My first book was first published 1999 in Swedish ”Hornkniven”, because of my desire to document experiences achieved during 35 years of antler handicraft, all the while curiously seeking knowledge from other knife makers in this specific subject. I believe that antler knives might be of interest to other people, not just Scandinavians. That's why I've worked to make a second book, an English version " Antlerknife". Erik O Bergland in Blue River Oregon, USA has been a great help in this effort by editing this version and also from his own knifemaking experience, giving me suggestions to the "right" technical words. 2005 I made a new book (only in Swedish) "Kniv & Kosa"
-Kosa: The technique how to make a ”Kosa” (wooden drinking cup) occur rarelyin bookmarket.
-Hornkniv: A new edition of the former (Antlerknife) with more and updated content.
-Fultangkniv: ”Fulltangknife” is a durable and functional knife that doesn't take that long time to manufacture.
There are a lot of ways of doing what I'm describing. In my books I describe my particular methods - the way I make these knives and ”kosa”. I have made the descriptions very detailed. That way, others can avoid the mistakes I've made because they will have more information than I had as an inexperienced knife maker.I hope my books will help to make the first step easier and inspire someone to try something new with familiar material, through the knowledge I'm sharing here. I also hope that this book can contribute to the understanding of the culture and the handicraft tradition that's intimately connected to the antler and the raw material in northern Scandinavia.
Ulf Avander