Thread: What Are Your Experiences With "Mora" Hook Knives ?

Mine struggles on dry wood , it can still clean up a bit after a gouge though. I use mine on spoons and I think you would really struggle to do a bowl with one from dry wood. I'd suggest getting a large gouge as well.

Ah thanks, yes I had imagined it would find some difficulty in a hardish dry wood. Problem is I used to have a load of gouges but sold them all & hardly want to spend money on what is just a passing fancy.

Hi Mike,
Seems you not to keen on spending a lot of Pounds, well why not have a look at the Antique Markets, Tool Sales, Local Sunday Markets, as you are bound to find almost anything in Tools & most likely half the price of new Tools.
Just a thought.

Hi Isatree, I'll have to come over & have a look around over there, it sounds great ! I'm afraid you could look or years at my local second hand market & still not come up with a specific item.
I must admit I try to keep my tool kit down to a few knives, it's not just the money but a rather puritanical attitude to carving ! as well as not having a workshop , I very much like the simplicity ,the lack of clutter & the challenge of getting by with a few simple tools.I enjoy my carving so much more that way & have a greater sense of achievement than if I had the fully equipped workshop I had 15 years ago. For me it's he journey & how I get there as well as the finished product.

Mora uses the term "hook" for all of their knives which have a sweep to the blade.
The Scandanavian style design is a round/oval handle and the tang of the blade is seated in the middle of the handle. #162, #163 & #164.

For years I've been carving with pairs of Mora #171 Equus hook knives meant for trimming horse hooves. Inexpensive, rough tough steel. The bevel has to be ground down from 30 degrees to 12 degrees. 7/32", 5/32" and 1/8" chainsaw files with chalk get that done.
Various sandpapers wrapped around the files finish and maintain the edges. Pretty much the same process with the double edged Mora #188 Equus knife.
Any store which has horse tack and farrier's supplies will have these. Diamond (Taiwan) #271 are just as good and there are maybe 6 other brands on line.

If you would prefer a crooked knife in the Pacific Northwest carving style, the handles are anything but round and the blade is hafted to the underside of the handle. A very clear advantage in carving hollow forms. For examples, the best bladesmiths in the Pac NW are Kestrel Tool, North Bay Forge and Cariboo Blades. Also, I have 4 of the blades sold by Lee Valley. Out of the dozen that I have now, I'll select a knife with a useful sweep, the same as with any other gouges.

Yes, they are a chore to learn how to keep them all carving sharp at 12 degrees. Took me a long time to become consuistently competent (and to learn why.)

Thanks RV. , I hadn't considered hoof knives, I had a quick google search & there are indeed a few lower cost options there, although I've only seen them in fairly flat sweeps so far. The Pacific crooked Knives (although nice looking) aren't available here in the UK. so probably aren't a viable option after adding on import taxes.
Funnily enough I have just cut a small spoon bowl in a piece of scrap wood with a spey blade on a pocket knife - I will certainly experiment further on that tack, the process involves a very keen awareness of rain direction but an excellent finish is possible with care.

The nice thing about hoof knives is that you get sweeps all the way from #1 to #9 in the same blade. The scorp-like hook at the end is a real bonus. They are a right chore to change the bevel but once done, it's done. I tried 15 degrees and learned that the angle was just too tough a pull in wood. 12 degrees isn't as durable of course but the carving is easier.
I have found that blades with a very gentle sweep and a pointed tip are quite useful.
You make those out of hoof knives by cutting off the entire hook! Dremel and cut-off wheels, take your time so you don't cook the blade.

Did you know that there are little double edged hook/hoof knives meant for trimming the toenails of sheep and goats (UKAL/Supervet/France)? I did not know thqat. Best of all = $12.00 and I build a dandy little crooked knife. What's that? 5 BPS? Sort of the baby version of a Mora #188.

Of all the available PacNW crooked knife blade sweeps, the best general purpose shape is a 'J' shape. Lee Valley # 06D10.45 is an example, mine cuts as delicately as any. Also, I have what they label as #4, #8 and #11. They are made by Crescent Knife Works/Vancouver,BC.
Nobody seems to blink when I send Birthday presents to Britain.

AH! so the scorp like end is sharpened ,I see, that's interesting & would certainly increase their potential range of possible cuts.
Yes I noticed a goat toe trimmer on UK ebay ,as you say that would be delicate Hmmm......
The only problem I can foresee going this route would be that all of these trimmers are only available in Stainless steel, even though some are specified as "top quality Japanese stainless steel " I still wonder whether stretching the bevel to 12 degrees might be a big as for anything outside of a decently tempered carbon steel. Or am I just being old fashioned ? - I have a small Rodgers penknife in a modern stainless & it keeps it's edge better than the best of traditional high rockwell Japanese carbon steels but with non of the brittleness ! Mind you it's so hard ,even on diamond stones it takes ages to sharpen on the rare occasions that I have to.

PS. When posting here does everyone find that there are many missed out letters as you type ? It takes an age to constantly re-edit all the time.

Of all 12 of my "crooked" knives, the little UKAL goat/sheep knife was the very hardest steel.
Not sure what it is but not like any stainless steel that I've ever seen. More like the Mora.
Seemed like it took forever to get to 12 degrees. I cut the hook off and hafted it as a more typical J-shape crooked blade with a pointed tip.

The Mora #171 hoof knife blades are sharpened to 30 degrees, then bent, then hardened.
So the whole length of the terminal hook can be brought to 12 degrees. In a push cut, you can push on the blunt back edge of the hook for better control.

I think the Mora 171's are up to $20 each now. The Diamond #271 were about $18. The Mora #188 was about $35, possibly $40 now. That's getting into the range of the Kestrel blade prices. North Bay Forge won't sell just blades. Adze blades, yes (like Kestrel).

Seems to me that there's every liklihood of finding lots of horses, sheep and goats in the UK.
Farriers foot care supplies should be all over the place, particularly away from the major cities.