Beginner Woodcarving - Spoon

[THOaken]

Hello, BCUK. I've recently been inspired to start working on some bigger projects as I've only done the odd tent peg and cooking pot hanger and I hear a spoon is a great first piece to carve. I've been watching some videos and the proccess seems fairly straight forward, however I'll need to get a mora hook and carving knife before I start. This is only a placeholder thread, but I'll update it in the next few days. Sorry to disappoint. What's the softest wood? Sycamore? Can I use beech? I think I have a beech tree in the garden. Any general advice for a beginner would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Mesquite]

Any green wood is reasonably soft to carve.

It's only when it's seasoned does it get harder to carve.

 

[Goatboy]

Some beech can have a really curly grain, remember trying to process an avenue of them into fire wood once - even the tractor P.T.O. splitter had problems, the axe just bounced off. But in general beech has a nice grain to work with. Alder and poplar are nice to work too.

Remember to have the first aid kit and maybe a pair of anti-cut gloves at hand. Can be tricky at first.

Good luck.
GB

 

[Clouston98]

Birch is a great all round carving wood .

 

[THOaken]

Birch is a great all round carving wood .

Birch, eh? Well, I've got plenty of split birch logs outside but they're seasoned. I'm not sure they're as soft as they should be and I don't want to strain myself lest I get the wrong impression of woodcarving.

 

[Clouston98]

Birch, eh? Well, I've got plenty of split birch logs outside but they're seasoned. I'm not sure they're as soft as they should be and I don't want to strain myself lest I get the wrong impression of woodcarving.

I've got kuksa's and a spoon made of birch and it is a lovely wood. I have carved seasoned birch and sycamore and it was quite hard but not terrible, sharp tools are important, my carvings are still rubbish though.

One more thing instead of a Mora get a Ben Orford spoon knife lonely a fiver extra and a brilliant tool, I wouldn't part with mine!

 

[Goatboy]

I've got kuksa's and a spoon made of birch and it is a lovely wood. I have carved seasoned birch and sycamore and it was quite hard but not terrible, sharp tools are important, my carvings are still rubbish though.

One more thing instead of a Mora get a Ben Orford spoon knife lonely a fiver extra and a brilliant tool, I wouldn't part with mine!

I have heard a few folk say that about the Ben Orford stuff, supposedly well worth the extra.

Remember that you don't want the wood too soft, balsa wood is soft and easy to carve but would get trashed as a kuska or spoon in bushcraft.

 

[Tiley]

If you want a really soft wood that is easy to carve, lime is hard to beat. Birch and Field Maple also make for good carving woods, green or seasoned. You can carve beech but it is a very wet wood and is prone to cracking as it dries. One way to avoid that is to carve dried, seasoned timber but that won't tick your 'soft wood' box as it becomes very hard. Fruitwoods - apple, cherry and pear in particular - are good to carve green and make for really good durable spoons when dried. Sycamore is certainly soft but can be a bit stringy. For a starter, I think I'd try and find some lime: if it was good enough for Grinling Gibbons, I reckon it'll be good enough for the rest of us!

 

[THOaken]

Does this piece of birch look alright? It feels quite dense and hard... Hmmm.

I bought a toolset a while ago. Would the tool that I'm holding substitute for a hook knife and a the scooping action used to make the bowl of the spoon or should I just buy a real hook knife?

Edit: Actually, it's called a crook knife. My mistake though they seem to be the same thing, just different names.

 

[Clouston98]

That looks a decent bit of birch to start with a bit bigger would give you more room for error. I would personally buy a crook knife but you could rough out the blank and then decide where you want to go from there. That tool would be ok, but you could only give the spoon a shallow bowl.

Good luck .

 

[THOaken]

That looks a decent bit of birch to start with a bit bigger would give you more room for error. I would personally buy a crook knife but you could rough out the blank and then decide where you want to go from there. That tool would be ok, but you could only give the spoon a shallow bowl.

Good luck .

Alright. I've been putting off woodcraft for quite a while now and I've only really used my mora, but I don't see why I shouldn't start since I now have the resources available to me. I think I'll buy the tools you've already recommended, however I still don't have an axe. I'm guessing any hand axe won't do, yes? It needs to be sharp and of a certain quality? I may as well buy a carving knife, a hook knife and an axe and bite the bullet, as they say.

