Newbie spoon carving - best wood?

[Bartooon]

As a newbie carver, I wondered if any you old hands could advise which wood(s) are best for carving spoons - in terms of ease of carving, aesthetics, functionality etc.

Living in the New Forest I have unlimited supply of wide range of woods and I'm not really sure where to start!

Cheers

 

[Ogri the trog]

I'd go with willow - carves like cheese, but will teach you about grain - which will become important on harder woods.

I still enjoy carving with willow after years of carving - doesn't make me any good, I just enjoy doing it!

Ogri the trog

 

[mountainm]

lime is probably the easiest most uniform (but dull).

 

[addo]

As you have a wide range of woods have a play with all of them. Then you'll get plenty of carving practice in too.

As Ogri says Willows nice to start with as is Lime. Birch to as its easy to get.
Fruit woods for a closer grain and nice patterns/colours.

Have fun and show you results

 

[Stanleythecat]

I think a great deal comes down to personal preference but also look at the article on this site about food safe woods.

I love carving sycamore, it reminds me of cutting in to an apple, crisp and white but is actually quite characterless. Green wood is of course softer and more forgiving on both you and you edges. Cut only what you need so that you always have a supply of green wood; be gready and cut too much and it will season and become much harder work. The selection of the right piece of wood is important too. Natural bends, knot free etc have a good look. Also removing the central rings will help prevent splitting. Same rules for most woods.

I've used Sycamore, Birch, Beech, Cherry and all hever their own querks that are fun to learn.

Leo

 

[plastic-ninja]

Birch and alder are both easy enough to carve.
While you are learning be sure to keep your knives sharp.There are numerous tutorials on this site to have a look at.
Beware the spoon knife in particular , a blunt one will spill much more blood than a sharp one.
Don't forget to post the pics of your spoons.The members here are very supportive : even of my efforts, and you will get lots of useful advice.
For my two pennorth , just carve everything and see how it goes; costs nothing and is always a learning curve.
Cheers , Simon

 

[Bartooon]

Thanks for help & advice. Birch is very plentiful, so I might kick off with that. There is not a lot of lime in the forest. If all goes well I might be able to progress to the various wild fruits around.

I'll post the results - as long as you promise not to laugh too much!

 

[Stringmaker]

Birch is a very good wood; it comes up really nicely when oiled.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I find willow tears quite easily.

Have fun!

 

[Hammock Hamster]

lime is probably the easiest most uniform (but dull).

plus one for lime - very good all rounder for carving and quite easy to work with.

 

[Baggy]

The scanadanavians call birch "gods gift to carvers" I tend to agree.

 

[Red Fox]

Hi Bartooon ive been carveing for a while now and i always like woods with nice grains, hawthorn is good when green but is hard as stone when seasoned. Beech is always nice, birch will be good and of course oak. My first spoon was not very pretty but had good caracter it was made from hawthorn. I carved a cheery spoon that was very nice and i gave it to Jhon Tams the folk singer, he wore it around his neck on stage and i felt so proud of that spoon. Any way carving spoons will give you a good understanding on how to improve your technics for more fun projects like woodsprits their is a lot on carving on you tube, hope ive been of some help.

 

[Baggy]

of course oak. .

Note if you carve green oak you will need to clean your blades to stop them staining

 

[robin wood]

to start willow [poplar alder lime birch and start carving cooking spoons.
When you have carved lots of cooking and serving spoons consider eating spoons for these harder woods are better, birch is still great, fruit woods eg pear apple cherry hawthorn, sycamore, maple, sorbus sp.
Carving spoons is a great way of experiencing the different properties and learning about different trees so do experiment.
The more fibrous woods ash elm and oak are not so well suited but still work.

 

[mountainm]

I found birch harder to work than cherry, but the birch was seasoned. I like lilac but its a garden shrub. Has a stunning grain pattern though.

 

[robin wood]

I found birch harder to work than cherry, but the birch was seasoned. I like lilac but its a garden shrub. Has a stunning grain pattern though.

Birch is soft when green and hard when dry that is why it appears in both of my lists, it is great wood for spoons.

 

[sargey]

I'd go with willow - carves like cheese, but will teach you about grain - which will become important on harder woods.

I still enjoy carving with willow after years of carving - doesn't make me any good, I just enjoy doing it!

Ogri the trog

what this toerag says is not true, he's actually very very good!

cheers, and.

 

[Harvestman]

If it is green wood, then it doesn't much matter, as most things carve well when green, but I'll put in a vote for carving ivy wood when green. It is stupidly soft, but dries hard. It is my recommendation for anyone starting out.

 

[FedUpFrog]

I'm a newbie carver too and based in Lyndhurst, let me know if you fancy a bimble about the forest sometime and we can compare finger cuts and scars!