Crooked knives info please

[Sleepy]

Thinking about making a crooked knife next but I know very little about them, soo, here's the little I do know- may even be wrong but any info would be much appreciated;

They only have one bevel (only sharpened on one side).
They dont tend to have a full tang
The bevel is on the inside of the curve
The radius of the curve varies.

How do you sharpen one (after it's been made)?
Are they the same temper as a knife or more like spring steel?
Is there an ideal/general radius for what we do?

If anyone wants the steel part making, shout and I'll do a few at the same time for a couple of quid each plus post on the understanding I'm not an expert and won't offer any guarantees.

[RobbC]

Well the bevel can be on the inside or outside, my one is on the outside. But i dont know much about the construction of mine otjer than its an extreme curve. Hope this little bit of info helps.

Robb

[CanadianMike]

I went with this guide to make mine (incidentally, was the very first knife I made in over 20 years) made from a new 6" Nicholson file I think (been 20+ knives I've made since this):

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/61083_433860064206_510619206_4791367_581499_n.jpg

http://niftydeluxe.com/crookedknife/CrookedKnife.htm

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/47310_434496594206_510619206_4804825_29939_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/59059_434496634206_510619206_4804826_1492394_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/58589_434496674206_510619206_4804827_8331404_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/59489_434496709206_510619206_4804828_2593134_n.jpg

Has been since sharpened, needs more, and not used, I went on to making knives and not carving! Lol, and also rewrapped the handle with steel wire since the leather thread chaffed and fell apart. But is pretty good regardless, have to give it a good run at some point soon.

[Sleepy]

That was a thin file! I buy 01 carbon steel locally for my knives so no need to worry about files. The crooked knives I've seen have all had a much tighter curve, about 20mm diameter though I was thinking about a wider curve.

Thanks for the info by the way, it all helps!

[CanadianMike]

You are likely thinking of the hook knife or hoof knife then. I bought a Frosts Mora hoof knife and modified it, was found wanting and wasn't much good for many things. I have the Frosts hook knife with a circular blade on it, about 30mm I'd guess semi-circle, is mostly what I've used for carving bowls and spoons, works great when you can get an edge on it. But what I posted is actually a crook knife, and while I've made 90% of my knives out of O-1 steel, I have found file steel to get an edge just a bit sharper and just as easy to hone as O-1. But, as shown above, a file is easy to modify into that due to the narrow tail, but ya, you can do the same with O-1, just a bit more work.