 

[Clouston98]

Alright. I've been putting off woodcraft for quite a while now and I've only really used my mora, but I don't see why I shouldn't start since I now have the resources available to me. I think I'll buy the tools you've already recommended, however I still don't have an axe. I'm guessing any hand axe won't do, yes? It needs to be sharp and of a certain quality? I may as well buy a carving knife, a hook knife and an axe and bite the bullet, as they say.

I would buy an axe but a B&Q hand axe sharpened well would do, that's what I used to use but now I'm addicted to Gransfors Bruks, it depends wether you will use it that often, not just for carving and wether you can justify the purchase. Obviously you get what you pay for but it will do if that's all you have. If you do plump for a gransfors, wetterlings, hultafors etc a wildlife hatchet or an outdoor axe is a good size for general carving and small chopping.

 

[Stew]

Are you on a budget or not much of an issue?

Looking at the gouges, the one you have will do fine and possibly the one to the right of the gap. the one to the left of the gap also looks like a contender.

In terms of technique for the gouge, if you use it in a 'screwdriver hold' please be conscious of where your other hand is - I've seen people slip off the work piece and cut themselves, with one being more like being impaled, as they had the holding hand beyond the gouge!
There is quite a good alternative technique for a gouge and that's to hold it upside down. The sharp end will be coming out of the bottom of your fist rather than the top. You then cut towards yourself, using the way your wrist will naturally curve to guide the gouge. Not sure if that makes sense?

Axe wise, don't feel you need something expensive. Just a cheapy from a car boot will do in the early stages or I have used the fiskars one for years quite well.

 

[THOaken]

I would buy an axe but a B&Q hand axe sharpened well would do, that's what I used to use but now I'm addicted to Gransfors Bruks, it depends wether you will use it that often, not just for carving and wether you can justify the purchase. Obviously you get what you pay for but it will do if that's all you have. If you do plump for a gransfors, wetterlings, hultafors etc a wildlife hatchet or an outdoor axe is a good size for general carving and small chopping.

I'll go for the Gransfors Bruks small forest axe. To save on money I think I'll just go Mora for the general carving knife and the crook knife. I really should've bought an axe a long time ago, but for some reason I didn't. I think perhaps I just didn't have a reason for one at the time. I had always heard about the "holy trinity" combination of the woodsman's tools, the trusty knife, saw and axe. Now I can fill that gap.

Edit: Well, I may have a look around for an old axe before I commit to the Gransfors buy. It is a tad expensive.

 

[Clouston98]

I'll go for the Gransfors Bruks small forest axe. To save on money I think I'll just go for a the mora general carving knife and the crook knife. I really should've bought an axe a long time ago, but for some reason I didn't. I think perhaps I just didn't have a reason for one at the time. I had always heard about the "holy trinity" combination of woodsman tools, the trust knife, saw and axe. Now I can fill that gap.

I have a small forest axe and an outdoor axe and the small forest is better for general use but the outdoor is better for carving. Having said that I have the Gransfors double bevel large swedish carving axe but that is more specialised than for general use.

 

[Stew]

Edit: Well, I may have a look around for an old axe before I commit to the Gransfors buy. It is a tad expensive.

Good. An expensive axe is not essential.I'm not
suggesting this particular one but an old kent pattern like this will do:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-J...lectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item485bd7744a
Can be had at car boots pretty cheap!
Maybe put a wanted ad out on your local freecycle?

 

[THOaken]

Good. An expensive axe is not essential.I'm not
suggesting this particular one but an old kent pattern like this will do:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-J...lectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item485bd7744a
Can be had at car boots pretty cheap!
Maybe put a wanted ad out on your local freecycle?

When I said old axe I didn't mean a vintange one ;P I just meant one that might be lying around in the hut. I'll have a look tomorrow.

 

[Stew]

When I said old axe I didn't mean a vintange one ;P I just meant one that might be lying around in the hut. I'll have a look tomorrow.

Nothing wrong with vintage when it comes to tools like that.

 

[Man of Tanith]

To split that log I'd never use my mora and batton it (I'm awaiting the pitchfork welding mob anytime now)
Axes can speed the job up but a mora and a folding saw then spoon knife or those gouges should suffice before you start spending money

 

[Clouston98]

To split that log I'd never use my mora and batton it (I'm awaiting the pitchfork welding mob anytime now)
Axes can speed the job up but a mora and a folding saw then spoon knife or those gouges should suffice before you start spending money

It is good advice, I've gone to chop a small diameter log with an axe and gone way off so a baton would be a good way of getting the wood to split where you want it. As you use the axe more you will get more accurate, as I have.