a bit of spooncarving

[robin wood]

Winter evenings without a TV mean that in the Wood household we get into spooncarving.

I have been experimenting with some new forms recently making cooking spoons based on ones I watched an old spooncarver in Romania make in 1998. Those old spoons have seen everyday use in our kitchen for over ten years and seem a pretty good design, quick to make too. Tools are Gransfors Swedish carving axe, Helgess hook, and Frosts 106.

I rough carve them and then Nicola finishes them without any sandpaper, hust a clean cut with a sharp knife. I know many folks think I am lucky having a wife who is happy for me to carve in the front room but since the carpet gets hoovered at the end of the evening it ends up much tidier than normal.

 

[craeg]

Nice craft as always Robin. Where they carved from green or seasoned wood?

No TV but do I spy a video projector in the recess above you

 

[robin wood]

Nice craft as always Robin. Where they carved from green or seasoned wood?

No TV but do I spy a video projector in the recess above you

I carve green, Nicola finishes dry. Once rough carved they only take 24 hours to dry enough for finishing. Ah yes, spotted the DVD cabinet, should have cropped a bit closer.

 

[nodd]

Nice looking work as usual Robin

 

[mr dazzler]

Did the spoons come from out of one of those small thin (sycamore?) blanks to the right of the picture? If they did its a very economical use of wood. Any chance of a better close up, the twisty handles look interesting!
cheers Jonathan

 

[robin wood]

Did the spoons come from out of one of those small thin (sycamore?) blanks to the right of the picture? If they did its a very economical use of wood. Any chance of a better close up, the twisty handles look interesting!
cheers Jonathan

I'll try to do some more pics. They did come from those blanks and yes that means I get maybe a dozen or more spoons out of a 6" log. It is willow as were the Romanian ones. I thought 11 years ago that willow was a bit soft for a cooking spoon but now I know different, a cooking spoon clearly does not need to be particularly hard wood.

If you look at the blank sat beside the quartered log you'll see it is fatter one end than the other, that is the bowl end, the thin bit for the handle. If you have a good feel for your wood you can cleave sloping billets like this off the side of the quartered log. If you cleave the quarter in half the split will run straight, cleaving a bit off the side the split will tend to "run out" gauging the amount of run out can give you tapered billets which saves on axe work and timber. I'll turn the log over and cleave the next tapered billet from the other end and so on.

 

[mr dazzler]

totally excellent Robin, the sloped billet method sounds very much like the way cedar shingles are split so they end up like long slim wedges. Probably with practise you could swipe them off with a blow from a wide axe?
My every day carry eating spoon is a willow one. I never oiled it and it goes in the dishwasher. Its sound, although the willow I used was the stringy fibrous sort. I made 2 similar but the other one was too thin (translucent bowl which went floppy on me)
LOL I have recently been rummaging through a BIG box of "munters" (so called spoons which were crap rejects basically) I was amazed to find that in some cases one or 2 decisve new cuts and the thing was suddenly looking good again.....my first attemptes were too clunky and heavy
PS if you dont mind me asking, do you and Nicola "modify" any of your kitchen and eating spoons even after they started being used, or do you just do a complete new one? I cant help it, studying the form and thinking "that needs to be thinner, that bulge needs flatening a bit" etc, then pull out the "svord peasant" and set to...
cheers Jonathan

 

[Chris the Cat]

Wish I lived nearer Robin,I would love to join one of your courses!
Love your work.
Happy Xmas!
Chris.

 

[_scorpio_]

nice work there. i have just got that same axe for xmas. how useful is it for spoon carving?