Wednesday 17 April 2013

Sharpening that tricksy hook knife.

Some years ago I wrote a brief tutorial about 
I have had a few enquiries on the subject recently, so I thought I would take the opportunity to add an update.
These little blighters need to be kept super sharp, especially when finishing a carving.


 You can get your knife super sharp by employing a few bits of Wet 'n' Dry.
( silicon carbide )
Give Matthew a call at 
He'll sort you out with any questions.
At the moment I'm using a couple of different grit sizes.
P 1000 and P 1200


These seem to work for me.


I use hooks made from Silver steel and 52100 Bearing steel, very tough.
I also have a piece of leather, it's suede, probably not as good as smooth leather for this job, but again, it works.
I have a dowel that can be wrapped with either the silicon carbide or the leather.


I can fettle the internal part of the hook using the dowel.


And then, with the leather and some stropping compound, polish up.


Use a strip of silicon carbide on a flat board for the external.
And then strop.


With a bit of practice I now manage to get my hooks scarily sharp.




Enjoy.
J;-)



Tuesday 16 April 2013

Alan Spoonmaker.

Alan came to visit a couple of years ago.
Over two days we sat in the garden under the Westcountry sun, as I took him through the folk art of Kuksa carving.
We worked with Axe, Knife and Hook.
Alan went home inspired and has worked very hard to gain and improve his skill set over the past two years.
I am impressed.
He is now an accomplished carver who has taught spoon carving at the local boarding school.















Some super, imaginative shapes.
I enjoy the curving flow of his spoons in profile.


 More of Alan's splendid work can be found on Face Book...



Alan can also be contacted through his email at...
alanspoonmaker@gmail.com

Enjoy.
J

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.  I have been carving Kuksa from green Birch for 15 years or so, I’m self taught. From the beginning, I limited mysel...