Crook/spoon knife

[Johnnyboy1971]

The above is needed do you have either for sale.
Prefer right handed but will consider a lefty.

Would rather not have a frosts if I can avoid it.

Many thanks John.

 

[luckylee]

there is on;y one maker i can recomend for this, as the one i have is out standing and that fgyt of this parish hi workmanship and his attention to detail is outstanding all the stuff i have bought of him, is of a very high quality, and could not recomend him enough.

 

[Kepis]

www.benorford.co.uk

No affiliation to Ben, just a happy long term user of his wares

 

[spandit]

What's wrong the the Frosts ones?

 

[luckylee]

What's wrong the the Frosts ones?

there crap, thats what is wrong with them i love all my mora's and think they are fantastic value for money, but there is only one let down with them, and there spoon knives, now, if you are ok with sharpning things, then great it did not take me to long to reprofile mine, now its ok, but for people that are not that way inclined, then they have a problem, to me, when you buy something, it should be good to go, strait out the packet, you should not have to be reprofiling, and i say reprofiling, as it is not just a case of touching it up, or giving it a good strop, for the spoon knife to work proplerly i had to completly reprofile the edge of mine, to get it to be of a standered that i like, now fgyt's, well the erganomics for a start of the handle are just perfect, very different to what you see out there to, works a treat for me anyway, i have a ben orford to, but i always find my self going back to his.
i have no affiliation neither, just a very happy customer.

 

[Kepis]

What's wrong the the Frosts ones?

absolutely nothing if you are happy to put a litle bit of time into them, all i did with the half dozen Frosts ones i have was to remove the hump or ridge, or whatever you want to call it on the rear of the blade so it was flat, wrapped some W&D around a dowel and gave the thing a good sharpen up, they work fine.

Sure i use my Orfords all the time, but that is my preference, there again, i also use the Frosts ones i have on a regular basis as well, all depends what im carving.

At the end of the day it's all about preference, i prefer my Orfords, others prefer Dave Budds or Duncans knives, and that is their preference, but there are also a lot of seriously good spoon carvers in the world who use nothing but the Frosts knives, i suppose it also comes down to how much you want to spend as well, essentially the Frosts spoon knives are good tools, but could be so much better for a small redesign (i know it's not that simple), but isnt part of the fun of shrafting making mods to stuff to suit your needs and then using and therefore understanding the tool?

 

[luckylee]

absolutely nothing if you are happy to put a litle bit of time into them, all i did with the half dozen Frosts ones i have was to remove the hump or ridge, or whatever you want to call it on the rear of the blade so it was flat, wrapped some W&D around a dowel and gave the thing a good sharpen up, they work fine.

Sure i use my Orfords all the time, but that is my preference, there again, i also use the Frosts ones i have on a regular basis as well, all depends what im carving.

At the end of the day it's all about preference, i prefer my Orfords, others prefer Dave Budds or Duncans knives, and that is their preference, but there are also a lot of seriously good spoon carvers in the world who use nothing but the Frosts knives, i suppose it also comes down to how much you want to spend as well, essentially the Frosts spoon knives are good tools, but could be so much better for a small redesign (i know it's not that simple), but isnt part of the fun of shrafting making mods to stuff to suit your needs and then using and therefore understanding the tool?

i couldn't agree more, i suppose when you fall in love with a tool, that works for you, thats great, maybe someone with bigger or smaller hands might be suited to something else, for me thow personally, i love my fgyt spoon knife, its just the erganomics of his handle, they suit my hand perfectly, in a multitude of different grips, if mora, were to but a little time in sorting the bevel out, it would be an ok spoon knife, but the edge geomitry is all wrong, on the factory edge, for spoon carving anyway.

 

[Mesquite]

Dave Budd

I love the spoon knives I have of his and everyone who has had a play with them felt the same to the point they went and bought their own

 

[Whittler Kev]

What's wrong the the Frosts ones?

Not sure what's wrong with the the ones some people seem to have used, but I reckon they are brill.
Everyone that's used mine at a meet has bought one (can't beat £6 from Clas Olsen's).
They are a little large but that's it.
All the ones I've had (including when people have traded theirs in for one I've made for them) have been razor sharp and cut like billyo

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Don't think FYGT is making at the moment. Waiting for a reply about one of his other knives. Heard good and bad about the Frosts just don't want to be in a position to rework the blade. Looking for something straight from the box that will last and retain an edge well.

 

[sapper1]

I have one that I don't use(frosts)I'm not sure if it's left or right handed,I used it in my right hand and pulled the cutting edge toward myself.
Your welcome to it free if you want it.
The reason I don't use it is ,I cant.

 

[beenn]

Was going to buy a frosts for a try before investing more for a better one as the price is good but not sure if its worth the risk now

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Sapper1 thats a fantastic offer. If you don't mind I will take you up on the offer. And if Im ever in a position to repay your generosity please let me know how. I know it's not what I wanted but will be able to make up my own mind on the frost.

 

[sapper1]

Pm me your addy and I'll get it in the post.

 

[sandbender]

www.benorford.co.uk

No affiliation to Ben, just a happy long term user of his wares

Another vote for Ben, here is a very short BBC video of Ben talking about his toolmaking and crook knives...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/ne...s_javascript=true&nol_storyid=4829410&bbcws=2

No connection, just a satisfied customer.

 

[robin wood]

I keep a collection of most of the hook knives available for folk on courses to try and Duncan and Dave Budd have done courses with me, have also regularly helped Ben Orford with tool design from when he started 10 years ago. Despite all this I have tended to favour the Swedish smiths. I like Svante Djarve's large hook though beginners rarely get on with it. Hans Karlsson makes a good hook which has been the one I have tended to recomend it works for beginners and more advanced carvers. Bo Helgesson makes a sublime hook but I have not managed to buy any for several years. Duncan, Dave, Ben and Ray Iles all make good tools which many folk swear by.
The frosts hooks will work and with modification can work fairly well but I think if you can buy a hook that works well for £40 why buy one that is awkward for £15? Unless you really are skint and have the skills to set it up well.
There is hope on the horizon though, I have tried over the years to get a hook I was really happy with made in the UK. I currently have a prototype which I think has good promise but won't be refined, finished and available for a while.

 

[DaveBromley]

I have the frosts double bladed jobby and it "awkward" I have been itching to get my hands on another hook knife just to see the difference and if it justifies the extra cost OR as the case may be if it's just me being a twonk and not using it correctly

Might give the reprofiling a go and see if that makes any difference, it cant make it any worse!

Dave

 

[robin wood]

I reprofiled one of these a while ago, you can see it in the hook knife passaround I did a couple of years ago http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29840&highlight=hook+knife+passaround
I ground off the back (left handed) bevel, cut the end off, removed and rounded the secondary bevel and it made a knife that I find works quite well for me. It was quite a bit of work even with power tools and it still isn't pretty.