Best traditional blade for carving bowls

G

Gabriel Velasco

Joined
May 2, 2018
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70
If you can only have a single traditional blade - Wharncliff, Clipped, Sheepsfoot, Coping, Spey, Toothpick, Pen, Spear, etc, which is the easiest for carving indentations like the bowl of a spoon. I know a gouge or hook is recommended, but if you can only carry a single folder in your pocket, which blade, or blades would it have on it to give you a fighting chance at making a decent shallow bowl?

I've only started getting into it and my instincts tell me something rounded like a Spey. I've tried, with some success, to use a Buck 110 because it has such a pronounced curve at the tip. But, the big knife and blade are too unwieldy...for me at least.

I just picked up a Buck 373 Trio Medium Stockman a couple of days ago. I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I've got my eyes on a Case Seahorse. I also have an Opinel #8 which is surprisingly versatile. It has a gentle clip, a long straight edge, a convex grind, a very nice blade width, an extremely comfortable hand, a locking blade, and it's light weight.
 
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Well, I know from experience you can do it with a scandi ground Mora. I think the biggest factor is more being able to securely choke up on the blade for control and small movements, rather than an overall blade shape if you are trying to carve spoons without the right tool.
 
You can do it with a spey if you take your time and score out the bowl to approximate depth in a crosshatch pattern first. As you said, the rounded tip of the spey allows for digging out the bowl without gouging the bottom. You’ll need some sandpaper to clean it up, but it works.
 
Thanks for the tips. I have a mora too - a couple. I have a wood handled traditional woodworking Mora in carbon. I also have a Light My Fire firestarter, plastic handle in stainless. I like the feel of the wood Mora, but I've been considering getting the Mora Eldris neck knife for this reason. I wouldn't use it as a survival/camp knife. I like that it has a full sized handle on a very "choked up" blade, and the modified Scandi cut looks like it might work well for carving out curved surfaces.
 
The biggest problem using a pointy blade like a Mora is cleaning out the bottom gouge marks the tip produces. A spey would be much better for that for sure. My experience has been that a larger, pointy fixed blade constrains how small you can work. It's tough to clean out the bottom of a smaller bowl with steeper sides using a Mora. Spoons are difficult, as well and require sanding. At least, that's been my experience. But I'm a very causal hobbyist, not a wood carver.
 
I'm a whittler rather than a career, and making hollows like spoon bowls is about the only thing I use a spey blade for. When I make a spoon, the stockman comes out and the spey comes open. The one on the GEC Cuban works especially well.
 
Never had much luck with spoons but when I’ve tried a small round tipped blade makes it easier, generally it’s a pen blade.
 
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