hand carving spoons

Spoons are fun...each one can be unique depending on the type of wood and it's grain and the carver's tools and technique.
I wanted to share some pictures of my husbands style of spoon carving, including some of the tools involved.

Spoons at various stages along the way. Some still have the 'nose' attached...a helpful extension for holding at the shaving horse while working on the spoon. The one he is working on at the shaving horse has had the 'nose' cut off in order to do some shaping on the back of the bowl.

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I didn't notice the bandaid until I was editing the pictures........it's pretty common for him to have one somewhere:)

I love seeing a skilled craftsman working with wood, really cool stuff you have going on over there

thanks, Diabalein.....he's been at this awhie, maybe more than thirty years now.
Here's a couple more photos.....unfinished...more carving to do and some sanding................

Nice work, as always. I see a little chip carving getting started on one of those handles. Fun stuff

Very nice!

We'd have less of a throw away society if people would invest their time in stuff like this. Make a ladle and you have a ladle for a lifetime....

thanks, Peter...do you chip carve??


Wayne, wouldn't it be great )

....all of the above pictures except for spoons on blue back ground were taken at the Cooper Shop at the Ozark Folk Center


some related threads..............
https://permies.com/t/16339/farm-income/making-marketing-craft-post-pictures

https://permies.com/t/36402/woodworking/Master-craftsman-Owen-Rein

https://permies.com/t/992/woodland/wood-wooden-spoon

https://permies.com/t/4798/ancestral-skills/Carving-strut-stuff

https://permies.com/t/34160/woodworking/making-wooden-pitchforks

Judith, I've done a little chip carving, have a set of knives for the purpose, but as with so many of the things I've tried my hand at, I pick it up now and again, never stay with it long enough to really acquire any skill and - oh! Squirrel!!!

There's always something new and shiny that pops up and I have to give it a try

Couple of weeks ago now I started carving spoons. Have eleven finished now, with a 'spoon butter' of beeswax and sesame oil. Another five in process that should be finished by Tuesday evening. Tried a kuksa today but got heavy handed trying to rough out the bowl and blew it up ;(.

Most of these are in sassafras, some cherry, and then there is the Yellow Mystery Wood. All from my suburban yard. The yellow is something that broke during Sandy or the subsequent nor'easter that I am just getting around to dealing with. Rough bark, very wet and so very heavy. I don't think there are any leaves to help with identification. It is really quite a startling color.

what fun! nice work...You have a great assortment there...and sassafras and cherry some of the best woods you could be using. Did you carve them green or dry? and were you able to ever ID the 'yellow wood' ? Beeswax and seseme sound like a wonderful finish....recently I've been trying walnut oil on my kitchen ware and I think it makes them sticky . I'll probably go back to my usual olive oil. Keeep posting pictures:)
something he does that makes his spoons stay smooth for ever, is after sanding and /or scraping, he then soaks them in water for a few hours to raise the grain....then sands again...this makes them silky smooth for most woods. and then with repeated washings they don't get fuzzy. Some use a scraper or even a chunk of glass as a scraper , and don't sand at all....
for your chip carving interest I am sliipping in a piicture of a chip carved box S. made after a season of tourists ended..he needed to do something different..a bit obsessive....the ends, back side and top all covered with chip carving and etched lines..

Peter: Was your Yellow Mystery Wood dark brown on the cut surface before you worked it? It sounds like it might be Mulberry. I came across a few rounds a while back. The outsides started as dark brown but instantly turned vibrant yellow as soon as I put a fresh cut in it or sanded it at all.

:EDIT: I found some pictures that include one on my pieces of Mulberry. One, under a piece of steel I was cold-forging, shows the "aged" brown color and the other shows the freshly cut color.

Brian, that looks exactly like what I have. thank you.

Judith - that chest is amazing! Wonderful example.

I like hearing the sound of carving in this video...a great example of making a spoon with just a few really sharp tools.....don't forget your bandaides!.........

A friend recently loaned us this video...
Wille Sundqvist "The Spoon, the Bowl and the Knife". There is no youtube video to post but here is a link to information on purchasing his dvd and an excerpt from the web site about the man himself...

