First post and first spoon w/pics

[thatch]

Hello everyone.

This will be my first post here at the forum. I've been a member for a couple of years, but I have just been lurking around and reading all of the excellent information on the site.

Tonight I decided to have a go at making my very first spoon. I did not have any decent wood to make it from, so I had to use spruce because that was the only wood I had.
I thought I would just experiment a little and try to find a way to make one. Even if I did'nt go well I would atleast have gained some experience, and maybe learned what not to do the next time.

As it turns out, I was actually able to make a pretty decent first-spoon.(My own opinion anyway) I was very pleased with the shape and size of it, and it felt great in my hand. But offcourse something had to go wrong. I carved the bottom part of the handle too thin, so the "cup" broke off when I was hollowing it out. I tried to glue it back on, but that didnt work very well as I didnt have any decent glue either. So I just popped a couple of small nails in there just to hold it in place. I really didnt care that it looked weird when the spoon was ruined anyway. So when it broke of, I decided not to finish it, that's why it looks quite ragged. But like I said, I was happy with the shape and size of it, so I will keep it as a memory. I will definently try to make more spoons, hopefully next time I will have some decent wood to make it from.

Here is a couple of pictures of the spoon:

 

[Greg]

Welcome to the site Thatch, your first spoon is definately better than my first attempt!!

 

[hiho]

hello and welcome

 

[Mikey P]

'Frankenspoon'!

Better than my first ever attempt - I carved the wrong bit if the handle away so it was totally unstable and you just spilled food everywhere.

Well done - let's have another soon!

 

[Ozhaggishead]

'Frankenspoon'!
:You_Rock_ Okay here is a photo of my first go(and my left foot)....

One on the left olive wood then tea tree

 

[thatch]

So I tried again today, and this time it went a lot better. I learned from the mistakes I made yesterday. The biggest difference today was that I carved it a bit thicker, and hollowed out the cup of the spoon before carving the handle. Spent a couple of hours just sitting in the sun and carving, I think I have a new hobby =) it was really satisfying to see things take shape as I went along. I am happy with the way it turned out, keeping in mind it was only my second attempt to carve a spoon. Here are some pictures:

Started with one of these:

Ended up with this:

 

[Greg]

Very nice! It's obvious you have carved wood before!

 

[thatch]

Actually I have not tried to carve anything specific before, but growing up on a farm in the norwegian woods I have been using a knife since I was big enough to hold one. It's only in recent years I have started to take an interest in actually creating/building things instead of using the knife just for work related things.

When I was 15 my family moved to the city, and most of my chilhood knowledge of the woods slowly disappeared. I really didnt have a big interest in those things at that time, so other things occupied my time. But now I'm sick of the city and I go hiking and camping as often as I can. I grew up in the woods and thats where I feel at home.

Hoping to develop my bushcraft skills, learn new thing and hopefully start to remember some of the things I know but have forgotten. It's in there somewhere.

 

[Ozhaggishead]

It's like you got you own littel style already,nice work

 

[thatch]

As I've never really made anything like this before, I don't really know how to take care of it. Should I soak it in some sort of vegetable oil or something like that? Or will that leave a "taste" on the spoon? What have people used? Maybe it's not even necessary to oil it?

I welcome any good tips on what to do to take care of the spoon

 

[Tye Possum]

As I've been told when I asked that same question, you can leave it alone and not oil it if it's going to be used and it will develop a nice patina with use, or you can soak it in oil for a few days and then let it dry, or you can rub in oil but I'm still a little fuzzy on that process... The oils that seem to be good for the job are walnut oil (unless you have a nut allergy of course) or linseed oil, not boiled linseed oil (cause it's usually toxic), also called flax seed oil I think... Maybe that's something else entirely though, I forget.