Last of the Beech.

[Kepis]

Last of the Chinese Beech spoon blanks, I kept this one till last as it has some really interesting grain in it and i wasn't disappointed, with flecks, rays, colour variations, swirls and sweeps and despite all of this, it was probably the easiest one to carve out of the entire batch.

As per normal, i soaked the blank for 24 hours to make it carvable, then set to with with just my carving knives, taking my time as i didn't want to cock it up with a wayward cut, a few hours later it was done, i set it aside overnight and the wood has oxidised nicely overnight with the grain and colours popping in the autumn sunshine this morning.

The spoon has my normal off the knife finish, with the exterior surfaces then being lightly burnished with the back of my knife.

 

[Foogs]

Really handsome, well done.

When soaking overnight, is it best to work through the spoon all in one go, or can you re-soak it?

 

[Kepis]

Really handsome, well done.

When soaking overnight, is it best to work through the spoon all in one go, or can you re-soak it?

Cheers,

Re soaking, i keep the blank in a ziplock when im not carving it and tend to rough it all out to a point in a a few hours where i can do the finishing cuts when its dry, but i can't see why you can't re soak it if it gets too dry.

 

[Mesquite]

Nicely done Mark

 

[Kepis]

Nicely done Mark

cheers mate

 

[British Red]

Your work is sublime now Mark

 

[Kepis]

Your work is sublime now Mark

Thanks mate, now i'm not carving commercially, i can take my time a bit, arthritis helps slow you down too lol