Developing knife skills:

Developing Knife Skills: A Scandinavian Approach to Competence with the Blade by Jim Dillard.

When bushcraft students show up to class or camp, they are always anxious to begin to work with their knife. They want to make the things they have seen in books and magazines, and by the end of the week, they hope to have a fair level of expertise in knife craft.
Too often these are folks who do not have a solid foundation in the most basic knife handling skills. They may own a respectable collection of blades, but there is a better than even chance that they have never spent the hours of work with a knife that would give them the capability they need. And through no fault of their own, most of them don’t know how to go about gaining the experience that will make them the experts they want to be.
The answer to this is simple. With a little instruction and lots of pleasurable practice, anyone can develop a solid level of competence with the knife, and it can be done right at home. Once the time is invested, an individual can enter the bush with the knowledge that they will be proficient, quick and safe with their most important tool.

The Scandinavian Solution

For a great many years the Scandinavian governments and peoples have taken great pride in their knives and their ability to use them. Most of those governments maintain federal departments charged with encouraging traditional crafts, and although now a thing of a past, their public schools at one time offered manual arts courses centered around the use of the knife. The projects and techniques used in these courses can help turn most willing beginners into top-notch bushcrafters in a relatively short time. This article will take you through one of those projects.

The Tools

First, an admonition – there are all kinds of gadgets on the market that can keep you from learning the use of basic tools. Don’t use them. The only way to acquire the know-how you need is to work with nothing but the tools you carry with you in the woods. The chain saw and the angle grinder may speed up the completion of your project, but they will only get in the way of what you want to learn.
The basic tools you will need are ax, knife and crooked knife.
The ax should be one of a high quality such as those made by Wetterlings or Gransfors Bruks. These have a hardness of about Rc 57 as opposed to discount store axes, which usually have Rockwell ratings in the 40’s. Although most folks here in the Alaskan Bush tend to use axes with handles of about 30” because of their versatility, carving with handles of 17-19” or so is easier and a bit safer.
Since the main job of the crooked knife (sometimes called a bent knife) will be to hollow, you need one with a short, deeply curved blade. If you are going to hollow small items, the crooked knife blade needs to be no wider than 1/2 “ at the base and should taper to a sharp point. The narrow part of the blade near the point will let you reach into small places such as the bowl of an eating size spoon.
Although the above tools are essential, your knife will do 90% of the work, so choose it well. Look for knives with a spear, clip or drop point. The point shouldn’t be much above the middle of the blade. Blades with a big bellies and high points are difficult to carve with. A knife for an experienced user should be between 3 and 4” long. If you aren’t sure what length you need, go with the shorter blade until you know you’re ready for the long one.
Since most bushcraft work is done with wood, a full Scandinavian bevel is a must. Beginning carvers can get quite frustrated with convex or short secondary bevels. The reason is that with these bevels it is difficult to tell the exact angle that the edge will engage the wood. One cut may be too deep and the next too shallow. With the Scandi bevel, however, all you need to do is to lay the bevel flat against the wood, raise it a few degrees and cut. It doesn’t take long to learn to quickly judge the exact angle needed to make consistent, paper-thin shavings.
For beginning carvers it is hard to beat the standard Mora model 120 carving knife. It has a laminated steel blade with a hard core that will retain an edge, and its 2 3/8” blade is safe and easy to control. Even though I carry sheath knives with longer blades, I always have a Mora 120 with me for small carving projects. Most carving schools both in this country and in Europe require the 120 for beginning students. As you become competent with the 120, you might want to also use your regular sheath knife for part of your projects so that you can learn its full potential.

The Mora model 120 and a crooked knife with a point are two of the most versatile tools a carver can own.

Getting Started

You will be working mostly with green wood. Green wood needs special care so projects do not split as a result of drying too quickly, but it carves easily and is a pleasure to use. The special care will be covered later. For eating utensils a fine-grained wood works best. Here on Kodiak Island, the only woods we have that fit that description are alder and black birch, both excellent carving woods. If you aren’t sure which wood in your area to use, contact your local woodcarvers’ club. They will be glad to help.
For a first project try a simple spoon. Using safe ax practices, cut a piece of straight, green wood about 14” long and 3” in diameter. With baton and ax, split the piece end to end just slightly off center. Removing the center of green wood lessens the chance of checking (cracking) as the wood dries, so use the smaller side for the spoon. After drawing a spoon on the wood, use the ax to begin shaping the bowl of the spoon by rounding the end of the wood and notching at the rear of the bowl. Once the drawn handle line is reached with the notch, split off all excess wood parallel to the handle. Watch the wood carefully as you work. If at any time the wood begins to check (most likely on the ends) simply dip it in water.

