Big spoon, tooled or sanded?

[mountainm]

Ok, so I'm most of the way there with a big spoon (my fifth). Think the wood is hawthorn but not 100%. It carves well but sometimes has pithy voids.

I wanted to go for a tooled finish but it's doing my head in, every time I get close I hit a split or a fibrous bit and have to start all over. Also the grain looks very promising which would be complimented by sanding.

So do I persevere with the tooled finish, or sand it and be done with?

Story so far...

 

[Kepis]

Deffo a tooled finish, because what you have there looks spot on to me

 

[mountainm]

Deffo a tooled finish, because what you have there looks spot on to me

Cheers, but there's still a few snags on it. I only wish a tooled finish would show off the grain better.

 

[Harvestman]

It is a choice. You either admire the tooled finish itself, or the grain on a sanded finish, but it is difficult indeed to get both.

I like your tooled finish a lot, but I'm also a fan of wood sanded really smooth as it shows the beauty of the wood itself.

Your choice, but my opinion would be to go for the tooled finish because you can always sand it back if you are not happy with it, but the reverse may not be true.

Lovely spoon, by the way

 

[British Red]

I vastly prefer sanded finish - I think it makes for a better implement and is more aethetically pleasing to boot. A "tooled" finish just looks "unfinished to show its hand made" to me

 

[woodpoet]

Tooled finish is more natural Looks so good. Like it

 

[Kepis]

I vastly prefer sanded finish -

Note made for the next time i send ye a spoon

 

[Stringmaker]

I vastly prefer sanded finish - I think it makes for a better implement and is more aethetically pleasing to boot. A "tooled" finish just looks "unfinished to show its hand made" to me

I agree.

My take on it is to look at the finish quality of various ancient tools, weapons, architecture and ornaments as a reference.

A society capable of producing things like the Sutton Hoo or Staffordshire treasures for example would not have unfinished utensils to eat their Shreddies with. The tooling is the creation, the sanding is the finishing.

 

[mrcharly]

If you keep getting snags, leave it to dry for a day or so. Then very gently shave out the snag. Do this even if you are going for a sandpaper finish. It's really hard to sand out rough patches without ending up with a 'furry' finish.

 

[Hugo]

Looks good to me Mike as it is, I usually do a sanded finish but of late have started doing a few tooled finishes.
Hows that whittling knife coping with your efforts.

 

[nic.]

I only wish a tooled finish would show off the grain better.

A "tooled" finish just looks "unfinished to show its hand made" to me

The tooling is the creation, the sanding is the finishing.

This is I think really interesting - there is a perception that a tooled finish is superior to a sanded finish amongst most greenwoodworkers, but not here it seems! A tooled finish can be just as good as a sanded surface - it can be as smooth, show grain off as well and is likely to be crisper as sanding will blur detail. However it is difficult to achieve. With practice it is quicker to cut a surface rather than sand it. But if it is taking ages and you are coming up against unruly grain I would use whatever method you want to achieve the finish and form you prefer. It amuses me that the ultimate accolade that you can give to a spooncarver is to say that their tooled finish looks like it has been sanded.

 

[Stringmaker]

This is I think really interesting - there is a perception that a tooled finish is superior to a sanded finish amongst most greenwoodworkers, but not here it seems! A tooled finish can be just as good as a sanded surface - it can be as smooth, show grain off as well and is likely to be crisper as sanding will blur detail. However it is difficult to achieve. With practice it is quicker to cut a surface rather than sand it. But if it is taking ages and you are coming up against unruly grain I would use whatever method you want to achieve the finish and form you prefer. It amuses me that the ultimate accolade that you can give to a spooncarver is to say that their tooled finish looks like it has been sanded.

As Clint Eastwood so eloquently put it:

"Opinions are like ****holes, everybody has one!"

Hopefully that didn't break the rules on language.

I guess the difference/distinction is in the implied expertise of the carver. I know that my tool work is adequate at best.

 

[British Red]

This is I think really interesting - there is a perception that a tooled finish is superior to a sanded finish amongst most greenwoodworkers, but not here it seems!

Ahhh but then I don't claim to be a green woodworker! I am very familiar with using spoons though

There is a "form following function" argument - rather like the preparation of cast iron cookware - the smoother you get it, the less hollows and corners there are for things to stick in. I make a good deal of saturated sugar syrup as an example - impagine cleaning that from all those little pits and hollows

I'm self aware enough to admit though that its mainly I like the more "finished" look - I guess if that is achieved with a blade or abrasive wouldn't worry me much

 

[British Red]

Note made for the next time i send ye a spoon

The last one is going strong mate - just used it in making a huge batch of bee fondant

 

[Harvestman]

What a good thread. Until this I was starting to think I was the only person on here who actually prefers as smooth finish on wood.

 

[John Fenna]

This is I think really interesting - there is a perception that a tooled finish is superior to a sanded finish amongst most greenwoodworkers, but not here it seems! A tooled finish can be just as good as a sanded surface - it can be as smooth, show grain off as well and is likely to be crisper as sanding will blur detail. However it is difficult to achieve. With practice it is quicker to cut a surface rather than sand it. But if it is taking ages and you are coming up against unruly grain I would use whatever method you want to achieve the finish and form you prefer. It amuses me that the ultimate accolade that you can give to a spooncarver is to say that their tooled finish looks like it has been sanded.

I like both finishes, depending on the wood, the item it is on, the end use of the item and my mood.
I was once showing of a very smooth boxwood spoon and was asked if it was plastic!
You do not get that kind of comment with a tooled finish!
I have also been asked when I plan to finish a spoon that was a tooled finish....

 

[mountainm]

Looks good to me Mike as it is, I usually do a sanded finish but of late have started doing a few tooled finishes.
Hows that whittling knife coping with your efforts.

It's my "go to" knife, never let me down, comfy to use, nice and grippy, easy to maintain - my other knives don't really get a look in.

 

[mountainm]

Right - well that's it, I'm going for a sanded finish.... the woods the star.

 

[Tiley]

I reckon that the finish can be determined by the use of the spoon. If it's for eating (which this one obviously isn't...) then I'd always go with a sanded finish; for other uses (i.e. mostly display and possibly cooking), a tooled finish can work. As British Red pointed out, the tooled finish can be a devil to clean thoroughly and it's always an idea to avoid giving yourself an upset stomach due to a rushed rinse.

Aesthetically, the tooled finish is arguably more interesting; certainly, in the hand, the tooling can feel great. I think it works best on the outside of a bowl or kuksa, with the inside sanded for hygiene. That way you get to admire the shape and work with your hands as well as enjoying the grain with your eyes.

I almost always sand spoons of whatever size. I think it's something to do with habit but that does not make it right!

 

[mountainm]

I reckon that the finish can be determined by the use of the spoon. If it's for eating (which this one obviously isn't...)

... you haven't seen the size of my gob! - No it aint for eating, but will be used as a pot stirrer so another nod for sanding.