Wille Sundqvist is an elder craftsman in the rich and deep woodcraft tradition of the Västerbotten region in the north of Sweden. Wille’s traditional of carving spoons and ladles, his greenwood turned bowls, and the educational work he has done through his books, especially "Swedish Carving Techniques" has made him known and loved by the Swedes and by the broader international audience.
Wille (pronounced Veelay) demonstrates unusual carving grasps with his knife and the special skewing cuts that are from an old Swedish woodturning technology for green wood. He also includes instruction in knife sharpening, how to properly oil hand carved utensils, and how to decorate them with fine detail cuts.
Wille’s generous appearance to share his special craft skills makes him a good teacher. His approach to everyday objects - such as how he reflects on eating quietly with a wooden spoon - reflects a philosophy of life and contemplation that only he can put into words. Wille Sundqvist is 87 years old when this 2013 film is being recorded.

http://www.pinewoodforge.com/VilleSundquistDVD.html

Here are my first attempts from a few weeks ago for spoons. The more recent ones came out a little nicer.
Pinterst

Joe Oblenis wrote:Here are my first attempts from a few weeks ago for spoons. The more recent ones came out a little nicer.
Pinterst

your spoons look great...feel free to post the pictures right here on this thread if you like....and welcome to permies!

Judith Browning wrote:

Joe Oblenis wrote:Here are my first attempts from a few weeks ago for spoons. The more recent ones came out a little nicer.
Pinterst

your spoons look great...feel free to post the pictures right here on this thread if you like....and welcome to permies!

I tried posting them right into my comment last night but it would not work. Hence the link. I was likely doing it wrong though. I just found about about these forums last night while researching Rocket Mass Heaters and Rocket Stoves.

Joe Oblenis wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:

Joe Oblenis wrote:Here are my first attempts from a few weeks ago for spoons. The more recent ones came out a little nicer.
Pinterst

your spoons look great...feel free to post the pictures right here on this thread if you like....and welcome to permies!

I tried posting them right into my comment last night but it would not work. Hence the link. I was likely doing it wrong though. I just found about about these forums last night while researching Rocket Mass Heaters and Rocket Stoves.

the easiest way, if they are on your computer, is to click on 'attachments' at the bottom of the 'reply' box and then 'browse'.

Here are a few more spoons...as well as a couple new cutting boards I just oiled up.

Here is a link to a thread about the book "Country Woodcraft" by Drew Langsner https://permies.com/t/40375/books/Country-Woodcraft-Drew-Langsner.

...and if you need more inspiration ....there is a lot about Wille Sundquist HERE ....check out 'SpoonFest' !

Awesome spoons Joe! Looks like you have some straight grain to carve. Don't be afraid to let your handles follow the wood, find a piece that might make a good bowl and make the handle fit the piece. It's harder initially but far more rewarding to you and the recipient.

There's a lot of great inspiration over on this page to keep you oohing and ahhing for a while.

Hi
Where is your welsh love spoon?

And here is Peter Forbes who sees spoon making as a community builder.
Spoons for all

Valerie Dawnstar wrote:And here is Peter Forbes who sees spoon making as a community builder.
Spoons for all

Valerie, thanks for posting this. I really like what he is proposing. Here's a quote from Peter Forbes web site

Spoon carving is a specific tool of community organizing because it helps very different people to laugh together, to imagine something together, to work together, and to create together. A group can take on almost any project after it has learned to make spoons together.

We went to the Lost Trades Fair in Kyneton a little while ago:

http://pragmaticsustainability.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/the-lost-trades-fair.html

Events along these lines can be a great way for skilled artisans to demonstrate what they can do, make sales, network, attract class participants and so on.

We're going to do a spoon carving course with one of the exhibitors.

We did a spoon carving workshop. Maree wrote it up:

http://pragmaticsustainability.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/spoon-carving-workshop-part-1.html

I think it would be easier to start with a piece of wood with straighter grain. And the axe I was using for carving initially was a bit blunt and I'm not sure was an ideal carving axe for a beginner. I changed over to a Gransfors Bruks carving axe which was a lot easier to use and I suspect sharper.

We're looking forwards to finishing off the spoons. We have a lot of wood that could be used for spoon blanks.

Here are the last three spoons I've done. Progressing along, getting a bit better every time. I make these from firewood mostly.

Basically I just split it to a good size, cut the bowl with a gouge chisel, then cut the shape out with a coping saw, carve the back of the bowl with a beveled chisel, and round the handle with a spokeshave.