After notching behind the bowl, split off the excess wood with axe and baton.

Once the roughing with the ax is complete, the fun begins. Use your knife for final shaping and finishing. In tight corners such as where the bowl joins the handle, choke up on the back of the blade and use only the tip. Force yourself to learn to use every inch of the blade to its fullest potential. You will eventually be amazed at the versatility of a well-designed blade.

When carving in tight corners, use only the tip of the blade.

Contrary to what your mother once told you, almost all carving of smaller projects should be toward you. With the edge pointed toward your body, use your thumb to pull the knife through the wood, keeping the thumb to the side of the path of the edge. This way the blade will only travel a few inches instead of the wide and dangerous sweeps associated with carving away from you.

Cutting toward yourself by pulling with your thumb is safe because the blade will only travel a few controlled inches per cut.

While carving your first project, work slowly and observe the edge as it enters the wood. You will find that cutting at a slight angle to the grain direction will make chips that are smooth and easy to pare off. A standard rule is that if the wood begins to split or the blade gets stuck, cut from another angle.

By carving at a slight angle to the grain, chips will come off smooth and clean. Carving parallel to the grain (shown by arrow) the knife will get stuck or will split the wood.

Once the outside of the spoon has been completely carved, you are ready to hollow. If you must leave it over night before hollowing, take precautions to prevent checking (cracking) by dipping the piece in water and storing it in a plastic bag. If you are in the woods, use the old Alaska Native technique of packing it in wet moss or wet grass until the hollowing begins.
Draw a line just inside the outer rim of the spoon bowl. Make it about 3/16 of an inch from the edge. Then using the crooked knife palm up (with the blade closest to your little finger) hollow all around the bowl moving from the rim to the center. By hollowing toward the center, there will be no chance of chipping the edge of the bowl. Once you have carved a half-inch deep or so, you can hollow in any direction without damage to the spoon’s rim.

Always hollow toward the center until the cavity is at least a half-inch deep. This will insure that the knife doesn’t slip and cut the edge of the spoon bowl.

Once hollowed, the inside of the spoon bowl should be sanded, but sanding is best done with dry wood, so the spoon needs to cure first. Slow drying can be achieved by placing the spoon in a plastic bag. Overnight, moisture will leave the wood and condense on the inside of the bag. Each day turn the bag inside out and place the spoon back inside. This lets the moisture evaporate from the wood a little at a time. If the bag is not turned on a regular basis the moisture will cause the wood to mold.
Once moisture no longer forms on the inside of the bag, the spoon is ready to be air dried for a week or so at room temperature. A more traditional drying method is to wrap the spoon in wet moss and let the entire bundle dry slowly in the shade. When the wood is dry, sand the bowl of the spoon, oil with cooking oil or a hardening food-safe oil and use.

The Next Project

After completing the first project, challenge yourself with more complicated designs of spoons, bowls and other utensils. Patterns for projects can be found in an excellent book titled Swedish Carving Techniques by Willie Sundqvist. Although this book is currently not in print, it can be found in most libraries. Examples can also be found by searching the internet with the words “Scandinavian crafts.”
With each project you will become more competent and more at ease with your tools. I have never known a bushcrafter or woodsman who, after completing several dozen such projects, wasn’t totally competent with the knife. Because no job in the woods is more complicated than making a fine ladle, skill gained doing traditional Scandinavian woodcraft will enhance every aspect of outdoor knife use.

After completing several dozen traditional Scandinavian wooden ware projects with hand tools, the average bushcrafter will have the skills needed to do just about any knife job the wilderness requires.

Once a high level of knife skill has been achieved, projects such as this camp-made leister will be a breeze. Although an axe and a gimlet were used in making this effective fish getter, the knife did 90% of the work.

The bushcrafter’s reward. Food gathered with devices you made cooks in a wooden boil box and will be served with a newly carved ladle. All items made in camp with simple tools.

Need a Sheath? Make Your Own! by Jim Dillard

A hand made sheath will last for years, and by making your own you will have an unlimited choice of options.


