Wood carving and spoon carving, in particular, are super fun and relaxing activities. To ensure an enjoyable experience while carving, the proper tools will be required.
One of those tools is a hook knife that is designed specifically for easier spoon carving. It’s an essential tool for creating a deep and rounded bowl.
Because it’s a crucial piece of equipment for spoon carving, you should choose it carefully. You need to make sure to get the best spoon carving knife to ensure your safety and make your wood carving project effortless.
In this article, we will present you with a list of the 7 best spoon carving knives that are sharp, easy-to-use, and high quality. Along with the list, you can check out the guide that will help you choose the right spoon carving knife for you.
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Best Spoon Carving Knives – Reviews
Our Pick
Morakniv Wood Carving Hook Knife 164
We believe that you should always choose your knives carefully to make sure you get the finest knife for the job. This Mora knife is that kind of knife, and is in our opinion the best wood carving knife you can buy!
Mora is known as one of the leading knife manufacturers in the world. These Swedish knives are top-grade and last a long time. And this wood carving hook knife lives up to that standard marvelously!
It comes extremely sharp out of the box and goes through wood like butter! You will finish your projects in no time, having a blade as sharp as this. The blade is 2.2 inches long and .08 inches thick. It’s made of sturdy Swedish stainless steel that resists corrosion and provides incredible edge performance!
The single blade performs phenomenally with both push and pull cuts with both hands. You will be able to make precise, professional-looking spoons with this knife. Even the smallest details can be carved with it!
The handle is made of birch wood that feels fantastic in hand. It’s well oiled and has a good grip. The balance of the handle is fantastic, it allows easy handling and great precision when using the knife. It has an excellent handle and blade weight ratio.
What we really like about this knife is that you have an option to choose a left-handed version of this knife. Finally, a knife manufacturing company started giving some love to left-handed people, as many lefties carve spoons as well! This makes this knife by far the best carving knife for left-handed people!
You also have an option for ordering sheath if you need one. The knife comes with a limited lifetime warranty which is always nice to have.
This is the knife you buy if you’re serious about spoon carving! It sure is a bit more expensive than a few models out there, but the price is very well justified. You will get a knife that you can rely on, a knife that will make you spoon carve like a pro!
BeaverCraft Wood Carving Hook Knife SK1
BeaverCraft is the king of the budget wood crafting tools! They provide hundreds of excellent tools with a very affordable price tag.
This SK1 Hook knife is no different! It simply checks all the boxes and works great for spoon carving.
Let’s start with the blade. It’s made of hardened carbon steel and is very sturdy. It has a single cutting edge that comes perfectly sharpened out of the box. You can start carving spoons right away with this super sharp hook knife!
The blade also holds its edge superbly. You can get away with not sharpening it for days of working time.
The oak handle is excellent! It’s ergonomically designed and feels very secure in hand as well. The grip is great, with no slippage at all. The handle is balanced ideally with the blade, which is not something we expected at this price range and is a pleasant surprise!
Unfortunately, there is only a right-handed version of this wonderful knife. We would have liked a version for lefties as well, but we’ll probably have to wait for that. No sheath comes with this knife, but for the price, we definitely can’t complain.
Overall, you get an astonishing value for the price of this knife. It is for sure the best spoon carving knife for beginners and the best budget spoon carving knife on the market! You can’t go wrong with it!
Morakniv Wood Carving Double-Edge Hook Knife 162
This double edge Scandinavian hook knife from Mora works great for spoon carving no matter what hand you use!
It is unique because it has a double edge which is a rare feature absent on most hook knives. The double edge is a super convenient feature that allows you to use one hand for both pulling and pushing with no need to change hands! This will save you a lot of time and will make you finish carving your spoons swiftly and effortlessly.
Another thing that makes this double-edged hook knife great is that it can be used by both right-handed and left-handed people. It’s a great option if you have a family member or a friend that uses a different hand for carving from you. You can borrow it to anyone!
The blade itself is made of high-quality Swedish 12C27 stainless steel. It’s robust and razor-sharp. It will make spoon carving an effortless activity.
It comes perfectly sharped out of the box and has exceptional corrosion resistance. It should last for a long, long time and doesn’t require frequent stropping. The blade is 2.2 inches long and 0.08 inches thick.
The handle is made of birch wood and has a solid grip. It stays in hand with no slippage whatsoever. As we expected, the balance of the handle is on point! It’s a breeze to work with this knife.
If you prefer to have a sheath with the knife, there is an option for that as well. It’s a genuine leather sheath that matches the quality of this knife completely.
You can make beautiful and precisely designed spoons with this hook knife. It’s definitely in a higher price range, but the double edge is certainly worth the price. This is one of the best spoon carving knives on the market that will make you carve spoons faster and better!
