macworm
18-08-2013, 11:41 AM
Hi all its been a wee while since my last post so I thought I’d do a small review of a new crook knife I bought. I posted this review on The Song Of The Paddle but thought this would be a better place as we all love making spoons lol. ;)
I’ve been working on completing spoon for a while, nothing special just practice more than anything. Now the tools I’ve been using are a Mora Erik Frost 106 and a Mora Crook Knife 162. The 106 is a great knife nice to handle and keeps a good edge but the Mora Crook knife I just can’t use. I don’t like the way it handles. I’ve sharpened it but I don’t get the results I expect, poor tool selection on my part me thinks it’s just not for me it’s a double sided blade so no pushing from behind I can’t get it to carve a decent spoon bowl. Well I changed woods got fresh green wood still couldn’t do it. So time to see if it’s the tool or the tool using it lol. I decided it was the tool holding the tool :evilgrin:
Well I came across a English knife maker I’m sure some of you will have heard of Ben Orford www.benorford.com (http://www.benorford.com/) I’ve looked at his site a few times in the past as I’m interested in leather work and his bushcraft knives, his videos on youtube are full of good tips on sharpening and other things. Well worth a visit for anyone. This time though I’ve been not well for a few weeks and have been off work so I decided to treat myself to a new crook knife and this time while looking for tips how to sharpen the damned Mora crook his crook knife really caught my interests. At first the intention was to sharpen the Mora and persevere with it then I watched bens video about his small crook knife and damn if I wasn’t sold there and then, seeing him using it and realising that the problem probably wasn’t the Mora but the choice of tool. So watched his video a few more times and that was that.
Now I’ve never bought a non-mass produced knife before as the knife makers who hand produce the beautiful knives (Ben included) are normally way out of my price range. But Ben’s prices for knife I wanted were very reasonable, a little more than the mass produced knives, and the most important thing of all was the wife said yes :happy-clapping::happy-clapping::happy-clapping:
The day after I ordered the knife there was the postman demanding my autograph for a package :happy-clapping:
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/1_zps246d9589.jpg
Well packaged and no doubting who it’s from lol
One of the things that really made the purchase seem very personal was the hand written compliments slip I’ve bought a lot of stuff and getting a compliments slip is standard but a hand written note personalised to me was a very nice customer touch. There’s other info like dates of shows they are attending and info about their youtube pages.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/2_zps15001d1c.jpg
Well here’s the knife unwrapped from the paper it comes with a protective soft leather strip over the crook blade. The elm handle has his one of his maker’s stamps burned in. The blade is I believe 01 tool steel. It comes with a nice touch of a reusable cover on the blade a thin soft piece of leather which very effectively covers and protects me from the extremely sharp blade.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/3_zpsd2e88caa.jpg
The knife unwrapped with a ruler to show size about 6 inches in length and a couple of pictures of the blade with makers mark.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/4_zpsc04d60f0.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/5_zpsa3ad9d26.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/6_zps40f253ea.jpg
Thought I’d show the new knife and the old for a little comparison shot. Not much in the length but big difference in the type of blade. Ben’s crook knife is blade down so you can see the back of the blade.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/7_zps5e5bdd5a.jpg
At first after I ordered the knife I was a bit worried that the handle would be a bit big as from the videos bens looks like a big bloke and looks like he has big hands as were I have small hands and he holds it comfortably so I expected to have trim the handle to suit me but after using it for a few days. I find it comfortable to use the little extra length in the handle suits me if I need a little reach. The handle has clean carve marks which give the handle way more grip than the very smooth clean Mora especially as if like me your hands get sweaty after a few minutes of work I find I get better more controlled grip with Bens knife.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0005_zps61754aa4.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0006_zpsc37c742f.jpg
Here’s the spoon as it is now the wood was flawed but I continued with it anyway as I liked the shape the wood turned the spoon into ideal for a lefty like my brother maybe I’ll give him it for his birthday or the Scottish Rugby team in the next 6 nations campaign were about due for one lol.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0009_zpsa023fadd.jpg
I’ve used the knife for a few days cut myself once with the crook knife hope she don’t like the taste of me blood.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/9_zps5cf6f1d0.jpg
Finished one spoon and restarted work on a half-finished ash one I'd given up on. The knife is fantastic to use and the blade is just the right size for what I make and skill level just now. The real test is how easy does it take an edge using a soft wood and a hard wood the blade has dulled but not as much as I’m used to with the Moras and all I’ve done to retouch the edge is to use my leather strop and the edge was back not as sharp as when I received it but still extremely sharp. I’ll have to get a dowel to really fine edge it. What I like about the size of the blade is because it’s small you’re not tempted to try to shave of massive chunks and the clean shave you get makes for less cleaning work latter on. I’d really recommend this knife as a first crook knife, small easy to handle good price and a really good website with lots of advice and tips to help you choose and use the tools. I can really see myself if the wife allows getting another maybe the left hand version or the small pick knife. I have children who I would be happy to allow to use the crook knife under supervision but not the Mora 162 as the blade is too long for their skill and control. Mind you after I cut myself with the Mora 162 the day after I cut myself with Ben’s crook the wife was on the verge of banning me from all sharp objects lol.
Well hope you find this useful and i really do think a look at some of bens videos are worth the time. I think good products and good service should be acknowledged so tipping my hat to a craftsman and his good wife.
