crook knife substitute

[Monkey]

Hi people,

i carved my first spoon this weekend , using the guidance from the downloads section of this website, and also from reading the various posts from people.
I will post a picture of it, but it is not quite finished as I can't think of how to carve the bowl.
I don't have a crook knife, and don't really wamt to spend 20-30 quid on one just yet. so......does anyone have any advice on something I could use to carve out the bowl???
I guess that lots of coarse sandpaper might be the alternative, but I thought I'd see if anyone else had used something to good effect??

btw, the spoon carving process was amazingly enjoyable, and despite my wife's initial raised eyebrows, when I told her how I was going to spend my saturday afternoon, she was impressed when she saw the (semi) finished article!! I'm hooked and I feel this is the first of many. I'll have her using them in the kitchen in no time LOL
many thanks
Monkey

 

[Marts]

How about one of these for under a tenner

Sloyd Hook Knife

 

[capacious]

You could always try using an ember (if your spoon is dry, and you patience is great). Or the tip of your knife. Or, do the sensible thing, and buy a spoon knife. If you try it without, you'll desperately wish you hadn't. Try the one above (which is o.k.) or Andrew at www.outdoorcode.com sells an excellent one by S Djarv for £20, which is worth every penny.

Jake.

 

[Philbert]

I have tried using the point of my blade and scraping with the end portion. I takes a long time and the results are less than perfect but definately usable, and with a quick rub over with sand paper your sorted

keep it up!

 

[Philbert]

Just thinking but could you bow drill a depression in a piece of wood as the bowl and then carve the spoon round it????

Probably take a while though.

 

[Monkey]

cheers for the advice.
i think I'll order one of those from axminster.co.uk. I looked on Woodlore and they were £35 which is outrageous, but under a tenner is right up my street!!
many thanks
Monkey

 

[Eric_Methven]

A spoon knife is great, but if you need a spoon and find yourself without one, you can place an ember from the campfire on the bowl portion and blow on it through a narrow tube. The tube can be something you already have with you, or a piece of rolled up paper from your notebook. The working end should be as small a diameter as possible to focus the blowing onto the ember. It works like a balcksmith's bellows and burns a hole in the bowl quickly.

Once the ember has expired, scrape the charred wood away with your knife and start again with another ember. Keep doing this until you have the depth of bowl you desire. Once the bowl is done you can scour the rest of the charring away with sand, fine gravel or a rough pebble. Then you finish off the outside of the spoon.

The secret of spoon carving is to get the bowl to the right depth first. That's the part that is going to do the job of holding the contents of the spoon. Too small a bowl for the purpose and you end up spooning the contents of the pot more than you need. Too deep a bowl and you end up tipping your head right back to get all of the food into your mouth. Do the bowl first, the size you want and then remove any extra wood on the outside. It works for me!

Eric

 

[philaw]

I tried that thing with the ember once and it did nothing. It barely even marked it. Maybe it was some wierd trpoical wood, or too green, but I wouldn't rely on that method.

I haven't gotten around to getting a crook knife yet, so I use some of those tiny wood working tools (they look like wooden handled chisels or wood turning things) that pound shops often have in sets. The U-shaped one can cut troughs.

 

[Nemisis]

A few years ago I got a set of 4 crown butt chisels I use these for hollowing out the spoon bowl. Being just 6" long they lend themselves well to many hand carving jobs and simple joints also easy to keep sharp even in the field on a small pocket stone http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/3/product-Crown-Butt-Chisels-19725.htm
Dave.

 

[stonyman]

I have used a Pumice stone, you can get them in chemists for a couple of quid, it takes ages to shape the bowl out with one but it does work.

I now have a spoon knife, but I still use the pumice for fine sanding the bowl as it moulds to the curve.

All the best of luck with your carving

Paul

 

[torjusg]

I have made knives from beaver teeth, they work very well on green wood. Porcupine teeth and boar's tusks are equally suitable they say.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[ANDGRIN]

Hi Monkey,

I have a Frosts spoon knife I dont use anymore PM me your address and I will send it to you if you are interested.

I now use a Svante Djarv spoon knife, I am a bit of a knife and tool collecter but only keep those I use regularly,

Cheers Andy

 

[Ogri the trog]

Now that is noteworthy sentiment ANDGRIN,
Have yourself some Reputation points

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

try a hoof knife.

used to clean goats hoofs, it looks just like a hook knife and is around £5!

i carved a spoon with one and it works fine, it just has qute a long straght part which you'd need to cover.

 

[Monkey]

thanks for the advice and offers for help. I bought a hook knife from Axminster.co.uk in the end and my spoon is finished!!

and here it is.....

I have used olive oil to finish it and I like the effect it has on the grain of the wood.
I'm planning to have another go because I used a straight piece of timber and so couldn't quite get a curve to the handle..
still I'm happy with it as a first attempt

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

very good :You_Rock_
i have some idea how hard it is to get a finish like that well done!

 

[Big John]

Very nice - good work.

I made my first with an ember from the campfire - a relaxing way to spend an evening in camp, it worked Ok, although was a little slow going, then again I wasn't using a tube as suggested here, I was just blowing it.

It did end up splitting the wood a bit though - I guess I dried it out too quickly and so had to sand it out a bit more to take out the split.

Now I got the knife from Axminster (the double-sided) and it's much easier!

 

[Wayne]

That a really good first attempt. I really like the handle end.