BeaverCraft S01 Wood Spoon Carving Knives Set
While this article focuses on hook knives, this set from beaver craft is soo good we had to include it in our list. It’s perfect for both beginners and more experienced crafters and gets you everything you need to make beautiful spoons and to maintain your knives as well. It’s also very reasonably priced, as all of BeaverCraft tools are.
This set includes:
- A Hook Knife
- Straight or Sloyd Knife
- A Leather Strop with polishing compound
- Band-aids
The hook knife that you get in this set is high-quality through and through. The blade is made of carbon steel and holds its edge very well. It’s very sharp and works great for making nice and rounded bowls for your spoons.
The handle is made from sturdy oak that feels secure and has a great grip.
The straight knife or sloyd knife is a super useful addition. When combined with the hook knife, there isn’t much you can’t make with these two tools. The blade is made of the same carbon steel as the hook knife and is as sharp.
The handle is also the same wood as the hook knife handle, which is very comfortable and stays tight in hand.
The strop that comes in this set is a perfect maintenance tool that will ensure your blades are always performing great. Frequent stropping will make your spoon carving knives edge sharp and straight.
A really nice touch are the band-aids that come with the set. Hopefully, you won’t need them, but accidents happen, and they are always useful to have in hand.
If you want to carve spoons properly, this is a set you need! It will give you amazing results and will last a long time!
Narex 822104 Small Spoon Carving Hook Knife
This little spoon carving hook knife from Narex is a wonderful sturdy tool that will help you carve spoons with ease.
It’s super sturdy because it’s made of a special kind of steel. It’s a manganese alloy steel that is harder and sturdier than regular steel. This makes the blade super sharp and very durable. You will carve spoons as easy as pie with this knife.
The blade is suitable for both pull and push cuts but requires changing hands because of the single edge. It’s a 2-inch blade with a 1-inch radius curve. Blade this small will provide a lot of accuracy when carving. You will easily carve the small details precisely how you want with this handy knife.
We like the handle a lot! It’s made from European Beechwood and feels amazing in hand. The grip is secure, and the handle always stays in hand. It’s perfectly balanced with the blade and makes this knife a joy to use.
This is such a useful little knife for spoon carving! It’s a great addition to any spoon carving set and works great as a single tool as well! You can create amazing fine details with it!
BeaverCraft Hook Knife Wood Carving SK4s
Here is another BeaverCraft hook knife on our list! Their knives are so good and affordable we simply had to include several of their models in our list!
This SK4 is specific for its long handle. It’s very suitable for people with larger hands but doesn’t get in the way when used by a small hand user. It’s very ergonomic and stays securely in hand. It’s also balanced superbly and feels like a professional tool which it is.
The double-bevel blade is excellent. It’s on par with more expensive models and has incredible sharpness. High-grade carbon steel is used for the production of this blade. It’s durable and is well suited for both pulling and pushing types of cuts.
It works for softwood as well as hardwood and makes perfect deep-rounded spoon bowls with ease.
This knife is a great purchase for beginners. Not only does it have a large handle that is suited for less experienced crafters, but it also comes with extra ebooks that have some very useful tips and tricks for newbie woodcarvers.
It’s also very reasonably priced and is one of the best budget knives for spoon carving!
HUTSULS Spoon Carving Knife for Beginners
These HUTSULS knives are one of the best beginner-friendly carving sets on the market!
The handles are made of ashwood that is comfortable and non-slippery. You can work with it for extended periods without feeling fatigued. It’s also nicely balanced with the blade and is overall a joy to work with.
The blades are made from high-quality carbon steel. It’s super sharp for a spoon carving knife in this price range! It will be sufficient for most tasks like bowl cutting and such. The blade performs well on both pushing and pulling cutting motions but does require changing hands.
This knife also looks pretty stylish and would make a great gift as well! Especially for a beginner!
This is an extremely affordable knife kit, as well. We haven’t seen any hook knives in this price range at all, let alone those who are on par with its quality. It’s a perfect spoon carving knife for beginners that is inexpensive but high grade as well!
Spoon Carving Knives Guide
First, let’s focus on the spoon carving itself so that we can better understand what kind of knife is adequate for it. Spoon carving is one of the easiest types of wood carving. It’s the best beginner carving activity where you can practice and improve your carving technique.
Generally, spoon carving is done with two types of knives. The hook knife, which we reviewed in this article, and the straight knife or sloyd knife. The hook knife has, like the name suggests, a hook-like rounded blade. It’s mostly used for carving the bowl of the spoon and is perfect for creating deep and rounded bowls.
The straight or sloyd knife has a characteristic small length edge. It usually has a thin pointy tip and a hollow edge that is incredibly sharp. It’s very well suited for wood carving in general.
