I have just been given a frosts spoon knife - how to improve on it

[RJames]

A friend of mine has just returned from holiday with a frosts 164 spoon knife for me as a present. In its current state [out of the box] it is completely blunt.

I have come to be used to my moras arriving sharp and ready to go, but this thing just seems somehow unfinished.

Is this normal of these knives or have I just been given a blunt dud?

 

[shaggystu]

i have the same spoon knife, mine was pretty sharp out of the box, not razor sharp but definately not blunt.
the way to go with the sharpening is to get a piece of dowel and some wet'n'dry, wrap one around the other and sharpen away. i've heard people say that you shouldn't sharpen the inside of the curve, i've also heard people say that you shouldn't sharpen the outside of the curve, at least one of these statements must be wrong. personally i sharpen both sides and that seems to work out ok for me.

stuart

 

[John Fenna]

Mine came blunt as well - variable I would say!

 

[luckylee]

mine was a disgrace when it came, i has it from greenman bushcraft, they were fantastic and gave me a refund strait away, the one that was sent to me had, what i would call a gold coating all over it, very odd, i have not seen anything like it before, i ordered one from another company, and that one was still not the best i have got be honest, i love all my Mora knives, but there spoon knives i'm not so sure, i spent a day on it regrinding the bevel back a bit, and just tidying it up, and now its fantastic, but strait out the box, not very good at all.

 

[Shewie]

I trashed my Ben Orford recently trying to rough out some leopard wood knife scales, the dowel trick works a treat but just slowly at it.

 

[RJames]

hmm i may have a crack at reprofiling the edge, I certainly can't see the need for a secondary bevel that it has

 

[Zingmo]

Before some cumudgeon comes along to tell you to use the search function, I will post you a link to a great thread on this.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36873

I have done mine recently and it certainly pays off.

Z

 

[rik_uk3]

Before some cumudgeon comes along to tell you to use the search function, I will post you a link to a great thread on this.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36873


I have done mine recently and it certainly pays off.

Z

This curmudgeon (if your refering to me) advocates the use of search engines, lots of wasted time and bandwidth used up answering repeated questions plus you usually learn something new in your research; well done zingmo for finding the thread, was it difficult to find?

 

[Zingmo]

was it difficult to find?

Yes. I knew it existed, yet I could only find it using Google advanced search and it took nearly an hour! The problem is not finding a thread which mentions sharpening a spoon knife. The problem is picking out the one with the real insight and good photo's etc. that answers your question from among all the hundreds which don't!

I wasn't having a dig. I just feel that lot's of folk must buy these as a first step into spoon whittling and then, like me, receive something that is a bit disappointing. A little hard work following Hoodoo's advice and the tool is totally transformed and the pleasure of using it multiplied. Without that little bit of knowledge, many would just give up and the world would be deprived of many more wonky spoons!

Z

 

[rik_uk3]

But the search is half the fun zingmo, you whittle down (excuse the pun) your results to find what you want but you more often than not pick up on a lot of other stuff while searching. This topic has not come up often IIRC but we do get the same old questions "Whats the best bla bla bla" all the time and it been done to death in the past. If bushcraft skills include patience and self reliance perhaps some members should apply them in their quest for kit knowledge before shouting for help.

In reply to the original question

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+sharpen+a+crook+knife

 

[resnikov]

off topic for the thread but related to searching. if you try searching in google but alos put in the search field the site name. i.e. "crook knife site:bushcraftuk.com/forum" this will only return results from the site specified. Just a little tip I have found to be very usefull but your mileage may very

 

[Zingmo]

Rik, I like the LMGTFY link! I will definitely be using that one.

You are right about the collateral knowledge gained in pursuit of an answer.

Z

 

[Hedgehog]

Not the best indeed but for what they are they are cheap & as with many inexpensive tools need a bit of work to get just right. The 'gold coating' is just to prevent corrosion in storage/shipping etc. I've seen carbon clippers with rust spots strait out of the box so maybe no bad thing.

Don't sharpen the inside edge too much (just remove the burr & strop ideally), over time it may make scooping out the wood more difficult as the cutting edge moves towards the outside of the curve.

 

[dwardo]

I received one as a gift recently and the quality was wuibbish. I also didnt know they did a spoon knife with a sharp edge on both sides?
My last one was only sharp on one side, the metal was thicker and the finish far better, just a shame i left it on an island in a loch...

 

[John Fenna]

I have Frost spoon knives of 3 different curvatures - 2 came double edged.
I found this to be an accident waiting to happpen so I ground off the edge on one side of the double edged ones.
I can get a standard knife razor edged in next to no time but I cannot get the nack of sharpening the curved blades!
Mr Budd gave mine a good sharpening at the moot and they were a joy to use again...though I have not done much in the way of spoons recently ...perhaps the edge will see me for what I need until the next Moot!

 

[Tadpole]

I have Frost spoon knives of 3 different curvatures - 2 came double edged.
I found this to be an accident waiting to happpen so I ground off the edge on one side of the double edged ones.
I can get a standard knife razor edged in next to no time but I cannot get the nack of sharpening the curved blades!
Mr Budd gave mine a good sharpening at the moot and they were a joy to use again...though I have not done much in the way of spoons recently ...perhaps the edge will see me for what I need until the next Moot!

Dave gave my double edged one a nifty reshaping and sharpening, and it's a joy to use, I find it as easy to use as my Dave Budd Leftie, and after the DB treatment just as easy to sharpen.