I wear a sheath knife all but a few days each year, and that presents a problem. Even though a good knife may last a lifetime, most factory sheaths have only a few years of daily use in them at best, and it is difficult to find a replacement that is a good fit for a particular knife.
True, there are some excellent custom sheath makers out there, but often their work will set you back more than the cost of a good working knife. The answer – make your own.
Another reason to learn to make your own sheath is the project knife. A large number of knife fans enjoy purchasing a kit or blade and putting together a knife that suits their own needs. But again, once the project is finished, it is often impossible to find a safe, durable sheath that is a good fit and actually looks good with your new knife. With a little practice, you can produce a quality sheath that will be equal to or better than one that comes with even a high-end factory knife.

The Project

My most recent project started with an Enzo blade from Ben’s Backwoods. The Finnish made Enzo is a high-quality blade that comes in O1 or D2. It is available either in a kit or as a blade only. I opted for the D2 because it is one of my favorite blade steels and has a hardness of Rc 61. And because my home area provides a wealth of natural handle materials, I decided on the blade only.
The blade was handled with reindeer antler that came from a feral herd that roams the south end of Kodiak Island, and it was finished with an inlay design that appears on ancient petroglyphs found in my home area.



Getting Started – The Sheath Liner

A hard sheath liner not only makes the sheath last longer, it adds a clear element of safety. Some makers prefer to carve sheath liners from soft wood such as pine or basswood. Making a sheath liner from hardwood only takes a little longer and will be much more durable.
Be sure to use wood that is not prone to splitting. For instance, although all varieties of oak are hard, most tend to split. My favorite liner wood is hard maple. It holds up well and the fine, consistent grain makes it easy to carve. Since a liner only requires small pieces, all the wood you need can usually be had for free from the scrap bin of your local cabinet shop.
The process is an easy one. Clamp the liner wood to a table or workbench and trace around the outline of the blade. Next, follow the outline with the tip of a small knife pushing straight down into the wood. This is known as a stop cut and will keep you from cutting past the drawn outline.



Carve deep enough to fit the blade and a little extra. A depth of the thickness of the blade plus 20% more is about right. Try the blade frequently as you carve to insure a good fit.



The next steps must be followed in sequence. Draw a line about 1/8” outside the carved area and cut along this line with band saw or coping saw (the line is shown in red ink in the photo). Then using wood glue, glue this piece to another board and clamp overnight. Saw out the shape of the liner using the carved piece for an outline. At this time the thickness of the liner should also be sawed to about 1/8” to 3/16” on both sides of the blade.



Now chamfer the opening of the sheath with the tip of your knife. This is an essential step. When the knife is put into the sheath, the chamfered opening will funnel the tip of the knife down into the liner. If this is not done, the blade may either catch on the top of the liner, or it may cut through the side of the sheath leather.



Finally, carve the outside of the liner to a round, smooth finish. Sanding is not necessary because the leather will cover up minor surface irregularities.



The Right Leather

The leather you use must be “bark tanned” or “vegetable tanned.” These leathers can be easily wet formed. Most sheaths are made of 6 or 7 ounce leather, with traditional Scandinavian sheaths made of about 3 ounce stock.
Small quantities of leather can be purchased from most knifemaking suppliers. Since I make a number of sheaths for gifts and for trade, I purchase a half hide at a time from Muir & McDonald of Dallas, Oregon. They have been tanning quality leather since 1863, and by purchasing in quantity I can save about half the usual cost. The sheath featured in this article had a total cost of about $3.00.



Choose Your Own Style

By making your own, you give yourself the choice of a sheath style that you like best. Most factory models are made with a belt loop which is an extension of the back of the sheath. The dangling Scandinavian models attached to a cord or outside belt make really good sense in winter when otherwise your knife would be under layers of clothing.



For the Enzo knife I chose a “high-ride” sheath style. I prefer this style in the summer because it keeps the knife out of the way while sitting on the ground or in boats or small planes.



Molding the Leather

At this point it is a good idea to make a paper pattern. Place the knife in the liner and form the paper around them. It makes handling easier if you tape the knife handle to the carved liner. Remember that due to the thickness of the leather, it will take a piece of leather larger than the paper. I like to leave at least 1 1/2” extra. It is better to trim off a little leather than to have to start over.
Transfer the pattern to the leather and cut. Be sure that your pattern is laid out in a manner that puts the smooth side of the leather on the outside, unless you are going for a period or rustic look such as the sheaths in the following photo, in which case you will want the rough side out.



