John Morris

I may adopt that design actually, with the hole, it'll be great for those on a diet.

Now we're talking, I think even Wille would approve of that.

You got me on that one. Born in 66, childhood was in the 70's and teens in the 80's, what time stamp is that reference too Gerald, I don't even know if re-runs were on for my generation.

No Gerald! That defeats the purpose of doing these, I am supposed to release myself of the worldly accoutrements that trap us into thinking we have to have certain tools to complete a task with this tradition. I understand the knee jerk reaction to make a statement like that Gerald. But, Wille and Jogge Sundqvuist wouldn't be caught dead carving a spoon or utensil and breaking out a measuring device, that's blasphemous in this work. Come heck or high water, I am going to learn spoon carving the Slojd way, with a tree, a froe, a hatchet, and a knife, and by hand and by eye, that's it. Eventually I'll get it! Thanks Gerald.

Dangit!! That's why we call it learning right! I'll hang this one up as a reminder.

Not necessary, I completely relate. Believe me, as far as I know I am not narcissistic enough to believe everything I post here is so important to everyone else!

Ok folks, it sounds like life is good here. Thank you all for being here. You all are the ones carrying this place, without you all, we have nothing. I can't think of a funner and more positive group of craftsmen, artists, and tradesmen to be around and I've seen quite a few forums in the last 10 years, and I can factually say, this forum has got to be the most mature of them all, rarely do I see an ego pop up, rarely if ever do I see a negative critique appear that is based on bad feelings, and everyone is very helpful. Not to say we have not had negativity here grounded in bad feelings, but we just didn't give that the energy it craved and it naturally left our presence. The old saying, ignore it and it'll go away, well in the forum communities, it really works. Thanks again guys, and gals, we need more gals! Thanks for being here.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, your photography, wonderful work! I bet @Gerald , our resident photographer would approve of your set up and lighting. Speaking of which, what did you use to shoot this?

Aaron, you are an artist with many facets, I really appreciate this work you are doing. I love history, I love our American history, and I love that powder horn. The writing on it looks dead on for the time period, the font is wonderful. And of course the actual work you put into it is too. Now that rifle, what a beaut! Hey Aaron, please stick around, don't go anywhere on us, you may be pleasantly surprised, for as my own interests expand, so do our forums. For the longest time I have wanted to be involved in Muzzle Loading and the building of those rifles, and all the events, and the crafts that surround that industry, such as all the accouterments that go along with the sport/craft. So I am seriously considering the start of a new forum here on The Patriot Woodworker for Guns, and then sub categories in that forum for Black Powder and Muzzle Loaders, Building, etc etc. And for the accessories and arts such as yours that surround it all. The two disciplines of woodworking and building the Muzzle Loaders, just seem such a great fit, and not too mention we after all are "The Patriot Woodworker!" So the Scrimshaw, on the horn, you mentioned it's ink. Can you tell us what the history is behind that? What would provoke someone to write on their powder horn? Did it come from our Revolutionary days and the soldier was bored and decided to start writing on his horn? And, did they or you carve on the horns? Thanks Aaron, love this type of work, thanks for sharing.

Hey Keith, this is the third or fourth topic you have suggested that book, and within those topics I have actually displayed that book as one of my bibles for this art-form. I am thinking you are not reading my topic all the way through. In this topic, if you look above, you'll see my review of the book you talk about, just raise your eyeballs above my "Gallery Album" I embedded in this original topic here on this page. Yes! That book is wonderful! It's right by my bedside along with his son's Jogge's book. Thanks again Keith for the book recommendation, for about the 5th time now. I'm laughing with ya Keith, not at ya.

That's not the first time that's happened to many of us Cal, just like picking up our very first hand plane and having a horrible experience with it, mainly because it wasn't set up right and not even sharp, and many of us just say the heck with it. If you had a beautifully sharp knife made for carving for your first experience, you'd probably be carving today. Try it again Cal! This time with good tooling.

I have been diving head first into green-woodworking lately and the carving end of this craft, and in doing so I had to start purchasing some knives. Based on the solid recommendation by Jogge Sudqvist, I also believe he is a spokesman for Morakniv, I purchased a set of Morakniv's. First off, they are very reasonably priced. In the green woodworking world you can spend upwards of 200 dollars for a hand made Slojd knife by reputable makers, they forge them and make the handles, each one with attention to detail. Are the more pricey knives worth it, I'd say so! The craftsmanship that goes into these knives is incredible. But, I am frugal, so I set out and purchased several less expensive Morakniv's to start off my spoon carving journey. Morakniv – A part of you MORAKNIV.SE Morakniv har varit en del av svensk hantverkstradition sedan 1891. En Morakniv är alltid tillverkad i fabriken i Mora med de... The Morakniv's are made in Sweden, and shipped to the states, you can find them on Amazon and other retailers, and they all sell them at the same price mostly. You can see a few of my Morakniv's in the image below. From the top one right below my hatchet, is the 120, then the middle knife is the 164 hook, and then the 105 at the bottom just above the froe. I also have the 106 and 122 and the 163 double edge hook. Each knife runs between 19 and 25 bucks, they are an incredible value, and they are the darlings of Swedish folks. The Morakniv's are to the Swedes, what Buck Knife is to us Americans. The Morakniv can be found strapped to the belt on anyone living in the suburbs and rural areas of Sweden, and young boys have them strapped to their belts as well. Here is a closer look at my Morakniv's. For the spoon that I recently carved I used three of the knives, the 164 hook that is to the immediate right of the spoon I used for dishing out the bowl of the spoon, the 105 that is at the far left for heavy stock removal, and the smaller curved 120, third from left for smaller curved work. Of course I used my hatchet to rough out the spoon blank before I pulled out my Morakniv's. As you can see there are sheaths for the knives, they are plastic, with a belt loop insert so you can pull it through your belt and carry the knife at your side for those bush-craft forest outings. The 163 slight hook at the far right came with its own leather sheath above it, that was nice. These knives come incredibly sharp out of the box, there is no need to do a single thing with them before you start carving. They are ready, and they hold an edge very well, I have carved three spoons and still have not even stropped any of my knives yet. The spoon below is my latest attempt, and I finally got something that resembles a spoon. This spoon is awaiting the finish, which will darken it up and hopefully show off what little grain it has, and provide a barrier for moisture and every day use. Morakniv's sheathed. I have been reading and using these two books for a guide into the art of green woodworking, spoon and bowl carving, and the making and set up of pole lathes. I have not began my pole lathe yet, but it's on my to-do list this summer. Here is my gallery of my trials and tribulations. And here is a nice video from a wonderful Slojd artist, reviewing the Morakniv 105. I have come to trust this carver at YouTube Channel Woodsmans Finest. And of course you have Jogge Sundqvist showing us all the knife grips at his YouTube Channel for Morakniv. He has a wonderful series for the Swedish Knife Grip Sessions, of which I have used about 5 or so grips, I am becoming very comfortable with these grips and really, there is no other way to efficiently carve than the Slojd way, it's amazing how well and efficient you can work with these techniques. So that's it for now, I am having a blast, it's fun just walking out to the backyard, yank a piece of green wood from the pile of cut limbs of our Chinaberry tree I pruned weeks ago, and just start woodworking. It's a very liberating and simple way to get back to our roots, and enjoy the fresh air. Thanks for reading.