Reasonably priced but pretty carving knife?

[Peat]

My friend is after a knife for whittling. I have recomended the general purpose mora knifes to her as well as the smaller frosts carving knifes. However after using my handmade Swedish knife, she is after one similar or equally pleasing to the hand and the eye. So has anyone any recomendations? It should ideally be under £40 and I would have thought a blade length of above 3" would be good to make it more multi purpose.
Cheers

 

[Frederick89]

I can strongly suggest the fairly mass produced Gränsslöjd, made by knifemaker Kimmo Sorvoja of Haparanda, Sweden.
http://oscommerce.gransslojd.com/catalog/

He uses Lauri and Polar factory made blades, but also handforged baldes by blacksmith Toivo Jaaranen of Pello, Finland. These blades are hollow grinded with a convexed cutting edge.

If you're looking for something more special, but a bit pricey, I do suggest blacksmith Pasi Hurttila of Ivalo, Finland.
http://www.hurttilanpaja.suntuubi.com/?cat=1

He's a full-time blacksmith and a part time bushcraft instructor and wilderness guide. He makes his knives totally by himself, from forging the blade to hand sewing the sheath. He also has an extremely good english.

I've no realtion with'em, but I'm a very pleased customer of both.

 

[jollo74]

Hi Peat,
It's difficult to make a recommendation on a "pretty" knife as tastes can be very different. If she likes your knife it might be helpful to post a picture or to describe it here.

I have a few self-made carving knives using Mora blades and making the handle myself. It's easy enouh to do (you'll find lots of advice in this forum) and would be a very personal gift. You can get all you need for this at e.g. Brisa (www.brisa.fi, no ties , just a happy customer).

My preferred carving knife is the Roselli Grandmother with a forged carbon steel blade and curly birch handle. I find it pretty . It has a short blade (less than 2 1/2 ") with a fine point and I find that perfect for most whittling/carving, especially for finer details. A longer blade might make for a better multipurpose knife but for carving my experience is "less is more".

Cheers
Jörg

 

[Peat]

Thankyou for your suggestions so far. Unfortunately they are all a bit out of her price range.

Here is a picture of my knife. It doesn't have to be all that similar... but I think a well handled scandi job would do the trick.

Cheers

 

[Andy T]

you could always try the flexcut range

 

[Peat]

'll try that again.

 

[mountainm]

I have no idea if this is any good - but searching the forums may yield something.

http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/buy-online-wilderness-knife-100.html

Personally I'd go for the Mora classic... the one with the red wooden handle....

 

[Everything Mac]

I've a set of carving knives for sale over on BB, though they need handles as they are just blanks.

Andy

 

[jollo74]

Peat, Wood Jewel has some knives in your price range. I haven't used them myself but IIRC they use Lauri carbon steel blades which are very good value for money.

Here's a retailer that came up on a google-search, I can't comment whether they are good or not:
http://www.uttings.co.uk/Brands/407/wood-jewel/

Brisa also has some "finished" knives in the 40 GBP range.

Cheers
Jörg

 

[wattsy]

del stubbs does some nice knives i've got a couple and they're spot on

 

[TomBartlett]

I've had my eye on one of these sloyd knives for a while now. $38 (£25), not sure what the damage would be on postage though.

 

[Peat]

Thanks very much guys. She has gone for the Wood Jewel knife. Just the job.
Cheers!

 

[jollo74]

Hi Peat,
Glad she found something and thanks for letting us know . Now she only has to do short review here ...

Cheers
Jörg