Here is a spoon that I carved yesterday for a friends birthday. With it you can see the carving knife that I made a couple of years ago (looks like I made it in prison, right?!) and a hook that I forged to hang it. I haven't made any object that has more to teach about the nature of grain direction in a chunk of wood. I know that for some, this may come dangerously close to seeming too "crafty", but I assure you, it ain't as easy as it looks. I try to work with the shape of the piece and its fibers to decide all of the design aspects as I carve. This has led to some pretty ugly spoons, but I like the challenge. Both Roy Underhill and Drew Langsner have some good info on spoon carving. Personally, I like to make simple spoons that show the tool facets all over and only scrape and sand the interior of the bowl. I carve them green, usually from crabapple tree (this one is cherry) and then once they are almost to final size, I put them in a paper bag to dry. A little finish surfacing and some walnut oil finish them off. I get much joy from seeing a well used spoon of mine when visiting friends, the only problem is that I always give the good ones away and keep their ugly cousins for myself!
4 comments:
hey there, i was just looking at the spoon you made and noticed the table it was on, is it made up of all dovetailed pieces? never seen anything like that before
It's a butcherblock. I found it in a salvage place about 10 years ago. I'd never seen anything like it and have since seen a couple made this way.
Have you found and added Bill Coperthwaite's A Handmade Life to you bookshelf? He is very good on spoons and other things too.
Happy Birthday to Me!! You know I wanted one of your spoons for the longest time. So long in fact I thought maybe the idea just slipped away like a curly little wood shaving collecting dog hair under a chair in the corner...but alas! Two wishes come true--your spoon and Sue's beautiful ring, all in one pink package! I am a lucky lucky girl...thank you Pete! See you at volleyball next week. lejm
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