Yet another fun little carving project: Whittle a hobo clothespin

This is another beginner-friendly crafts project.  All you need is a Swiss Army knife again.  For wood, I choose hazel, because it is easy to carve when fresh and dries out to be tough and resilient, due to the long, dense grain.  You want to take a piece that is as straight as possible and with no twigs or branches.  At a right angle, drill a hole with the awl of the SAK.  Widen the hole with your little blade or by using the saw. 

I made a little Video about it on the YouTube channel: 

The hole acts as a stress relief hole. 

Using your little blade, carve a recession, Equalizer on both sides, towards the end of stick. Use the big blade to split the wood towards the relief hole. Do not forget to lock your elbows to your sides. Lightly work the blade into the end grain.  As soon as you feel the resistance of the wood go down, your stick is split.  

Now carve a tear-shaped hole towards the end of the stick. Be careful not to remove too much material from the end. 

With a scooping cut, remove the thickness at the middle of the clamp. What this does is reducing the spring resistance of the clamp. 

Add a V- or stop cut for decoration or for fixing the pin to the washing line with twine. Add another at the end to cut the clothespin from the branch. 

And just like that, you have a little helper that can also come in handy for re-closing packages. You can carve these as a beginner in just half an hour. 

 With more experience, however, you can carve one in less than ten minutes.  

For me, that is a quick and satisfying project, especially when you have little time.  

So, I hope that was halfway helpful.  Thanks for dropping by, and take good care! 

Carving a Snapskuksa

It has been several months ago that I treated myself to a new kukså. Unfortunately the birch I was permitted to harvest was long dead and a bit rotten,  so all I got was a smaller burr. Cutting two slits above and below the burr I removed it with my carving hatchet. 

A bit of axe and knife work later (the Casström Sweden Woodsman performed admirably for the job,  by the way. I will give you the ins and outs on this really great knife soon), I got the blank roughed out. 

There was a lovely grain showing in that burr. I cooked it in sunflower oil and beeswax. 

Made one for the magical sorcery troll,  too,  and it was baptized the traditional way with a bit of Whisky in the woods. 

 It is a relatively fast project where you can try out the technique for a bigger Kukså. Already got started on several other little fellows... it is quite addictive... 😜 there is something soothing in sitting in the woods whittling away and making stuff you can actually use. And somehow sipping from a Kukså, big or small,  reflects that feeling. You have to try it out to be able to relate. It is somehow like a wonderful little ritual.  

Baton, don't break

Course we do. We do it all. And there are a lot of knives on the market designed for exactly that. 

Which means that they are, at best a compromise. 

I am talking about batoning. Of course, the tool of choice is an axe or hatchet if you want to split wood. Even better, a froe. If you have none, you always risk breaking your belt knife, which really sucks. Or you carry around a froe with a tip and a different handle, aka Survival knife. You can find some which are really great cutters, too, no argument necessary. But fact is, batoning puts a lot of stress on a blade. 

This is how I like to do it. 

Gently tap the spine of the knife so that a crack opens. 

 Whittle a glut or wedge. 

At first, insert the glut below the edge of the blade. The knife will then be easy to remove. 

With a controlled motion, using one hand to keep the wedge in the crack, turn it towards the top. 

Split the branch with the wedge. 

Now you have two halves, e.g for whittling a spoon. 

New bushcraft whittler in the making

 So far - so good, this is the new whittler for the woods. It´s made from ancient (150years plus) leaf spring steel I found in the woods, and bog oak from a coalmine in the Muttental, Witten, an ancient coalmining area. It has a rich burgundy colour due to lying submerged in water which was rich with iron oxide for more than a hundred years. I put it together with mosaic pins and a lanyard hole. The blade is 90x3,8mm with a selective temper, the hardness is about 58 HRC. It has a high convex bevel. The balance point is right on the index finger, making for a light and lively knife in your hand. The handle is a bit short, but I had to compromise this, because it shall ride in a pocket via clipper sheath.

Still a lot of polishing work and then it´s off for the etch.

Hope that brings out the pattern of the steel...;-) my other knives from this steel show a strange scaly pattern. I find it more interesting if a blade has a bit of a structure.

That little monster will get a clipper sheath to ride in a pocket or on the waistband of some baggy, comfy pants I love for being in the woods.

I find it fascinating to go to the edges (pun intended;-)) of knife design, and in this case it is experimenting with the relation between lightness, comfortable carrying and serviceable length. The knife certainly is not a big chopper, but is designed to be a little-everyday-task and whittling knife and a companion knife for a set.

A damascus knife for the magic troll;-)

 Originally this should have been a Chrismas present, but I messed up, so I gave it to her this weekend.

A short (85mm x 3mm ca.) damascus blade from Zwissler damascus, 15N20 and 1.2842, selectively tempered. Titanium bolster and a yew handle. Better photos will follow soon! And I am looking forward as to what sheath she will make for it...;-)