Now that we know a little bit more about spoon carving, we will show you the most important things to look for when choosing spoon-carving knives.
Blade
Whenever you’re buying a knife, you should always check the blade first. If the blade fails, then the knife has no purpose.
For hook knives, the blade should be short and very rounded. A radius of around 1 inch and above is recommended.
The best material for the blade is stainless and carbon steel. Stainless steel is known to resist corrosion better than carbon steel, while carbon holds its edge a bit better than stainless steel. Both materials are excellent for spoon carving, and you can’t go wrong with either one.
Another thing worth mentioning regarding blades is whether the blade has one edge or two edges. If the blade has one edge it’s usually a bit more beginner-friendly as it isn’t that dangerous. You can face the cutting edge away from yourself when you work with the knife and even hold your thumb on the flat edge to help the cut. With two-edged blades, this isn’t possible.
The benefit of two edge blades is that you don’t have to change hands when working with the knife. You can both pull cut and push cut the wood since it’s sharp on both sides. This will save you a lot of time if you have the experience to protect yourself from the blade that’s facing towards yourself.
Another benefit of the blades with two edges is that they can be used by both right-handed and left-handed people. A lot of single edge blades are designed for right-handed people only and are difficult to use for lefties. This isn’t the case with two-edged blades since anyone can use them.
Handle
The handle mustn’t be overlooked when choosing a spoon-carving knife. It’s an essential piece of the knife and is pivotal for the overall feel when using the knife.
The most common material for hook knife handles is wood. Different types of woods are used, although oak and birch are the most common ones. The type of wood won’t determine the performance of the handle.
What does determine the performance is the balance of the handle. If the balance is off, the weight of the blade will shift more to one side than to another. The perfect balance is achieved when the blade doesn’t tilt to either side when held with a single finger around the bolster area.
Another factor that determines handles functionality and longevity is the tang. The preferred one is a full tang. Full tang knife handles are handles that have the metal from the blade going through them all the way to the butt of the knife. Those kinds of handles are the most durable ones and the ones that are preferable on hook spoon carving knives.
Sheath
The sheath is a nice accessory for the knife. It provides safe storage of the knife when not in use. You can also safely carry the knife in your pocket or rucksack when it’s stored in a sheath.
Quality sheaths are usually made of leather. They look nice, are very durable, and hold the knife securely.
Plastic is also commonly used for sheaths and is a solid option as well. It’s a bit cheaper looking but does the job.
Q&A
What is a spoon knife?
A Spoon knife or spoon carving knife is a hook knife used to carve wooden spoons. It’s mostly used to carve the bowl of the spoon. With it, you can deepen and round the wood easily.
What tools do you use to carve a spoon?
Needed tools for the quickest and easiest carving of a wooden spoon include a hook knife and a straight or sloyd knife. A straight knife is used for cutting larger amounts of wood, and the hook knife is used for fine details and the bowl of a spoon.
How do you use a curved knife for carving?
A curved or a hooked knife is used in pulling and pushing motion when carving wood. If you have a single cutting edge knife, you have to change hands when doing the pushing and pulling cuts. If you have a double edge curved knife, you can push and pull with one hand only.
Safety Precautions
Hook knives are exceptionally sharp. It’s common to get serious injuries if you don’t take some steps to protect yourself. We will now give you a few tips on how to stay safe when spoon carving.
Wear Protective Gloves
One of the best ways to protect yourself is to wear specially designed protective gloves for knife cuts. These gloves will be sufficient to protect you from accidental scratches and serious injuries. They are especially good for beginners that don’t have experience with handling knives. You can check them out on Amazon here.
Don’t Carve When You’re Tired
Accidents happen when we are not at our 100%. When you are tired, you lose focus and your reflexes are slow. The chances of getting injured are 50% more than when you’re well awake. This was proven by studies done by neuroscientists and is a fact that should not be overlooked.
If The Knife Isn’t Sharp – Don’t Use It
Dull knives are often more dangerous than well-honed ones. Dull knives require more force to be applied and often get stuck in the wood. They cause rapid, unexpected movements that can cause very serious injuries. Always make sure that your knife is sharp before starting to carve, and you will evade a lot of injuries.
Conclusion
That wraps it up for all you need to know about the knives for spoon carving. Always remember to strop your knives regularly and wear protective equipment if necessary – safety first!
Choose hook knives only from established brands like mora and BeaverCraft, and make sure to get the ones that are sharp, reliable, and durable. All the knives we reviewed are perfect for spoon carving, and you can’t go wrong with any of them!
Now that you know all there is to know about hook knives, get one and start making those beautiful spoons and bowls!
