Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mora 162 Crook Knife

When it comes to carving the inside of curved surfaces such as spoons or cups, a crook knife is a very valuable tool.

My main crook knife has been the Mora 164. Recently, I decided to purchase a Mora 162 and see if it offered any advantages.

Here you can see the two knives side by side. The main difference is that the Mora 162 (left) is sharp on both sides, and does not have the pointy tip of the Mora 164 (right).




The lack of a sharp tip is not an issue for me. I have never been able to find any kind of use for it other than to damage other equipment. I would say that the fact that the Mora 162 is sharp on both sides is quite an advantage. It might not seem a necessary feature, but when I started using it, I found myself implementing a number of very useful grips, which I had not been able to do with the Mora 164.

The knife itself arrived quite dull. I had to spend a good amount of time to get it into a working condition. I would not say that is unexpected from a mass produced cheap knife. The overall quality is the same as the Mora 164. The cost of the knife ranges anywhere from $15 to $20.

Something that I like to do with all my wooden handle Mora knives is to fill any gaps between the handle and the blade with wood glue. This prevents water from getting inside and rusting the tang.




I will switch to the Mora 162 as my main crook knife. I will keep you updated on whether or not it is worth the change.