This week I will mostly be making cawl spoons

[tombear]

Made a simple clamp to hold the cut out blanks .

I'm going to do a bit a of a production line thing, will carve the insides of the bowls in a batch, then do the outsides of the all and then the handles.

One thing, I've completely given up on spoon knives. Bent neck or even straight gouges, if you've got them of course, are on seasoned wood so much better ( for me, I know others will disagree, each to their own ) that unless I try the long handled Welsh sort and like that I'll be dumping my bent knives on the kids. I keep all my tools very sharp and I persisted with spoon knives, perhaps longer than was sensible.

atb

Tom

 

[Pioneer72]

I agree about proper gouges on seasoned wood, but only if I have some way to clamp the work down.

I love my spoon knives for that fact I can hollow a greenwood spoon with no clamp at all

Looking forward to seeing your week unfold, production spoon-master

 

[Dreadhead]

nicely done mate

 

[tombear]

Oh aye, spoon knives have a place but like dogs I think that's outside

( I'll now go into hiding...)

yeah clamping makes or breaks it, for years I faffed about trying to hold things directly in the vice, then I actually thought to use the nylon peg things that we got with the bench, then the obvious struck me, make a dedicated clamp from some scrap wood, nowt fancy. I've modified it from the last picture, cut indents to match the pegs so the whole thing doesn't slide along as I whack it. Saves me applying excesive force with the vice.

The one in the clamp will be a small ladle with a lip for pouring.

I've six more "easy" blanks, then I'm onto the rock hard holly ones. Think I'll be having a major sharpening session tonight. I'd over sharpened another gouge so that will have to be filed first. I'm learning, slowly, but learning.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Got the 1st and hardest done and out of the way, a overly delicate spoon for sauces.

The he rest I'll do as proper rustic chunky users. Fingers vaguely numb from sanding!

atb

Tom

 

[tombear]

Got another 3 finished before I had to go cook etc.

7 3/4" spalted sycamore. Small and deep so I think I'll use it for spices.

9" plain sycamore, left the handle nice and chunky as I sometimes have a little trouble gripping, something that's got a a lot better since I've been doing plenty of craft stuff.

and finally a cautionary tale about not checking how spalted the handle was, It snapped during quite light handling but after I'd done most of the carving. So I went a bit aventguard on it and bent a bit of wire and superglued it in place.

more tomorrow.

atb

Tom

 

[Mesquite]

Lovely spoons Tom and what a great idea to save the last one

 

[tombear]

Ta! Started on what will be the last batch of spoons as quite frankly the novelty has worn off and there will be a finite amount of space where I'll be at the craft event and on the Saturday I'll have to share it with a stained glass worker.

May see if I've enough thin oak to do the tavern pipe rack I took the measurements of in the museum at Whittaker Park.

ATB

Tom

 

[Muddypaws]

Nice work there. I particularly like your dedicated spoon clamp ( might have to borrow that idea)

 

[tombear]

Cheers!

Had to go out and do stuff so only finished two of the blanks but the last five will only take a few hours to finish.

ATB

Tom

 

[forginhill]

Beautiful work, as usual! I enjoyed seeing your holding jig. Ingenious...

 

[tombear]

Well here's the last 4 I'm doing this week, from the bottom up, and just oiled so a bit shiny. The fifth one I may finish at a later date as I didn't think through the handle and there's a weakness to the design which will make it a pretty rubbish eating utensil.

I'll give them a coat of walnut oil each day as I don't have enough to fill a pot big enough to soak them.

Now a big sharpening session!

ATB

Tom

 

[Dreadhead]

blimey you have been busy! Love those spalted ones

 

[tombear]

Still got a few boards of it in the woodpile. Does make nice spoons.

Atb

tom

 

[tombear]

Finished the last one despite it being too weak a design to be a user.

7" sycamore.

ATB

Tom

 

[Madriverrob]

A spoon marathon ..... Well done , great looking spoons .

 

[tombear]

Cheers! Enoughs enough though. There should be enough to cover a table. The lady running it says I should offer to sell some stuff. Only a couple of the spoons are bagsed and I can always remake any that do go. Thing is although I've swapped stuff I've never sold owt before. Got a lovely glazed pint mug as a swap for a spalted spoon this week In fact.

The ladles take too long to make for me want to sell except for huge sums that no ones going to pay for them! I'll see if I can turn some quick potato mashers like the one in the museum.

Anyrioad, just sharpened all the kitchen knives and the shed kitchen mora so the Tomek is set up and I'll touch up the gouges next .

atb

tom

 

[Robson Valley]

Your spoon clamping fixture is a stroke of genius.
Thanks for the picture to show your body of work.
That should be quite attractive.

Have you still got a couple that you can pretend to work on at the show?

 

[tombear]

Cheers! When the band saw is running again I will make something a bit more pleasing to the eye and lower as for the smaller blanks I had to use little blocks to raise the job up to get the entry angles for the gouges as I wanted them. I think I have a scrap of 8 mm thick ash left that will be more than strong enough.

yup we've a couple of blanks left that I will start here and we can play at carving. There's no vice or owt I can rig a clamp to there so it will be a in your hand job but I've a thick Kevlar glove for the lad ( who at 15 is about five foot nine with big hands so is pretty man sized anyway) and my German butchers glove I got on a boot for me so we will be safe enough.

Didnt get zip done yesterday as a domestic emergency occurred . Tormeks all set up to sharpen the gouges anyway.

atb

Tom