Hook knives, left & right

[Philip Davies]

Since it’s our company’s policy not to sell the knives we have been given, it sometimes falls to me to destroy them. Sometimes I simply put them in a vice and break them with a hammer. But they can fly off through a pane! When I have a fire going, I throw them into the flames, and when they are red, I bend them over. Last time I did this, it seemed to be a nice curve. Looking at it, I remembered seeing images of these hook knives, so it did not take long to harden and temper them. Putting scales on the tangs took rather longer. I still have a stock of rosewood,etc from school marimbas I salvaged once, so that’s what they are.
This was all just for fun, since, to be candid, I do not know what use they are. Is it the case that they originate from carving dugouts? In America, or Australasia? Somebody surely knows!