Goodies from Denmark

I was pleasantly surprised today with a package from Denmark.  Jonas (the author of Mulesaw) sent me a box that included a big chunk of canvas and a bunch of slöjd knives.

First, the canvas:

That's a good chunk of canvas.

This sheet should be enough for four or five Roorkee chairs.  Jonas said he got it as surplus naval stores from some ship he worked on.  Probably the Black Pearl.  Maybe the Flying Dutchman.

The canvas is heavy, about the same weight as the tent we used to camp in when I was a kid.

Speaking of camping, if that tent was ever rolled up and put away when it was wet, it would smell to high heaven if it wasn't unrolled and dried out within a day or so.

Unfortunately, this canvas smelled just like that.

I unrolled it outside, hoping that it would air out.  After about five minutes, the smell had permeated the open windows and almost gassed us out of the house.  I suspect the package was exposed to some moisture during transit, as Jonas said it didn't smell when he sent it.

I really hope that the commercial washer at work will take care of it, as the material itself looks superb.

More on this later.  Thanks, Jonas!

I once mentioned to Jonas that I was considering getting a slöjd knife from Amazon.  He forbade me, as he said his dad has dozens of these knives laying around.

Here are the knives that were in the box:

I couldn't wait to check these out.

From what I could tell, there were three Morakniv #2's and two #1's.  All vintage, and all badass.

None of them had the modern company logo on them, but they all are different vintages of the same knife.  I'll post some closeups of the logos at the end of this post.  Perhaps some Swedish galoot like Bengt would have some info on the dates these knives were made!

The first one I pulled out was the one that was wrapped in cardboard.  I was surprised as I did not expect any of these knives to be sharp.  This one was sharp enough to shave with.

This thing is sharp!

Jonas said his dad runs them through a couple grits on an electric grinder, followed by a buffing wheel to give them a mirror polish.  I am guessing the eye-balled grinding angles are just what they should be.  Jonas' dad, after all, is a retired slöjd teacher.

A couple of the others were also sharp, and a couple of them were in "as found" condition.  I look forward to rehabbing them.  In fact, I already have the one rusty one derustifying in citric acid.

I originally wanted to use the champaigne glass in the back for this treatment, but the procedure was vetoed by SWMBO.

I already have ideas on where all of these knives will be used, and would like to publicly thank Jonas and his dad for their kindness sharing some old tools (and canvas).

I can hardly wait to put them to work.  I suspect they will make all kinds of chores easier, such as using them to clean up the inside curve of a Wierix square.

Here are some closeups of the knives with logos.  Click on each image for a closer look.

#1

#1

#2

#2 - I think this is the oldest one.

#2

#2

#2

#3

#3

#3

#4

#4 - the only obviously plastic sheath, but with a leather beltloop.

#4

#4

#5

#5

#5

#5

#5

I have no idea if the sheaths are original to each knife, but I have no reason not to think so.  I suspect that the sheaths change over time a lot more than the knives do.  If you clicked on the Amazon link, you will see the design has hardly changed over time.