Knorkoon: the All-in-One Travel Utensil

That's the "K-Nork-Oon" for those of you curious of its pronunciation.

The idea for this began when I made a stop in a local outdoors store and saw the Light My Fire Spork. Naturally, I didn't want to pay the price markup for something I thought I could make on my own with things I already have.

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Materials & Tools

You will need the following materials:

(1) metal spoon
(1) metal fork
(1) package J-B Weld two-part epoxy

You will need the following tools:

(1) Dremel rotary tool
Cutting Wheels
Tungsten Carbide Cutters
Grinding Stones
(1) Bench Vise
(1) Metal File
(1) Permanent Marker

Just a friendly reminder: Always know the proper use of any of your equipment - read any manuals and take all safety precautions. Safety glasses are recommended in just about any endeavor including tools, so if you think you need them, WEAR THEM. I am not responsible if you hurt yourself attempting this project and I hope you don't.

Draw Removal Lines

Now is time for you to decide how much of the original fork and spoon you want to keep. Personally, I find that the tines on the fork are far too long for keeping in a packed-full backpack so I'm trimming them down quite a bit.

Then decide how much of the handle you want to remove. Bear in mind that these are going to get epoxied together so make sure the parts of the handle that are left are about the same length.

Also, I decided to carve out a bottle opener behind the tines of my fork since, well, who knows if I'll need it. Better to have it than not, and I'm not too troubled about it affecting the structural integrity of the fork.

Cutting

Clamp the utensils in the vise to steady your work and go at it. Use the cutting wheel for cutting the tines off and for removing the excess handle.

Then use the tungsten carbide cutter for removing the bottle opener. You can also remove a good majority of it with a drill and steel drill bit if you have them.

Create a Knife Edge

Take a look at the first picture and notice the serrations on the knife. This is just a plain dining knife and it's not very sharp. We want to recreate the serrations on this knife on the edge of the fork.

Using the cutting wheel, make little serrations along the edge of the fork (do it on the edge that doesn't have the bottle opener on it). Next, use the grinding wheel to shave a slight angle into the edge - not too much though, as you don't want to cut your mouth when you use the fork.

Flatten the Handle Remnants

Using the vise to hold the handle remnants, bend the handles until they're flat. Depending on the utensils you're using this can either be pretty easy or quite hard if yours have stronger metal.

You want them as flat as possible so when you epoxy them the epoxy doesn't have to span as far a distance and you'll get a stronger bond.

After you flatten them, use the grinding stone to rough up the attaching faces of the backs of the handles and then clean them with some sort of solvent (rubbing alcohol or acetone are good choices). Leaving the faces smooth won't give the epoxy much to grab onto so get them so you can feel the roughness when you run your finger across. The last pic shows one of the ones I made that came apart because I didn't rough the faces.

Epoxy Them Together

Next, mix up equal parts of J-B Weld in a disposable surface. Spread the epoxy on the back sides of the utensils, then clamp them together in the vise.

According to the packing, J-B Weld needs 4-6 hours to dry before handing so find something to do during that time. I went to sleep and went back to the project the next day.

Smooth the Rough Edges

Now you should have something that looks like the first picture. There are plenty of rough edges on there that would just love to cut your hand or mouth so go ahead and smooth them down with the tungsten carbide bit, the grinding stone, and the metal file. Be patient with the grinding so you don't accidentally mar the surface.

Be sure you smooth down the cut ends of the tines too so you don't cut the inside of your mouth.

Optional: Give It a "Brushed" Look

For this step I ran an Abrasive Buff over the entire thing to give it a "brushed metal" look and to mask any places where I lost control of the bit and ground something I didn't want to. Personally I think it gives it a nice finish.

Finished!

After you're happy with the smoothness, polish, and shine of the Knorkoon, give it a wash in soap and water and it's ready for use!

Mine ended up being a little less than 6 inches long and weighs...well, I can't tell you exactly how much it weighs since I don't have a scale. A couple ounces at most but definitely less than a separate, knife, fork, and spoon.

I think one could soften the handle with some Sugru but I don't have any. Maybe in another update.

Well, only thing left to do is grab some grub, a bottle of beer, and enjoy both using your brand new Knorkoon!