Hello friends,

 

This is a new Davis Brothers knife, a Traditional Wood Carving Custom  #2 D bend (moderate bend on front) Crook Knife).  The shape of this special blade facilitates really fine shavings while also assisting more aggressive deeper cuts. The #2 Crook knife is in the medium-large range of the sizes we make, and is great for all around use, for both aggressive cuts and delicate shavings. It is especially useful for spoon and bowl carving because of the aggressive curve over the front of the blade.  It has a curved Honey Locust handle that feels great in your hand. The curvature (crook) in the blade allows the handle to stay clear and above the work in a way that a straight knife cannot. (Please see "Crook Knife Carving Tips" below)  Crook knives are a specialty in the Pacific Northwest and are usually pretty hard to find, mostly made only by custom knife-makers.  I'm pretty sure you won't find many, if any, others like this readily available. This knife was hand forged by a carver, for carvers, right here on the Pacific Northwest Coast.  We make a wide selection of Crook knives (or Crooked knives), Detail knives and Hook knives, as well as Chip Carving and Whittling knives. This crook knife is based on designs used by carvers for hundreds of years. Crook knives  are extremely versatile and will perform a multitude of tasks well.

SAFETY FIRST! :  Please remember that Crooked knives such as this are sharpened on both left and right sides so do not touch the edges of the blade. Please take care when removing from package. This blade is extremely sharp. Always be aware of where  you are cutting, and do not put hands, fingers or other parts of your body in the path of the blade.  Always wear a cut-resistant carving glove on the hand not holding the knife.  And please keep this knife safely away from children. 

AUCTION DETAILS: I make 5-7 knives each week and put them up for auction on Saturday evening starting at 5:00 PM. Pacific time. The auctions are staggered, with one every 10 minutes, to allow customers to view each one in sequence. The previous week's auctions are ending at the same time, with 10 minutes between to allow last minute bidding on each one. In addition to the auctions, each knife has a "Buy It Now" price to allow immediate purchase. The "Buy It Now" option ends for each knife when a bid is placed on it.

  

WORKMANSHIP:  Each knife is unique and hand crafted, with no automated processes used in the more than 30 machining, forging and woodworking tasks for each one.  Some tool marks may be visible on the knives. I do not attain absolute machine-like perfection, but strive to combine art,  beauty and utility.  The look and feel of this tool when held is beautiful, smooth, and inspires the work at hand.

  

BLADE:  It was made using 1095 high carbon blade steel, ground to shape then forged, bent, refined and hardened.  It  was then tempered to keep a durable, keen edge and is extremely sharp.

HANDLE:  The handle is Honey Locust, with a warm orange-blonde color and darker contrasting grain figure. Locust was one of the first trees transplanted here by the pioneers because of it's toughness and resistance to splitting. As a side benefit is the unusual beautiful color and striped appearance. I got this years ago from a friend's yard when a limb fell in a storm. The handle shape allows plenty of force to be used while still maintaining control, and is very comfortable in the hand. This handle works great with an underhand grip as well.  It is finished with hand rubbed natural Shellac and Carnauba Wax.

 

CONSTRUCTION:  This knife is 7 3/4" overall, with a 1 7/8” long blade that tapers from 9/16" over the length of the blade before coming to a point. The blade is set with epoxy and further secured with a traditional seine twine wrap, reinforced with Cyanoacrylate for added strength.

CARVING CHARACTERISTICS:   It is sized for medium to larger scale work, and can be used with a wide variety of woods and carving styles.  With a single bevel edge all the way around, this knife can be used with either hand, and cuts well either pushing or pulling. The D bend is moderately bent over the front half of the blade, and is a rendition to meet the demand for a  blade combining the qualities of both A and B bends. It is meant for use on masks, spoons, bowls, and small sculpture as well as general hobby use. It is great for relief carving and creating or finishing detail areas on larger projects.  It will also refine and finish those areas and can be used delicately because of the pointed tip.  The blade has plenty of strength for those tasks, but should not be used for prying.  For best performance, when sharpening this tool it is important to leave the back side absolutely flat (no bevel on back side). 

CROOK KNIFE CARVING TIPS - Small and Medium blades:  Every carver develops their own favorite way to hold and use each of their knives, so please use this as a guide only.  This is how myself and my brother have used these tools for many years. You may find another grip or position for the knife that works better for you. 

In general these smaller sized Northwest type crooked knives are made to be used in an overhand carving position (Please see carving example photos). The underhand position can be used on the largest knives to produce more powerful carving strokes similar to a drawknife, but the fine precision of finger tip control is lost. So for the fine details and small cuts with the smaller knives,  hold the handle in your palm with the curvature of the blade up. You can adjust your grip to maintain fingertip control towards the front of the handle (Please keep your fingers away from the blade itself, as it is sharp on both left and right edges).

Another method for very fine control is to use both hands on the knife. It sounds awkward, but works to give excellent control while still steadying the carving stroke. Hold the rear of the handle in  your hand and place a finger of two of the other on the front of the handle. Then you can line up the blade with precision while  exerting pressure with either hand. This also allows you to cut both directions with dexterity, even using your non dominant hand. 

SHARPENING CROOK KNIVES: Having been asked many times, I will share some suggestions.  In general if you have the implements to strop and hone gouges the same will work for crooked knives.  These knives hold an edge well and should go through many many stroppings before needing to be honed. 

Stropping the curved edge of a crook knife requires a curved strop. I use a couple that work great and are easy to make:

1) A closet dowel 1 1/4" diameter and about 1 1" long covered with smooth leather carefully glued in place.

 2) A smaller, 3/4" dowel, covered with denim cloth ( which holds compound well) glued on.

I use white polishing or buffing compound on both (available in hardware stores or online). You may already have a preference for a particular compound, if so, use it instead.

Strop away from the edge, not towards it, and repeat 10 or 20 times or until the keen edge is restored. Strop only the top side ( the beveled side) to maintain the flat bottom side of the blade. If the bottom of the blade needs stropped eventually, then use leather on a flat surface.

Hone the blade only when absolutely necessary, if stropping no longer restores the edge. Use only very fine or ultra fine abrasives. As before, they must be rounded or curved. I use ceramic files, diamond hones, natural Arkansas slipstones and waterstones. All work, but keep them very fine to avoid scratches on the edge. Once again, touch up the flat bottom of the blade only enough to remove a wire edge if it forms when honing. Follow up any honing with a stropping to polish the edge.

SHIPPING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE: I charge only what the Postal Service fee is on an average shipment for that weight, with no additional handling fees. I have several auctions running each week, and will gladly combine shipping to save you money. Wait for the combined invoice if you have multiple purchases/wins.   I offer a 30 day return policy and will personally work to resolve any issues.  I strive for Quality and Customer Satisfaction.