Page 46 - Blade (February 2020)

WOODCARVERS |

The hook knife design of the Casstrom makes easy work of the bowl section on a
The hook knife design of the Casstrom makes easy work of the bowl section on a THE SLOYD KNIFE
the
of
knife
The
box,
blank.
spoon
out
basswood
basswood spoon blank. The knife came sharp right out of the box, though with a bit ofthough with a bit of
came
right
sharp
edge maintenance by the author it went from sharp to crazy sharp.
edge maintenance by the author it went from sharp to crazy sharp. ccording to Blue Spruce Toolworks
A(bluesprucetoolworks.com), sloyd is
a word derived from the Swedish word
slojd, meaning handiwork or craft s, and
a slojd knife could be considered a knife
made for such endeavors. Th e Teacher’s
Hand-book of Slojd written by Otto
Salomon in 1892 describes the original
sloyd knife as having a tapered blade
about 4 inches long and no more than
three-quarters of an inch wide. Th e edge
was straight and the tip came down at
an angle forming a blunt point—kind of
like a narrow, squared-off sheepsfoot or
wharncliffe blade. The handle was barrel

shaped. Blue Spruce Toolworks stated
that most contemporary sloyd knives are
not patterned after the original design.—

by BLADE® staff

company to nail a Scandinavian design,
and it does so with the Curly Birch Knife

($80 MSRP). The hook knife is spot on,
boasting good cross-section geometry and
mass, and the fit and finish are perfect.

I often hear people remark they don’t
care if their knife is “pretty,” they just want
Condor
a
The Condor Classic Carver has a trim
The
trim
has
Classic
Carver
thin
wisp-like
handle
handle and made nice, thin wisp-like it to work. If the blade is nice and shiny,
and
nice,
made
curls in a feathered piece of walnut. that usually means a smooth surface—
curls in a feathered piece of walnut.
which means a lower coeffi cient of
friction when passing through materials,
thus making it a better cutter. Hence,
“pretty” isn’t so bad!

The curly birch handle also makes the
Casstrom a looker—something anyone
would be happy to own. A nice sheath
completes the outfi t.
INEXPENSIVE HOBBY SET
To be fair, the Smoky Mountain Knife
Works Rough Rider 12-Piece Set is not a

high-quality outfit. Is it useless? No. It is
a good little hobby set—especially for the
price ($9.99 MSRP). I’ve used a similar set
for years on small jobs, such as inlaying a
sling mount on a gunstock.
Just for the heck of it, I actually tested
these knives on pine and ash for a small
relief-carving sample project. I had to
do some major power stropping before
I could get them to do any real cutting
as opposed to tearing. (Believe it or not,
softer woods are more diffi cult to carve

if your tool is not sharp. If your tool is

46 BLADE FEBRUARY 2020