Any questions please ask.
macworm
I’ve been working on completing spoon for a while, nothing special just practice more than anything. Now the tools I’ve been using are a Mora Erik Frost 106 and a Mora Crook Knife 162. The 106 is a great knife nice to handle and keeps a good edge but the Mora Crook knife I just can’t use. I don’t like the way it handles. I’ve sharpened it but I don’t get the results I expect, poor tool selection on my part me thinks it’s just not for me it’s a double sided blade so no pushing from behind I can’t get it to carve a decent spoon bowl. Well I changed woods got fresh green wood still couldn’t do it. So time to see if it’s the tool or the tool using it lol. I decided it was the tool holding the tool :evilgrin:
Well I came across a English knife maker I’m sure some of you will have heard of Ben Orford www.benorford.com (http://www.benorford.com/) I’ve looked at his site a few times in the past as I’m interested in leather work and his bushcraft knives, his videos on youtube are full of good tips on sharpening and other things. Well worth a visit for anyone. This time though I’ve been not well for a few weeks and have been off work so I decided to treat myself to a new crook knife and this time while looking for tips how to sharpen the damned Mora crook his crook knife really caught my interests. At first the intention was to sharpen the Mora and persevere with it then I watched bens video about his small crook knife and damn if I wasn’t sold there and then, seeing him using it and realising that the problem probably wasn’t the Mora but the choice of tool. So watched his video a few more times and that was that.
Now I’ve never bought a non-mass produced knife before as the knife makers who hand produce the beautiful knives (Ben included) are normally way out of my price range. But Ben’s prices for knife I wanted were very reasonable, a little more than the mass produced knives, and the most important thing of all was the wife said yes :happy-clapping::happy-clapping::happy-clapping:
The day after I ordered the knife there was the postman demanding my autograph for a package :happy-clapping:
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/1_zps246d9589.jpg
Well packaged and no doubting who it’s from lol
One of the things that really made the purchase seem very personal was the hand written compliments slip I’ve bought a lot of stuff and getting a compliments slip is standard but a hand written note personalised to me was a very nice customer touch. There’s other info like dates of shows they are attending and info about their youtube pages.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/2_zps15001d1c.jpg
Well here’s the knife unwrapped from the paper it comes with a protective soft leather strip over the crook blade. The elm handle has his one of his maker’s stamps burned in. The blade is I believe 01 tool steel. It comes with a nice touch of a reusable cover on the blade a thin soft piece of leather which very effectively covers and protects me from the extremely sharp blade.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/3_zpsd2e88caa.jpg
The knife unwrapped with a ruler to show size about 6 inches in length and a couple of pictures of the blade with makers mark.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/4_zpsc04d60f0.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/5_zpsa3ad9d26.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/6_zps40f253ea.jpg
Thought I’d show the new knife and the old for a little comparison shot. Not much in the length but big difference in the type of blade. Ben’s crook knife is blade down so you can see the back of the blade.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/7_zps5e5bdd5a.jpg
At first after I ordered the knife I was a bit worried that the handle would be a bit big as from the videos bens looks like a big bloke and looks like he has big hands as were I have small hands and he holds it comfortably so I expected to have trim the handle to suit me but after using it for a few days. I find it comfortable to use the little extra length in the handle suits me if I need a little reach. The handle has clean carve marks which give the handle way more grip than the very smooth clean Mora especially as if like me your hands get sweaty after a few minutes of work I find I get better more controlled grip with Bens knife.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0005_zps61754aa4.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0006_zpsc37c742f.jpg
Here’s the spoon as it is now the wood was flawed but I continued with it anyway as I liked the shape the wood turned the spoon into ideal for a lefty like my brother maybe I’ll give him it for his birthday or the Scottish Rugby team in the next 6 nations campaign were about due for one lol.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/DSC_0009_zpsa023fadd.jpg
I’ve used the knife for a few days cut myself once with the crook knife hope she don’t like the taste of me blood.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/macworm/Ben%20Crook%20knife%20Rev/9_zps5cf6f1d0.jpg
Finished one spoon and restarted work on a half-finished ash one I'd given up on. The knife is fantastic to use and the blade is just the right size for what I make and skill level just now. The real test is how easy does it take an edge using a soft wood and a hard wood the blade has dulled but not as much as I’m used to with the Moras and all I’ve done to retouch the edge is to use my leather strop and the edge was back not as sharp as when I received it but still extremely sharp. I’ll have to get a dowel to really fine edge it. What I like about the size of the blade is because it’s small you’re not tempted to try to shave of massive chunks and the clean shave you get makes for less cleaning work latter on. I’d really recommend this knife as a first crook knife, small easy to handle good price and a really good website with lots of advice and tips to help you choose and use the tools. I can really see myself if the wife allows getting another maybe the left hand version or the small pick knife. I have children who I would be happy to allow to use the crook knife under supervision but not the Mora 162 as the blade is too long for their skill and control. Mind you after I cut myself with the Mora 162 the day after I cut myself with Ben’s crook the wife was on the verge of banning me from all sharp objects lol.
Well hope you find this useful and i really do think a look at some of bens videos are worth the time. I think good products and good service should be acknowledged so tipping my hat to a craftsman and his good wife.
Any questions please ask.
macworm