I just got a couple of scrapers, so the bowls are coming out a lot smoother for me compared to just sandpaper.

Earlier spoons. I've been finishing with flax oil, seems to work nice. I just tried the method of soaking the spoon for 10 mins in warm water to raise the grain before a final sanding, which worked nice.

Looks like you are off to a great start Jackson!
The soaking to raise the grain works really good doesn't it? We have years old spoons that have had heavy use that are just as smooth as the day they were finished.
I think carving spoons is a perfect way to learn all about different woods and their individual characteristics.
Post more pictures as you have them...thanks.

Posting to revive an awesome thread. What inspiration!  I tried chip carving about 15 years ago, even (sigh) bought some really nice boxwood from this exotic woods shop... found out it was something that was best left to others. I may have skills but that isn't one of them.

Question, would it be easier to carve these greenwood or would the finished product split, check, and crack too much? I turn greenwood on the springpole but prefer something with a motor for the seasoned stuff. Since this is all hand shape... some real works of art posted, trust me.

Deb Rebel wrote:Posting to revive an awesome thread. What inspiration!  I tried chip carving about 15 years ago, even (sigh) bought some really nice boxwood from this exotic woods shop... found out it was something that was best left to others. I may have skills but that isn't one of them.

Question, would it be easier to carve these greenwood or would the finished product split, check, and crack too much? I turn greenwood on the springpole but prefer something with a motor for the seasoned stuff. Since this is all hand shape... some real works of art posted, trust me.

Definitely want to carve spoons from green wood. Checking isn't usually much of a problem because the finished pieces are so small they can dry evenly enough not to split. Final finishing is best done after it's dried a bit because you can get a better burnish on dry wood.

Deb Rebel wrote:Posting to revive an awesome thread. What inspiration!  I tried chip carving about 15 years ago, even (sigh) bought some really nice boxwood from this exotic woods shop... found out it was something that was best left to others. I may have skills but that isn't one of them.

Question, would it be easier to carve these greenwood or would the finished product split, check, and crack too much? I turn greenwood on the springpole but prefer something with a motor for the seasoned stuff. Since this is all hand shape... some real works of art posted, trust me.

hi, deb...I passed your question on to my husband, who wrote out his response  (he likes to write things out longhand and doesn't like to type)...for him there is never a simple answer to a seemingly simple question      


"Yes, easier to carve green.  Cracking is minimized by going with the grain, including shaping the original billet by splitting.  And as Peter Ellis says, by working down to thin enough final dimensions that there is no chunky block of still-wet unshrunken 'inside' wood- it's all outside, shrinking at the same rate.  Plus, if there's any risk or doubt, dry it slowly under a pile of shavings or sawdust, or in a cloth bag. (Plastic holds too much moisture in.)

Choice of material counts-some woods crack more than others, either because they're more brittle, or (more often) because they're wetter, have more moisture to lose, so they shrink more.

Wood doesn't shrink the same in all dimensions: hardly at all in length (up and down the tree), more in the radial dimensions (out from center to bark), and still more in the circumferential dimension (around the tree, along the growth rings).  This is why you go with the grain-for strength, but also to minimize shrinkage and cracking.

All that going with the grain being said, you don't let the grain direct the tool.  You have to know what you want, as well as what the wood will allow.  When you must go across the grain, don't go across much, and go very gradually, at a shallow slope, not square across it.

p.s. if you're a turner, the boxwood is good for "the old Orange Flute".  If you're chipcarving, go with soft, seasoned wood- the spoon after it's  dry, or sassafras, catalpa or basswood,  (This last OK from the Ozarks, better from MN)"


....just ask if anything isn't clear enough or if there are more questions and I'll be happy to pass them on.  

edit to add a couple thoughts...Steve does use both seasoned and green wood for his spoons. His preference would be green, but that isn't always available.  Even if he cuts the tree green, chances are it will dry out before he has worked it all up.   We have several friends who are spoon carvers...all with hand tools and all split out from the log, following the grain, no cutouts from a board, etc. and they also use both green and seasoned wood to carve. At least one of these spoon carvers only used standing dead wood...he didn't want to cut living trees for his craft.  It can be done.....Steve has carved very old beautiful walnut into spoons and freshly cut plum and everything in between