Sweden has a very rich tradition of
spoon carving. I studied this during a winter in the north
of Sweden, many years ago. I was privileged to spend many
good weeks with Ville Sundquist, the much respected carver/craftsman
and author who lives in northern Sweden. Upon returning
home I realized that the wonderful types of tools they use are
not available here in North America. So, as a tool maker
I decided to fill the need for these types of tools.
These knives I completely hand make, from start to finish, and
every possible aspect of them I have thought through - from handle
and blade shape, to the steel, and the tempering methods. They,
of course, have uses beyond spoon carving. The edges come
perfectly sharp and the blades highly polished - so that the knife
glides through the wood, and so that sharpening is a breeze. The
back of the blades are rounded and polished for comfort when pushing
with a finger. I shape the handles from our 25 year collection
of beautiful hardwoods. The steel: I have chosen '01' high
carbon / high alloy tool steel from Austria. It costs about
twice what normal high carbon steel costs, it's the very best
that I can buy. The bevel (most are 25°) and the hardness
RC60-62 make these tools suitable for carving any wood from pine
to maple.
click for
more on our Deep Hollowing (Scorp) tool - (temporarily unavailable)
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1.) HOOK KNIVES: For Spoon Carving and General Hollowing. Blade is approx. 2".
Right Hand Hook:
is the tool a right handed person would use with a drawing, pulling
or squeezing cut with the right hand. However, some right
handed carvers prefer to push the tool away with the left hand
- in that instance, the Left Handed Hook Knife would be best.
Some serious spoon carvers have both a right and a left
hook, but I have designed these hook knives so that an entire
spoon can be carved with just one hook knife only - by turning
over the hook and carving away from oneself. Comes with a protective sheath.
Left Handed Hook: is for left handed carvers, or for right
handed carvers who push with the left hands' thumb. Each
tool comes with easy to follow sharpening instructions. All knives
come with a protective sheath.
Open Sweep Hook Knives - for
spoons and ladles,
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Regular Sloyd Knife: Blade is 2-1/4". The blade length and curve are very carefully designed to give long powerful clean cuts or fine control in concave cuts. The handle is carefully designed to give power to the hand and gives good control in any of the dozen or more grips commonly used. Comes with a protective sheath.
Short Sloyd: The same as the Regular Sloyd, blade is 1-3/4"; for those who prefer a shorter knife. Comes with a protective sheath.
Straight Slojd Knife: A few carvers have asked for this tool so I am featuring it, it is not as all-around useful as regular slojd, it is for powerful roughing cuts, flat facets, leveling convex surfaces, and I am not sure of what all else! 2" blade, Comes with a protective sheath.
Skinny Sloyd:
(temoporarily unavailable) New
tool, narrow blade for doing fine
interior work such as 'ball in a cage'. (I can shape these to
customers preference if different than the photo.) 2" blade,
Comes with a protective sheath.
Regular Sloyd Knife: 2 1/4"
$40.00 unhandled $26
Short Slojd: 1 3/4"
$38.00 unhandled $25
Straight Edge Sloyd: 2" $38.00 unhandled $25
Skinny Sloyd:
(on hold for awhile)
(want to make your own? blades w/out handles -
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4.) HARLEY KNIFE: For Flat Plane Figure Carving In Clean Basswood. Blade is 2".
These I designed with Harley Refsal, the well known Scandinavian figure carver - Harley can carve an entire figure using only this tool. They are especially suited for the "flat plane carving method." Now that I have a very "high-tech digital salt-bath heat-treating settup" (the same as large industry) I do these completely here, start to finish. I round and polish the back for hand comfort, and then shape the blade as thin as is practical -13°. This thinness, the polish, the extremely sharp edge, and the hardness of the steel, make them cut extremely efficiently and cleanly. However, because of this thinness, do not pry or lever the wood with them. Avoid knots and use only clean soft woods such as basswood (wood that is dirty, has knots, or is harder, requires a thicker bevel, such as the Slojd Knife). I heartily recommend Harley Refsal as a teacher, you may also purchase one of these knives in one of his classes. Knife comes with a sheath.
Harley Knife: $36.00 unhandled $25
5.) STUBBY KNIFE: The same as the Harley Knife, with sheath, blade is 1-1/2" for those who prefer a shorter knife. Comes with a protective sheath.
Stubby Knife: $35.00 unhandled $24
6.) KOLROSING KNIFE: For Fine Line Surface Decoration.
I have worked with Judy Ritger for some time to perfect the design of this tool (she is a highly skilled rosemaler/kolroser from Wisconsin). The secret to the fluid movement of this little knife is the hand turned handle (shaped like a calligraphy pen) and the carefully curved blade. This specially designed blade I shape from solid M2 High Speed Steel. They are very sharp, highly polished and ready to use. With this steel, it should rarely even need stropping. Comes with a wooden sheath.
Kolrosing is a little known but very beautiful craft having Scandinavian roots - often mirroring intricate rosemaling patterns. It has all kinds of untapped possibilities from decorating spoons, carvings, furniture etc., or making a picture. Draw with the knife just like you would a pencil (no shaving is removed). For tight turns and extra fine control the cut is quite shallow, levering the tool away from you with the opposite hands' thumb against the rounded back of the blade. Then take a pinch of extra finely ground coffee, (powder consistency) rub it into the carved area, sand away all excess coffee, apply finish, and voila! Some people eventually gain enough control to even sign their name. (Be sure to check out our DVD devoted to kolrosing). Blade is approx. 5/8" long.
Kolrosing Knife: $25.00
7.) DETAIL KNIFE: Has Broad
Applications For Doing Fine Detail.
The detail knife has a back-angled,
hollow ground polished edge, and a very sharp point. The
steel is the same finely hardened and tempered Swedish high carbon
tool steel as the Harley knife. The handle is shorter than
the kolrosing knife so it can be held either like a pen or in
the palm. We hand-turn each handle from our stash of beautiful
hardwoods - so each handle is an individual. Comes with
a wooden sheath. Blade is approx. 3/4".
Detail Knife: $25.00
I thought some of you would
get a kick out of seeing tools in process (here for example are
Harley Knives shown hanging on stainless wire) they've just come
from rough grinding and are ready to move on to the digital high-temp
austenizing salt furnace (for hardening).  This second pic shows a typical batch I do for the heat treating processes, it is shown after the martempering and tempering in the low-temp salt baths - and just after they have been washed. Next comes the most time consuming part - all the stages of grinding, polishing, handle making, fitting, epoxying, touch-up, final sharpening, testing, and sheath making - then.......finally on over to my darling Mary to pass on to you! Del In the left two boxes are various Hook knives, Harleys and Short Sloyds in the third, Sloyds on the right.  |
