I love woodworking. I have since I was a kid. But I have to admit, there are time when looking ahead to a project that will span several weeks or require an outlay of cash for material causes more stress than I think a hobby should. There are times when I think I just need to take a break when a hobby starts to feel like a job.

And so, I decided to just tinker around with carving. In particular, after watching some videos on spoon carving, it looked like an enjoyable way to spend some time.

I am not a carver, and I don't have much of anything in the way of carving tools.
Some years ago, I made a small chip carving knife and a small gouge both from O1 steel.
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I had some small scraps of black walnut laying around. Unfortunately all bone dry, but I figured it was a place to start.
No pictures of the carving process, I just split out the rough shape with a chisel as I don't have a hatchet at the moment.
My goal was just to have some fun whittling away without any sandpaper or worries.
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Ok for a first try? I'm not sure, but it was enjoyable.
Using the gouge to hollow out the bowl worked OK, but I could see how the hook knife used by spoon carver would be nice to try.
Carving the outside of the spoon with my one carving knife worked OK as well, but I could see how a longer blade would have made it easier.

And so the detour started.

Sometimes I think I enjoy trying to make tools more than I enjoy using them.
I still had some O1 steel laying around, and so I thought making a hook knife might just be a fun project after all.
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