Cherry Cooking Spoons

[Muddypaws]

I haven't made anything wooden or bushcrafty for ages, so I thought I would rectify this, by setting up my pole lathe, and making some cooking spoons. I had a couple of small diameter Cherry logs at the back of the garage, which had been there for possibly fifteen years, and were therefore well seasoned. These spoons are the results of an afternoon's turnings.

IMG_20190306_145540 by Alan Muddypaws, on Flickr

Eleven inches in length, the handles and shoulders were turned on the pole lathe, and then the bowls were shaped using a drawknife, spokeshave and hooked knife. The finish is "off the tools", and then burnished by rubbing vigorously up and down with a handful of shavings from under the lathe.
I will confess to a little bit of cheating. Where I would have (especially with green wood) shaped the turning blanks with an axe and drawknife, for these I did the shaping on my new bandsaw. The bandsaw is making me lazy!

Thanks for looking!

 

[Robson Valley]

Excellent. There's good strength in the web between the handle and the bowl.
Skinny handles are detestible to arthritic hands. Those look attractively thicker than many.
Wood: I read of more and more carvers using cherry. Are the orchards coming down?

There are no prizes for squandering time. Try burnishing with a brown paper grocery bag some time.
The bandsaw and your generosity could prepare blanks for an entire campfire group.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Very nice, great shapes.

 

[Madriverrob]

Nice spoons

 

[Muddypaws]

Wood: I read of more and more carvers using cherry. Are the orchards coming down?

In this case the wood came from some neglected woodland. My dad got involved with a conservation project, and the cherry was running rampant in one corner of the wood. I believe it was sucker growth from an ornamental cherry in a neighbouring plot, which of course reverts to native wild cherry from the rootstock, and grows vigorously. After years of neglect many of the trunks had reached three or four inch diameter. So a decision was taken to thin out some of it, and my dad saved some for me.

Thanks for the positive comments!

 

[Dean]

Nice work getting back into the groove Muddypaws.

 

[66jj99]

Great profiles you've donedon these two. They look very handy.

 

[bobnewboy]

Very nice. I’m sure the ability to get into corners of cooking pans is not missed when they are used