more spoons

[robin wood]

We just had three folks round for the weekend for more spooncarving fun. They had all been on one of our basic courses before but wanted to spend a bit more time carving and to work on other projects particularly eating spoons, spoons from crooks and Steve wanted to make a kuksa. Here are some of the results. Soory about the poor quality pics, they were taken late in the day under florescent light.
Ros

John

Steve

 

[shawn]

very nice work! may i ask how they got the inside of the spoons smooth?

 

[robin wood]

very nice work! may i ask how they got the inside of the spoons smooth?

A sharp hook knife and good technique.....we don't allow sandpaper.

 

[Eric_Methven]

Robin, I know how much you frown on sandpaper, but have you ever tried using mare's tail to finish wood or is it just the concept of using abraisives instead of a sharp edge?

Eric

 

[DoctorSpoon]

Whilst we joke about how dreadful sandpaper is, it is good for beginners to be able to make what they have made into something usable, but any sort of abrasives really change the look of a small object in a way that I think is not pleasing. However careful you are, it tends to round and soften all the edges, leaving something that looks blobby and lifeless. A tooled finish has a beautiful crispness to it, throwing slight shadows at the edges, picking out the form. It also shows they are hand made and not mass produced - the tool marks are my makers mark as I don't sign in any other way what I make!
Nicola

 

[Rosco]

Hi,
I was one of the students on this latest course at Robin and Nicolas place in Edale and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn knife and axe skills.In my view there is no substitute for learning good,and above all SAFE technique from an early stage and this is what these courses have given me.
Shawn, I don't know whether or not you have a spoon knife (the tool used to hollow out the bowls of the spoons pictured) but if you have and are struggling to get a neat finish I would recommend- 1)keep the bevel pressed against the work behind the cut throughout the scooping action to avoid chatter, and 2)do most of the shaping whilst the blank is wet and then allow the spoon to dry for a few days before taking small finishing cuts.
Another thing to try is to almost finish the spoon, oil it and then take some final finishing cuts. the spoons pictured above are at the wet cut stage and yet to be finished; i'll post some finished pics of mine when they're done.
Cheers
john