DIY Spoons

[Celtic Dragon]

Ok s this request may be cheeky I feel I must ask it. Some of you have been on about making spoons. Well I had a go yesterday, all went well until I came to carving out the back of the bowl tot he handle. I had no idea how deep to make it. I was wondering if the onles who had made spoons could post some pics up, especcially side on.

Now for the cheeky bit, could 1 of you write a tutorial on how to make a spoon. I was about to book my self onto a Woodlore basic course but got made redundant so that went out the window.

Cheers
Simon

 

[C_Claycomb]

I thought that I would be clever and post my pics to BritishBlades, then link them here, however I can't find the link to post images to the BB gallery. Grrrrrrr.

At the simple level spoon carving isn't all that hard. You want a bit of wood 2-3" diameter with about 20deg of bend, without a knot in the bend. Split the wood so you have two spoon blanks from the one bend if you can. Making a spoon from the piece with bark on the outside of the bend is easier because the flat split surface is there ready for the flat top of the spoon, less to carve. Do the side profile of the spoon first, then you can draw on the flat top surface. You want the handle to flow into the bowl, as the wood narrows down to the bowl you need to make it thicker to retain the strength, about 1/4" wide at the narrowest is about right, can't go much narrower than that, if it is 1/4" deep that will be strong enough. As you move up the handle it can be made thinner and wider. I seem to make most of my handles roughly triangular near the bowl, sort of keeled.

The bowl of the spoon shouldn't be too deep. Try pretending you are using it to eat with, you could even stick it in your mouth. You will see better what shape will work.

I'll email you some pictures when I get back to my own computer, that is if someone more eloquent hasn't beaten me to it [/img]

 

[jason01]

Hi Simon

You can make the transition from bowl to handle however you like, try some different shapes and see what works for you.

Hope the pic helps, the spoons are beech, box and yew, the yew is my favourite, the grain is v cool in real life, pic does it no justice.

I should add, these werent carved with a knife in the woods but in the garage with whatever tools I had

Jason

 

[mbrodw]

I made one a couple of years ago with an axe and it is very rough and ready but i still use it in the kitchen at home. I will post a pic if i get chance at the weekend! Trust me it really isn't that hard!

Mark

 

[silas]

I would be a little careful about using Yew for spoons, as virtually every part of a yew tree is poisionous.
I do a fair bit of wood turning and yew is my favourite wood by miles, but if I make bowls for family or friends I always try to make it clear that they are NOT for eating out of.

Silas