Why I love to use bent knives for carving wood
- Thread starter mr dazzler
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Thanks for looking, and for your comments 
I suppose as with every type of manual activity, it does take time to familiarise yourself with the feel and technique with these bent knives. But believe me, its worth the effort once you get into it, its a real pleasure to carve with them. The most obvious thing that is different than with european knives is the palm up grip-(and cutting toward the body)-but then ever since I got the mora spoon knives 5 or 6 years ago I tended to favour the palm up grip even with them, so was used to it in a sense. As with any sort of woodworking, reading the grain structure is a key part of success, the bent knives coexist with that very nicely, very intuitive, great to reach in and out of complex forms.
The tiny one was custom-made for me by Steve Davis (NOT the snooker star) and his brother in Washington state I believe. Unfortunately they have ceased production. The larger one in the video was one I made myself using a blade from Lee Valley, made by Crescent Knifeworks. The Crescent blades are similar width and thickness to the mora, but with internal bavels, flat outside (actually VERY slightly hollow ground) They are far more maouverable than the moras. I ordered 2 North Bay Forge knives to test out as well. Preferred Edge are another highly recommended maker, they do bent blades with outside bevels as well as the more usual flat outside styles, I may try one or 2 of them in the future...
Cheers Jonathan
That 'looks' so easy
Does it take a bit getting used to?
I suppose as with every type of manual activity, it does take time to familiarise yourself with the feel and technique with these bent knives. But believe me, its worth the effort once you get into it, its a real pleasure to carve with them. The most obvious thing that is different than with european knives is the palm up grip-(and cutting toward the body)-but then ever since I got the mora spoon knives 5 or 6 years ago I tended to favour the palm up grip even with them, so was used to it in a sense. As with any sort of woodworking, reading the grain structure is a key part of success, the bent knives coexist with that very nicely, very intuitive, great to reach in and out of complex forms.
The tiny one was custom-made for me by Steve Davis (NOT the snooker star) and his brother in Washington state I believe. Unfortunately they have ceased production. The larger one in the video was one I made myself using a blade from Lee Valley, made by Crescent Knifeworks. The Crescent blades are similar width and thickness to the mora, but with internal bavels, flat outside (actually VERY slightly hollow ground) They are far more maouverable than the moras. I ordered 2 North Bay Forge knives to test out as well. Preferred Edge are another highly recommended maker, they do bent blades with outside bevels as well as the more usual flat outside styles, I may try one or 2 of them in the future...
Cheers Jonathan
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