Next, soak the leather in water or rubbing alcohol. I prefer alcohol because cuts down the molding and drying time to about half of using water. When the leather is limp, it is time to form it around the knife and liner.
If your handle material or finish is prone to staining or damage by the alcohol, be sure to wrap the knife with kitchen cling wrap before starting this step. This will keep the handle dry during the rest of the process.
If your purpose is to duplicate a typical factory sheath, simply take the leather out of the soak and holding it in your hands, form it around the knife and liner. In most cases the leather should be brought together along the edge of the blade. Since I opted for a compact hip-hugging style of sheath on this project, I put the leather on a cutting board and formed it with the back of the sheath as a flat surface.



It is important to work the leather around the handle. Keep forming the leather against the handle with your fingers until it stays on its own. A good job here will result in a snug fit that will hold the knife in place even when the sheath is upside down.






Drying Time

While the leather is drying, you will need to either clamp the two edges of the leather together or, in this case, weight them down to keep them from curling. Be absolutely certain the clamps or weights are placed only on the EXTRA leather. If anything is placed on the wet leather, it will leave a permanent impression, so clamp only the leather that is to be trimmed off.
Let dry over night at room temperature. Then remove the knife and liner and let dry another day or two. This can take longer if you used water.

Sewing

Due to the high-ride design I chose for this sheath, the belt loop on this sheath is made of a separate piece. No matter which style you choose, glue the belt loop to the back of the sheath using rubber cement. When dry, draw lines where you want the stitching to run.
There are two high wear areas where even heavy thread is likely to wear through. These are the back of the sheath and the inside in the handle area. This wear can be completely avoided by inletting the thread below the surface of the leather. The inletting can be done with a small woodcarver’s “V” tool, or since I am more used to having a knife in my hand, I use the tip of a very sharp blade to cut a groove the depth of the thread.



Once the grooves are cut, mark the stitching holes. This spacing can be marked with a ruler, or for a few dollars you can buy a stitching marker that will save time. An inexpensive stitching marker is pictured in the above photo.
Since this leather is too heavy to push a needle through, use a small drill to drill the marked holes. Although a 1/16” drill bit makes the job easier, a smaller number 58 or 60 wire gauge bit will make a hole small enough that it will grip the thread.
Using a needle with a fairly large eye such as a common embroidery needle, stitch the holes with waxed, nylon leather thread. If you have used the smaller drill bit, you may need to use pliers to pull the needle through the holes.
Once the strap is sewn on, glue the sheath liner to the inside of the sheath. Be sure to have the knife in the liner while gluing to assure good alignment.





Finishing Up

The process from here on is pretty obvious. Mark and drill holes on the outside of the sheath. Stitching can be in a simple straight line, or create geometric patterns within parallel rows or stitching as in the following photo. Be creative.



At this point, you have the option of using a leather dye or leaving the leather a natural color. Then embellish the leather with your own personal designs if desired. The ocean theme on my knife handle was carried over to the sheath by burning seaweed on the sheath using a common woodburner.
Last, sand and burnish the exposed edges of the leather and coat the sheath with a waterproof finish, either lacquer or acrylic. Then do the final stitching.

A sheath made in this manner will give you years of service, and of course for the average knife enthusiast, there are few things more satisfying as making your own.

Book Review -The Foragers Harvest by Samuel Thayer

I had to do a quick review/plug of this book...


The Forager's Harvest by Samuel Thayer

I have been learning and using wild edibles for the past 10 plus years and have slowly added different field manuals and books to my collection. When starting to use wild edibles most people find themselves with a field guide of the Peterson type which is great for identification most of the time, and this type of book also has some description on uses of plants. Most of the "field guide" type books I have looked at have very similar information and the suggestions on actual use is kinda lite. Never the less the field guides are where most people start learning.

The Forager's Harvest is a different type of book and I am kicking myself for not buying one years ago. This dude is the real deal. Sam writes from a perspective of a forager who actually eats what he collects, and not only eats but cans, drys, and processes edibles for year round use to make up a good portion of his diet! One example is he says he collects 500 pounds of wild rice a year from a canoe!

I have found much useful information in this book that I have not found in any other wild food book such as info on digging sticks, berry hooks, and blickeys. Sam also busts myths about wild foods that are propagated in most other wild food books. One example is of how bitter common milkweed is, it is recommended in most books to boil it in 2-3 changes of water or not to even eat it at all. This is bogus as the common milkweed is not bitter and I have been eating several parts of it for many years by boiling it once!

