit and tune it up if you like.

 

[Tadpole]

I’m no expert on knives or spoon carving for that matter, and yet I managed with a frosts double sided crook knife to carve a dozen spoons of varying complexity, with varying success, some of the success/failure is down to using the thing for the first time, some is down to only having well seasoned wood to play with.
My double side spoon knife still has the crappy secondary bevel, (I don’t have the time or tools needed to remove it) and other than sharpening the bevel on a board with fine wet and dry , or wet and dry on a dowel, I’ve done nothing but a quick strop or two every time I use it. It works, its hard work I grant you and I’m now having to learn a whole new way of carving with my fantastic new Dave Budd MKII..

Were I [god forbid] to take up golf, I’d never dream of buying the ‘best of the best’ in the vague hope that I could sell on the sticks once I decide I don’t like it, same goes with any hobby. I started fishing with a £5 kit from Woolies, it took years for me to progress up to the semi professional kit. Fishing with a 6 foot solid fiberglass rod is worlds away from the 10 meter hollow carbon that I ended up.

You have to start somewhere and if all you can afford it the frosts spoon knife, then that is In my humble opinion better than not starting at all, or trying to save up for a £40 spoon knife, that will no skill at all will turn out fire wood just as well as a £10 jobbie.

 

[Schwert]

I think the difference here between the fishing analogy and the hook knife is that an inexpensive fishing rod will likely work quite well in comparison to a finely crafted high dollar rod. It may not cast as far etc but it will likely work quite well as a fishing rod.

Same applies for inexpensive golf clubs....they generally work as they are supposed to without expensive carbon shafts etc you may not get all the distance or precision but they can whack the ball correctly rather than incorrectly.

A Frost hook is not simply an inexpensive version of a properly sharpened hook knife, it is a fine example of an hook shaped blade that needs extensive work to be used as a spoon hook should. If you boughty an inexpensive set of golf clubs and had to put your own shafts on them, and regrind the club faces before you could even whack the ball that is the proper analogy to use in this case. No beginner can possibly find true pleasure using a Frosts hook out of the box and to assume a beginner can properly sharpen one is a stretch.

There are fine examples of hook knives for only about double the cost of a Frost, so why hinder any enjoyment or progress in learning for a few pounds.

 

[Tadpole]

A Frost hook is not simply an inexpensive version of a properly sharpened hook knife, it is a fine example of an hook shaped blade that needs extensive work to be used as a spoon hook should. If you boughty an inexpensive set of golf clubs and had to put your own shafts on them, and regrind the club faces before you could even whack the ball that is the proper analogy to use in this case. No beginner can possibly find true pleasure using a Frosts hook out of the box and to assume a beginner can properly sharpen one is a stretch.

I think I mentioned that I carried out no extensive modifications to my Frosts spoon knife, (the double-sided one) I quickly sharpened it, and then made several complete spoons. Now having used a DB MKII spoon knife, I realise that what took time and effort to achieve with a Frosts is much easier and less time consuming with a decent spoon knife.
That being said my frost did what it said on the box. (no box was supplied ) I learnt quite a lot using it. Now if you bought an expensive set of golf club, you would only know that you needed better shaft, and a flatter face, once you became more skilled at the game. A beginner wouldn’t know, I didn’t know that the Frosts were “rubbish” and to be honest I don’t think they are, they just make spoon carving harder than it needs to be. I learnt quite a lot from using the Frost, some of which I will have to unlearn.
As for buying a good spoon knife for £20, I’ve search for a year and haven’t been able to find one.
The DB MKII cost me the same as I spend on my weekly food shop. Not everyone can afford to shell out £££ on a new hobby, just as not everyone knows that Frosts spoon knife makes a relatively simple job of carving spoons harder than it needs be, until they swap from a frost to a better knife.

 

[DoctorSpoon]

Yes, all other spoon carving knives I've found are £30+ which makes them at least three times the price of the Frosts. Whilst you clearly had a tough time with it Schwert, there are others like Tadpole who found it a good way to get started. There was even one bloke when I did an organised passaround with a mixture of £30+ knives and a couple of Frosts who still preferred the Frost!

I'm firmly of the belief there's no such thing as the best knife - it's just what's the best knife for the individual. A good knife will suit more people, but not everybody.
Nicola

 

[Schwert]

With the current exchange rate a Del Stubbs hook is about £23....likely close to £30 with shipping etc. That is probably the best bargain around for a vastly superior tool to the Frosts.

If Frosts did not essentially ruin their hook with that secondary bevel it would make a much better tool out of the box. It would then be much like many carving tools (gouges and chisels) that are supplied with the proper grind but unhoned. They are unfortunately making an inexpensive hook a major project to properly tune.

I would have loved to have found someone or somewhere on the net advice that a Frosts hook was not properly tuned for spoon carving about a decade ago. That would have saved me plenty of time. I figured spoon carving must be very hard or required extra skill as that Frosts hook simply would not cut easily or cleanly. Only after buying a quality hook did I find that a properly sharpened and honed hook made the process quite easy.

I still think if anyone is going to recommend a Frosts hook to beginners, they should also receive detailed reprofiling instructions to make it perform...otherwise it is likely that they will give up on the skill, and wasted £10 too.

I cannot be convinced that a Frosts hook is a beginner tool....I see it as an expert tool as it requires so much work to make it perform like it should.