my attempt at a kuksa.

[humdrum_hostage]

While I wait for my crook knife on my birthday (11 days away) I have decided to put my mini bowl to one side and start on the outside of my first kuksa. I know how I want it to look in my head but not sure of the best way to tackle it so I am just going to chip away at it.


I got this piece of birch from a work colleague as it had a bit of spalting. I started the bowl from the less attractive end and this is from the good end. Every cut I make, it looks better!

 

[Dean]

That split may turn into a problem, Ideally you would want a split log with the pith taken out and to use one of the pieces to carve your kuksa to reduce cracking and splitting, if your not not working on it I would advise you to wrap it in brown baking paper and put it in your freezer as this will help keep most of the mositure content in the wood. I still see a couple of nice spoons in that piece of wood.

 

[humdrum_hostage]

That split may turn into a problem, Ideally you would want a split log with the pith taken out and to use one of the pieces to carve your kuksa to reduce cracking and splitting, if your not not working on it I would advise you to wrap it in brown baking paper and put it in your freezer as this will help keep most of the mositure content in the wood. I still see a couple of nice spoons in that piece of wood.

That sucks, thanks for the advice though. Im a bit far gons now to do anything else with it so I will probably jstnhave amess around with this till inget some more wood.

 

[humdrum_hostage]

Had a good bash at it last night! The wood that is....I mean the kuksa...



My fingers are sore today!

 

[humdrum_hostage]

Just out of interest, what knives do you guys use for taking down the main stock of the wood? My flexcuts aren't very big and I feel I am making the job harder for myself. does it need to be a dedicated carving knife or can i use any bush knife like the hultafors or a mora basic?

 

[Dean]

I pretty much use a mora hook knife that I have modded, a mora 120 as a detailing knife and a Hultafors craftman for stock removal all my tools are pretty much entery level as I like using what my students are most likly to use and it shows them you don't need all the best kit to make nice carvings. There are some great tool makers out there who sell their wares, Dave Budd, Ben Orford and Nic Wetermann are a few I know of.

 

[Harvestman]

Dean is right about the split being a problem, and it might ultimately ruin the piece, but have made a kuksa previously that was made from a whole round, and it hasn't split, so you might get away with it. odds are against you though i'm afraid. Still, good practice piece, and you will want to make another one anyway.