Blog
Right then with the HSE bit out of the way we need to find us a bit of wood to start with. Lime and Sweet Chestnut are good woods to start with but Ive used Cherry, Ash, Sycamore and Hazel to name a few and always been ok. I suspect good sharp tools make a hell of a difference. I always cut more than I anticipate I will use to carve so I have plenty to hold onto. cutting the wood to perfect lengths before you start to whittle makes for a fiddly days work and in all probability a box or two of Elastoplast.
I had left my axe in a tool box so had to split the wood with a combination of batoning and wedges Knowing how wood works and some basic skills along with a big lump of wood to whallop things with can be quite a rewarding thing. Once its split its best to sit back and study the wood for a while. Start to imagine where the spoon is its shape and size. In effect the spoon is already there you just have to cut away the bits of wood around it.sometimes I will just carve and follow the grain; other times Ill use a template or pencil to draw an outline. The more spoons you carve the easier it will be to "see" the spoon and the speedier the process will be
with a good idea of the rough outline I would normally set to with a hatchet, but in my infinite wisdom I left every axe I own in a place other than the one I was in, so i was making big bold cuts and splits to thin the wood off. reducing the half round to something that resembled the outline of a spoon blank.
Also note I have left plenty of wood at both ends to help with the holding of the wood as I carve it.
With the blank starting to take shape I thinned off more of the bowl till it was close enough to my desired shape and size before starting with a crook knife (The curved blade on my carvin' jack.) to shape the bowl. once I liked the depth and shape of the bowl I trimmed off the excess wood and started on the underside forming at first to eye, then after a while to see how comfy it was in my mouth.
There is a good reason for doing things in this order, as there is no point to carving a fine handle only to mess up on the bowl of the spoon. Plus with more wood supporting the bowl its a lot less likely to snap off whilst applying pressured cuts.
With the bowl close to finished I then took time to whittle back to the neck of the spoon, where the handle transitions into the bowl. this is the most important part of the carving and the bit where most spoons become firewood. the neck provides all the support to the bowl and so needs to have thickness in order to be strong. The knack in carving is to reduce the thickness as much as you can without compromising its strength. With that completed the handle is a doddle whether you like to carve it straight and uniformed or as I prefer to follow the grain and make it a little more "higgledy piggledy"
now its a matter of taste, traditionalists or those of us that are happy to sit and whittle all day long will just decrease the amount of wood they take out in each stroke until you are just removing ridges and tiny imperfections till the spoon is smooth and ready for use. Some may choose to resort to sandpaper to finish the job a little more quickly. Then again if food is about to be served you may well just go with what you've got. If like me you get attached to your creations then an occasional rub with some edible oil serves to keep it in condition as well as bringing out the beautiful grain.
The detailing was added to make the spoon Reddit specific for my Secret Santa giftee using the V gouge of the Carvin' Jack. A tool that has helped push my carving ability and made for some interesting whittling. Expect a review of it real soon. Right now tho' I have been told of an old Ash tree thats come down so I'm off on a dog walk/resource hunt for more spoons.
