American Bushman

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing." —Benjamin Franklin

Friday, August 31, 2007

The Crooked Knife

Here's a tool I had heard of but didn't fully understand its usefulness, the crooked knife.

Kevin Finney, one of Briar Patch's instructors, pulled one out of his birch bark basket and I recognized it as a crooked knife but didn't realize that there was much use for one until he explained how it can be used for shaping spoons and canoe paddles as well as removing material for a variety of other wood carving projects.

The crook at the end of the blade is used to carve concave spots in the wood and the straight part of the blade can be used to strip off material.

Old Jimbo's got a page on crooked knives here.

I've contacted a couple of custom makers to find out if I can get my hands on a left-handed crooked knife as the right-handed model Kevin had was essentially useless to me as I couldn't even figure out how to hold it let alone carve with it.

Thanks for reading,


B

5 Comments:

At 9:12 AM, Blogger The Suburban Bushwacker said...

If you don't fancy the expence and wait for a custom crooked knife, i've seen a few ambi(bah!) both handed ones sold by the usual suspects.
SBW

 
At 12:27 PM, Blogger sam said...

I've tried making one out of a hoof knife - they come in left and right handed versions and you can probabloy order one from a farm supplier of saddler for less than $5

 
At 5:39 PM, Blogger The Suburban Bushwacker said...

i put you on my new blog roll
http://suburbanbushwacker.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-roll.html

 
At 12:57 PM, Blogger torjusgaaren said...

I have heard that the original crooked knife was beaver teeth. I'm not sure if I agree to that theory, but beaver teeth sure work well too. Would you mind putting up a link to me?

 
At 1:06 PM, Blogger American Bushman said...

Torjus,

Done.

I've been looking at some beaver teeth at Moscow Hide and Fur for just that purpose.

I've also heard that they were used for other woodworking projects. They were, after all, designed for precisely that.

Thanks,

B

 

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