Stubbs Open Hook Knife and Apricot Spoon

[Schwert]

After seeing the more open spoon knives that Robin, Hoodoo and others have used, I decided to ask Del Stubbs if he had ever made something similar.

He made 7-8 prototypes and took them to a Spoon Gathering in Minnesota. After several carvers had provided him with feedback, he has decided to offer up a couple of open hooks sometime in September…once he gets his forging forms setup. He offered me my choice of one of these and I went for a version that was most open.

The blade is about 2.5 inches long from tip to “bolster”.

I took my carving bag and a few pieces of wood along on my vacation to Montana. We had a family reunion in Fromberg Montana. These two days were spent at the Jim Bridger Days Parade (in Bridger Montana) and sitting around eating and drinking in my Aunt’s front yard.

I pulled out an apricot spoon blank, unrolled my tools and started carving….

My brother-in-law, a budding knife nut checking out my carving tools….the old Coleman stove that I acquired from a street vendor in Bridger attempting to bring a half liter of water to at least a tepid temperature in the foreground we were the site of interest for the strangers who must somehow be related to me…

A closeup of the Stubbs open hook cleaning up the spoon bowl.

And finally here is the little apricot spoon after its soak in flaxseed oil.

A nice new addition to my carving kit I must say.

 

[seany boy]

Great photos as always Schwert.
Love that apricot spoon, it really looks the business, that flaxseed oil has brought the grain out a treat.
You must have quite a collection of Del Stubbs tools by now, the new addition looks great.

Love that Skookum carver by the way.

 

[pothunter]

Hi Schwert

Good way to spend a few days and the results look very nice, has your brother in law also been carving.

Your twin is alive and well and often seen fishing the Dovey river in Wales, unnervingly alike.

Pothunter.

 

[Schwert]

My BIL has not yet had the carving bug strike, but I am trying. My sister bought him his first custom knife last year....that helped the disease along a bit.

I would be interested in seeing my twin fishing the Dovey.

This open hook just about completes my set of tools offered by Del. I find I have almost retired all my other small carving tools after gettting these.

 

[rancid badger]

It looks a really good potential "camp spoon knife"
by that, I mean that it could taken along on a trip, without the need for any other curved tools and easily deal with both spoons and small bowls as well as maybe a kuksa?
Combined with a small to medium carver or just a bushcraft type knife, I would imagine you could cover most small projects no trouble at all.

Beautiful spoon too!( as always)
best wishes
Steve

 

[Schwert]

RB, I think you are right about this open hook as "the one" to take along. I bought it specifically for larger spoons but found it worked very well cleaning out the bowl of this little apricot spoon. That spoon is about a standard teaspoon size and I never imagined the open hook for one of its size.

I have a large piece of big leaf maple burl that I know has a kasa in it somewhere. Sometime I will try and carve it out with this open hook.

This hook plus the SBT carver seemed to fit.