Paganwolf's Cup

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tenbears10

Native
Oct 31, 2003
1,220
0
xxxx
The new pictures in the gallery have got me thinking, I've had a go at some spoons but the cup looks great. How do you go about choosing suitable wood? Which way does the grain go in relation to the cup and the handle?

Anyone else with pictures of their cup work I would love to see them.

Bill
 

tenbears10

Native
Oct 31, 2003
1,220
0
xxxx
That is what I was looking for thanks guys. You have to remove quite a lot of wood if you don't use a saw don't you.

Bill
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
tomtom said:
indeed.. but i am told that a burl is significantly less likly to split.. though i guess it depends on the wood!?

Yes I guess so but as long as you season it correctly you should be alright (presuming green wood is being used). If you leave the piece of work in a plastic bag with the waste wood while you're not working on it you should be ok.
 

leon-1

Full Member
tomtom said:
for a cup or bowl you need to find a burl i believe!

I would disagree, a mug is a larger version of a spoon or noggin. A spoon or noggin does not require a burl, in the end I think it is more how you either seal it or carve it.

If you have nothing to seal wood then a burl is better, but if you do have something to seal wood then it should not be a problem.

Liberon make numerous types of oils and sealers, have a look. I may well be wrong, but this is the general way I look at woodworking. There are natural sealants as well, if you wish I can look them up for you or you can ask the guys here, some are a lot more knowledgeable than I :wave:
 

Paganwolf

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jul 26, 2004
2,330
2
53
Essex, Uk
www.WoodlifeTrails.com
Hey all, my burl cup was started with an axe then knife and crook knife i had to sharpen the spoon knife 3 times when carving the bowl out as burls are damn hard but a burl is not neccesary for carving a cup/kuksa a pice of birch (or what ever wood you can get) spit down the middle then using one half of the log makes for a good cup too remember to remove the center heart wood so theres none in the walls of your cup, its easy to do just split your log slightly off center or just carve it out and its much less likely to split. Tongue oil is another good oil as it is non toxic, boiled linseed oil went on my butter knife to give it the nice dark finish,just wipe the oil on rub in nicely with your hands and a bit of cloth then wip the excess off and leave to absorb, repeat this as many times as needed :wink: the wood used for the knife is oak and was rescued from the end of a branch which was destined for the fire, dont be too woried about the wood at first a bit of pine from your local wood yard is fine even if you carve it and it ends up like a match stick the first few times once you cet your carving and cutting tecniques off pat with out cutting your self :roll: things become much easier, and one tip is to wrap your thumb in a plaster "before" you carve with your crook knife, just in case :wink:
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
Paganwolf said:
... and one tip is to wrap your thumb in a plaster "before" you carve with your crook knife, just in case :wink:

or use an Inuit thimble!

pt-thimble1.jpeg
pt-thimble2.jpeg
 

Realgar

Nomad
Aug 12, 2004
327
1
W.midlands
Any woods toxic if used to make drinking vessels?

I'll remember the 'thimble' trick ( he says glancing down at superglued thumb ) next time I try using a razor blade to take cuttings.
 

Paganwolf

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jul 26, 2004
2,330
2
53
Essex, Uk
www.WoodlifeTrails.com
most of these woods are only harmfull if you eat them :roll: or powderise them (eg wood dust) and inhale the stuff, what wood can you get hold of? birch,oak,ash,alder,apple,cherry,willow are all good i could go on more but you get the idea :wink:
 

TheViking

Native
Jun 3, 2004
1,864
4
35
.
Paganwolf said:
most of these woods are only harmfull if you eat them :roll: or powderise eg wood dust and inhale the stuff, what wood can you get hold of?
Yeah, and the Sapmi people has been carving kuksas out of birch for centuries and they know what they are doing. :wink:
 

CLEM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jul 10, 2004
2,420
428
Stourbridge
Off topic i know,but thats a nice looking Bully in your photos PaganWolf.Great dogs,my dear old dad had four of them two bitches and two dogs.Real characters and loyal guards.
 

Paganwolf

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jul 26, 2004
2,330
2
53
Essex, Uk
www.WoodlifeTrails.com
yes shes a good ol girl, 3yrs old strong as an Ox shes dragged my little cub connor along on his belly a few times :eek:): and my little girl rides on her like a horse!!! :eek:): ill stick one of my irish staff his a pukka mutt too:wink: shes not much good at carving though :rolmao: chewing yes carving no :rolmao:
 

falling rain

Native
Oct 17, 2003
1,737
29
Woodbury Devon
I'm getting a crook knife, a wood carving knife and a 4 piece set of whittlin jack carvers for my birthday. :hyper: My first project is going to be a Kuksa. :shock: My question is does anyone know if western red cedar would be suitable for making it. ? there's some been felled were I go over near Princes Risborough, and the colour of the wood is just gorgeous. A lovely dark red (surprising enough. Hence the name :lol: )

Has anyone made a Kuksa from Western red before ?

Cheers :wave:
 

alick

Settler
Aug 29, 2003
632
0
Northwich, Cheshire
Hi guys, this talk of kuksa prompts me to suggest looking back through the past threads for previous posts on the topic. I started one myself when I realised that there was little information about how these are really made up in Scandinavia and couldn't make sense of some comments I'd seen.

An important method is to rough carve the cup quickly (keeping it damp so that it doesn't split), then boil (if I remember right) it in strongly salted water after which it should be wrapped in damp cloths and left to dry SLOWLY to prevent splitting. The salt water boil helps to slow down drying. Drying time to aim for is about 6 weeks. The finish carving is done later in the process, and once dry and finished, the cup is sealed using vegetable oil.

There's more detail and links in the previous thread.

Cheers :biggthump
 

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