My first EVER bushcraft Project, a spoon (pic heavy)

[Dynamite Dan]

So, thanks to you guys for inspiring me i decided to go and give wood craft a go, to see if i could do it.

Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain, i had to do it in my grandads garage, so please don't smite me for not doing it under a tarp.

I "borrowed" some block of wood from work for my projects, no idea what wood it is.

Tools i used, is my new knife i got from here which i was VERY impressed with how easy it cut through wood, and a crook knife which i also bought from this site.

Here is the bench, with the piece i chose to use, due to the size and the natural curve in the grain

This shows the grain, and a rough sketch to help me centralise things.

This shows the rough shape being created, i used stop cuts to create the end of the handle

Nice shape forming now, i've carved out most of the bowl, lot of tidying up to do now

Trying to create a small 2 pronged fork with the handle, however, due to a slight slip, the wood started splitting the length of the handle, so i chopped it off at the end of the split to stop any further damage, so unfortunatly, its just a plain rounded end now.

Here is the finished article after some sanding, i carved a V shaped notch into the handle running from the bowl as decoration.

So, now that is out the way, what do you suggest i do with it now? Do i treat it with something to give it some colour and water-proofness, or do i just leave it?



Please feel free to critisise



Thankyou.

Dan

 

[SOAR]

Thats great mate. you can treat it with eddible Flax seed oil leave it to soak for a couple of days. Thats it now though pretty soon you will have more spoons than you will know what to do with them.

well done,
Simon

 

[Mirius]

Very nice. Better than my first attempt will turn out I'm sure!

 

[jon r]

great stuff! keep going! Cant wait to see your second and third!

 

[Dynamite Dan]

Thankyou guys, i did struggle using the crook knife a bit, it doesn't seem to have a sharp enough bend in it to get deeper, if you get me?

 

[SOAR]

Which crook knife do you have a single edge or a double edge?

 

[Dougster]

Good effort that man, I'm particularly impressed by the even grain pattern, and more so by the VERY important provisions planned before hand.

 

[Dynamite Dan]

double edge, "my finger can vouch for that"

 

[Eric_Methven]

Once you find which edge of the spoon knife you use the most, you might want to grind the other edge off. That'll let you get your thumb behind it for more leverage when carving out the bowl. An excellent first spoon though.

When you start to use it, you'll find it difficult picking up food on account of the bowl being very thick all round. Maybe next time try and work it a lot thinner, especially at the edges. It picks up food better and feels better in the mouth as you eat.

If the spoon knife seems like it won't fit the bowl, try using it at a slight angle and cut with a slicing motion.

Eric

 

[Dynamite Dan]

I thought of the bowl being too thick, but i didn't want to go too far in as i was scared of going through and making a hole. My confidence in wood craft is very new at the moment, i need to learn how woods work and react to being worked with before i start intricate carving.

Im going to consider this spoon as a drinking spoon, to drink wild teas and such when the time comes, as the bowl holds quite a lot of fluid, so i can spoop up out of a pan or something. Thankyou for the kind words aswell.

 

[SOAR]

The single edge crook knives have a tighter curve to them. I find them better to use.

 

[brancho]

Nice work.
My mate has a double edged spoon knife and we do not like it as much as the single sided ones