First Kuksa

[Ogri the trog]

Well, almost a kuksa,
A local farmer has been cutting down some birch trees and I haggled for some of the wood. I haven't carved much with birch before but I'm quite taken with it, easy to shape, takes a good sheen and feels great in the hand.
Tools used for the project are shown with the addition of a little sandpaper (one day I'll be happy with things being left from the blade). Oiled and waxed it feels almost like bone, light, solid and a little rings to it. The slight red stain is from the red wine I had with dinner by way of christening the vessel. I didn't go for a traditional handle as I went with what the wood was telling me!

Might have to get a few more spoon knives with larger curvatures, but otherwise, I'm quite pleased!

Feel free to critique.

Ogri the trog

 

[pwb]

Looks great Ogri .

Love the handle. Good idea, you could use it as a measure for something like coffee

Cheers,
Pete.

 

[SimonM]

Nice, how long did it take?

...Must try my hand at that one day

Simon

 

[MartinK9]

Very nice indeed, shots one end, half pint the other

 

[markheolddu]

Nice work Ogri

Mark

 

[John Fenna]

I bet that wine tasted good!
Nice work!

 

[shogun]

excellent...

 

[Toddy]

Pete that's beautiful
No wonder you had wine to enjoy it

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Paul3103]

Nothing to critique there, it's brilliant.

 

[Bagheera]

Pete,

That is one beautifully made Kuksa.

I tried making a large Kuksa twice in the past week from dried wood that I had in the wood shed.

The first one developped large cracks when I stupidly took it inside for a night
The second one I kept outside in the cold and still there's a small crack developing, really makes me mad, worked for 2+ hours on it using my small forest axe, my mini hatchet and an African adz that I have.

I have no source for "green" Birch wood at the moment or I would give that a try.

Cheers,

Bagheera

 

[warthog1981]

It looks excellent Ogri much better than my first one
keep up the good work

cheers Russ

 

[Ogri the trog]

The tree was felled only a day or so before I got to it, so it was pretty green.
Initial hacking was Boxing day, and stored when not being worked in the porch after a dip in the sink to keep it wet.
Carved and hollowed over the following few days - and stored outdoors - with increasing time indoors being worked until New years Day when I started covering it in beeswax overnight and storing it on teh kitchen window sill (cold one).
The last two days have been sanding down to finer grits and coats of Danish oil & beeswax. I recon it'll take a while yet to dry fully, but I'll still not push my luck. Most of the sidewall is about 1/4 inch thick, so I'd like to make the next ones thinner if possible, but that might need even slower drying/carving.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Ogri the trog

 

[Leonidas]

That is great Ogri....nice one....like the handle, sure it will be useful for measuring or similar....

Tom

 

[SOAR]

Very nice, looks nice and deep and a great shape.

 

[Shewie]

Great job Ogri

I started one a while ago but left it to dry out too much so it's like iron now. I really need to get cracking with a new one and hope it turns out as good as yours has.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

brill pete looks mint wish my carving efferts were as good as that

 

[brancho]

very nice indeed good work.

 

[Buckshot]

Very good Pete
I like the medicine measure handle too

Mark

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Good job !

 

[Seoras]

Nice one mate. Kuksa and Whiskey cup in one.