Spoon Carving with Scouts - where can I get a scorp for a reasonable price?

[DocG]

Greetings,

I'm looking for advice.

I have a spoon knife, a crook knife (i.e., a larger curved blade than my relatively small spoon knife) and have recently bought a basic Mora 160 (or similar numbers - small, sharp blade about 1 1/2" long for whittling). I've used a teardrop cabinet scraper for smoothing since watching a US whittler on YouTube, though I tend to finish off with sandpaper if working at home.

Using the spoon knife and my belt knife I have made a series of functional and almost pretty spoons over the last few years, ranging in size from an egg spoon to a ladle for my Dutch oven. By adding the crook knife I'm hoping to move on to kuksas (sp?) and maybe bowls - bigger spoon shapes, in other words. The recently purchased Mora has allowed me to begin to create finer details.

My plan is to introduce spoon carving to my Scout troop at this year's summer camp (where we have access to acres of woodland in the Cairngorm foothills). Now, I am fairly long in the tooth and know a bit about avoiding cuts, etc when whittling, even though I'm relatively new to the hobby. However, I'm worried about the dangers of using spoon knives with younger Scouts (10 yrs old) and so would like to know if anyone can direct me at a source of reasonably priced scorps - full circle carving knives, as in the one reviewed in the entry section to BCUK. I can't afford £100+ per scorp but I have saved up some troop funds for spoon knives and so would consider spending the money on a couple of scorps rather than Mora spoon knives. I would like to say I'd go for Ben Orford's knives or similar, but, again, price is an issue - I know they're very good.

So, does anyone make or know of a maker of reasonably priced scorps - say £40 ish (or less, if that's realistic)? If my idea of a reasonable price is itself unreasonable, PLEASE let me know - I won't be upset and I'd like to avoid upsetting others.

Also, can anyone offer advice or insights into my proposed project?

All the best,
Rob

 

[brancho]

Good luck with geting Scouts to make a spoon mine usually manage a pointed stick some will make a nice butter knife.

Have you done any whittling with them before I recomend having a go on a Troop evening to gauge skill and enthusiasm. I love my Frost 120 and 106 I let the better carvers use them but we also bought some carving knives too.
My advice is to buy the Troop a set of knives to use and maintain them so they are using good sharp knives not turning up with a blunt pocket knife they will do themselves an injury.

We mostly use Mora basic 511 knives
https://www.springfields.co.uk/mora-basic-511.html

We have mora basic carving knives and others

http://www.moonrakerknives.co.uk/morawoodcarving.html



P4128812 by 1st Hensingham Scouts, on Flickr

 

[Ogri the trog]

Try contacting Rhys Harris of V C Works

https://rhysharris.co.uk

His scorps might fit within your price range - if you speak to him you can discuss your requirements and budget.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Robson Valley]

For economy, I'd ask a local farrier for worn-down hoof knives.
Both new and used, I've revised a dozen, different brands, happy with them all, 6 more on my bench right now.

a) They have a lifetime of carving steel left in them.
b) The hook at the tip serves as a fine scorp while the blades have a pronounced sweep.
c) Changing the bevel from approx 25 degrees to carving sharp at 12 degrees is not difficult.
d) My economics = a new Hall (Canada) knife here is $50.00, I offer the local farrier $5.00 each.
e) For you, Mora #171 are good, so is #188 but double edged. You might find Diamond (Taiwan) or Ukal/Supervet (France)

 

[DocG]

Thanks, Branco.

I have encouraged all the Scouts to buy (via us to make a small profit for funds) a basic carbon steel sheath knife like the Mora. These we maintain and use to process wood and do simple carving tasks. My aim is to introduce a series of notches so that the senior Scouts can present a try stick as part of their passing up to Explorers.

We'll work on whittling as the term progress.

All the best,
Rob

 

[DocG]

Try contacting Rhys Harris of V C Works

https://rhysharris.co.uk

His scorps might fit within your price range - if you speak to him you can discuss your requirements and budget.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Thanks for the link, Ogri.

 

[DocG]

For economy, I'd ask a local farrier for worn-down hoof knives.
Both new and used, I've revised a dozen, different brands, happy with them all, 6 more on my bench right now.

a) They have a lifetime of carving steel left in them.
b) The hook at the tip serves as a fine scorp while the blades have a pronounced sweep.
c) Changing the bevel from approx 25 degrees to carving sharp at 12 degrees is not difficult.
d) My economics = a new Hall (Canada) knife here is $50.00, I offer the local farrier $5.00 each.
e) For you, Mora #171 are good, so is #188 but double edged. You might find Diamond (Taiwan) or Ukal/Supervet (France)

Thanks for all the above ideas. There must be some farriers round here, but I haven't met them yet. I have a friend who volunteers with Riding for the Disabled, so I'll ask her.