I may stock this book in the future and his new book due out this fall which I cant wait to get my hands on....check out his site http://www.foragersharvest.com/

Fire Skills with Ferro rods and Firesteels part 1

Fire is the most important skill and tool in the outdoors. I have read countless stories of people caught in survival situations who could not make fire and spent many miserable nights without one. Best case is your miserable and cold, worst case is you dont have a pulse anymore. Mastering fire skills to the point where you can light a fire at any moment in any weather condition will give you a great sense of self reliance and safety.

Learning to use a Ferrocerium rod or firesteel is a very good step towards mastering fire. These tools are more reliable than matches or a lighter but require a bit more skill in use. Your goal is to reach a skill level where you are as comfortable lighting a fire with a ferro rod as you are with matches or a lighter.

The first time you use a ferro rod type firestarter more than likely you will be scraping erratically throwing sparks at a big pile of tinder and because you are not stable you will knock the tinder pile out of the way while you are trying to throw sparks at it.This can be very frustrating , but with some practice and proper technique you can be successful every time. Here's How...

Controlled scraping action with a proper scraper.

For a scraper I stay away from using the cutting edge on my knives, this works well but is hard on your knife blade. In general you will need a hardened piece of steel with a squared edge on it. The spines of many knives can be squared off as in "Fine Tune Your Mora Part 1". The harder the steel the better, carbon steel blades work better but a good tempered stainless will also work. A cheap carbon steel hacksaw blade is what I would recommend for learning. Make sure it is carbon steel and break off a 3" piece and grind or file down the teeth....you are after the high tempered steel just beyond the teeth.

Scrapers I use on a regular basis are the backs of the saws on my swiss army knives , the spine on my mora knife and a piece of a hacksaw blade.(you can also use the hacksaw blade with a hard rock to produce sparks for "flint and steel firestarting")

Now that you have a good scraper you will want to practice getting good sparks off of your rod with it. Take your scraper and set it against your ferro rod at a 90 deg. angle. You should be able to scrape this back and forth with no sparks and not much friction. Now angle the scraper away from you just a bit while scraping until it bites into that ferro rod. Keep an eye on the angle it bites best into your rod. Now you can put some pressure on the scraper with the correct angle and a slow scraping action and you should be able to scrape off some fine ferro shards without any sparks ( these shards can be added to your tinder if needed for some extra boost).

Now increase the scraping speed and pressure a bit you will produce nice controlled hot sparks.

These instructions may sound a bit overdone, but the point is to get you comfortable with producing constant hot sparks with a slow controlled action.

Good quality Tinder
Good quality tinder is a must for learning and well worth keeping on hand at all times. For the beginner I would start out with 100% cotton , cotton balls or q tips. Fluff these up a bit and throw some sparks at them, they should catch real easy. To make the cotton balls and q tips burn longer you can rub some petroleum jelly into them to act as a fuel. Magnesium bars are just about bullet proof for starting fires. They are not quite as easy to use as cotton balls, but because the magnesium will burn even if it gets wet makes it one of the best "back up" tinder's to have. Its best to have a decent pile of magnesium shavings on top of a coarser tinder pile or mixed in with a "harder to light" tinder ready to catch the flame. Or light a feather stick from the fast burning flame the magnesium puts out.

Good tinder's include cotton balls , q tips , magnesium block , Wet fire tinder and the Fire Fixins tinder kit.

Stability of your firestarting
You need to be stable in this whole operation and it is a good idea to find something solid to push against with your ferro rod. A log , stick , rock or even hard ground works. You can also hold your scraper still and pull the firesteel away from it in a quick action to throw good sparks, but this is not as controlled or accurate and is best used with "easy to light" tinder bundles. Holding your ferro rod against something solid with a slow controlled scrape will produce the most concentrated controlled sparks capable of lighting course tinder such as the small curls on a feather stick. Another trick is to hold your tinder against your scraper with a good grip and just run your scraper over the ferro rod. This takes care of the stability problem and is nice when its hard to find a dry surface to stable yourself with.This also works well with properly carved feather sticks to create a "match"

Holding your tinder behind your scraper as you throw sparks works well with certain tinder's and gives you a "match" to light your fire with.

Fluffed up cotton swab, and a fluffed up twine from the fire fixins ready to catch a spark.

Fire Fixins "match"

From this point if you are a good boy scout you will have your fine kindling, feather sticks , etc. ready to be lit with this match.

I hope this will be helpful to get started on using ferro rods for your firestarting needs. Once you get some practice doing this it will become a very reliable way of starting a fire.

In part 2 I plan on covering natural tinders and lighting feather sticks with a ferro rod.....thanks Ben