Kuksa Questions

[Erdbeereis]

Hello!

I have a maple kuksa in the works, and I was wondering how I should keep it from splitting/cracking. Right now I'm keeping it in a plastic bag filled with the wood chips, is that the right thing to do?
I was also wondering when I'm done, should I boil it in salt water? If so, how should I do it?

Thanks,

Erd

 

[vizsla]

i usualy boil if the wood smels bad, but i keep in a plastic bag in the cool garage and thats worked fine for me, you just dont want it to dry out too quick mate

 

[Erdbeereis]

How much salt do you put in the water? Could you elaborate a little more on how you boil it?

Thanks!

 

[vizsla]

To be honest i dont put salt in i just put the kuksa in a bowl pour in the boiling water leave till water is dirty then keep changing for new boiling water untill fairly clean. Im no expert but its always worked for me but i only do it if the wood smells off du to spalting(fungus) or similar usualy if there dark black lines runnng through the wood but its these lines that make the wood look good when its finished. If you just have a nice fresh piece of wood then i shouldnt worry about boiling just dont store in a warm place let it dry slowly. Hope that helps

 

[salad]

How much salt do you put in the water? Could you elaborate a little more on how you boil it?

Thanks!

Hi

There are 3 good links about Kuksa in this thread , one of them talks about the salt used to boil the wood http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68615&highlight=

Hope this is of some help

 

[Martti]

According to T. I. Itkonen and his book "Suomen lappalaiset vuoteen 1945", Sámi people in Finland used to boil the burl in salt water before carving. However some preferred not to boil the burl. The amount of salt is not stated but an ordinary vessel maybe took about three to five liters of water and I would imagine that about a handful of salt was added to the water.

 

[Erdbeereis]

Thanks everyone!

So to be clear, once I boil it in salt water how should I dry it to prevent cracking?

Erd

 

[vizsla]

Whenever your not working on it put it in a bag and keep in a coolish place. Good luck

 

[mrcairney]

For what it's worth I've been working on one made from rowan bur for 6 months and there's not a crack in it yet. Mine is in with the wood shavings in one of those fishing seat boxes.

 

[Erdbeereis]

When I'm done carving, how should I dry it?

Erd

 

[mrcairney]

Just let it dry naturally. I took mine out of the box and had a look. Still good, not a bit of mould or cracking.

 

[Erdbeereis]

I just started to hollow out the bowl, it takes forever!
Is there a faster way to do it? Can I use a drill to make some holes and then carve it out?

Erd

 

[mrcairney]

You could use a chisel if you wanted. I used a hook knife to really get the callouses going!