Hey, here's a quick unfinished scallop shell ulu I made the other day to see how well it would work.  I have seen ones made from clam shells before and having lots of these scallops on the beaches here I thought I'd give it a go.  All in all it works quite well and diced my carrot just fine!


http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000964_zpse4344c0c.jpg http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000964_zpse4344c0c.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000965_zps1177e6ed.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000966_zps88987560.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000967_zps92b0682f.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/lukewebb/P1000968_zps8e373d6c.jpg

:o
Amazing!
Goes rightly in the Index, too!
Greetings,
Mauro.

Looks really nice!

Have you somehow sharpened the shell or was it sharp enough by nature?

Teg wrote on Jan 10^th, 2013 at 7:24am:

Looks really nice! Have you somehow sharpened the shell or was it sharp enough by nature?

You've never stepped on one with bare feet....

In my best late night infomercial pitch voice: It slices, it dices! Chips chops shreds and juliennes.  Watch it cut through this can and it's still sharp enough to cut this tomato!

Well, maybe not THAT sharp but I put one into the bottom of my bare foot as a kid and needed stitches.

Very cool, I've read of some west coast tribes using shells to make arrowheads before. Its not often you see someone actually putting it to practical use.  8-)

That was a really brilliant idea, Luke.  Awesome tool!

 They are sharp enough when you find them, but you can just sharpen them up after using them a while by grinding, same way you would a steel ulu, sandpaper works great for it or just a sandstone.
 You could make a lot of variations of that, for example you could split a stick and lash the two ends together rather than gouging it out then tie it same as this one.  You could also simply  make a hole big enough for the hinge at the bottom of the shell and use pitch to secure it in the handle.  I would think you could even use wooden pegs as you can with a slate ulu.

Arcane Tinker wrote on Jan 10^th, 2013 at 7:47am:

Teg wrote on Jan 10th, 2013 at 7:24am: Looks really nice! Have you somehow sharpened the shell or was it sharp enough by nature? You've never stepped on one with bare feet.... In my best late night infomercial pitch voice: It slices, it dices! Chips chops shreds and juliennes.  Watch it cut through this can and it's still sharp enough to cut this tomato! Well, maybe not THAT sharp but I put one into the bottom of my bare foot as a kid and needed stitches.

Sorry, Switzerland isn't a maritime country (The Alinghi excluded  ;)). It seems that I lack of some basic sea shell experiences but when I read yours I think I'm not very keen on making them...

that's pretty good i like it.

Teg I'll give you one when you come here  ;)
Our ones are slightly different - they're knurled, but I think they may work as saws at least.
Oh and yes I know very well how sharpened these shells can be, I've got a scar behind my neck to testify it  :D
Greetings,
Mauro.

If that's a scallop shell, why isn't it scalloped? All the ones I've seen were.

 Not sure what you mean?  Are you referring to the shape or something?  It has a curve to it, just like a shallow bowl, but it isn't so much of a curve as to keep it from cutting up a veggie just fine or to use as a knife, you do get a very very slightly curved cut though.

All the scallop shells I've seen are ribbed or ridged, not smooth, and the edge isn't a continuous curve; it's sort of like a sine wave. It would give carrots a fancy crinkle cut.

 Ohhhhh I get what you mean, I've seen those.  Those ones are the tropical kind I think, this is all we have around here.  These kind get really big too, the biggest I can easily get would be about half again as big as the one pictured.

How hard are these shells? You can cut soft material but could you make an adze to chip wood?

There's a population somewhere in the Pacific that does it... I've seen their shell axes but can't absolutely remember who they are.
Greetings,
Mauro.

Chamorro people used giant clam or basalt blades on their tools.

Since the same resource was available throught the South Pacific, it was used in those regions as well.

the scallop shells I have are definitely not tough enough to cut wood.
And I'd definitely sharpen mine before use.

But I like the handle you put on that little bugger.

Might make one of those :thumb:

There were conch shell axes used along the Gulf coast and in the Flordia Keys.  And there are axes that look similar to your ulu, just with a longer handle.  Don't know what kind of shell it was, check out the Key Marcos exepidition.

Cohog clams i think is what the axes were made from they are big and thick hard to break

 Yes, the large clam shells were what was used for axes, but anything thick would work.  These are pretty thin, I would think you could maybe use it on wood somewhat but the edge would chip and break and flake off.  The thing about these is that if you aren't careful shaping them they will flake, as in a layer will peel off one side.  Makes it not much good for making jewelery.

I would gladly pay for some heavy clam or conch shell if anyone is willing to part with it.

 Something you could try is at seafood restaurants, they probably throw out all kinds of clam, mussel and oyster shells, you might just get some for free by asking.

For small stuff yes but not for anything large and sturdy enough to make a workable adze.