What I've been working on. (i.e. spoons.)

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Maxwellol

Tenderfoot
Feb 10, 2013
90
0
Manchester
Hi all

Put the saw on my SAK to good use a few weekends ago while out for a weekend stroll, salvaged a piece of fallen birch branch. Really wanted to share what I've turned it into - Spoons! These are only my second and third attempts, so I'm very pleased.

(This is my first time uploading images on this forum also, so apologies if anything has gone wrong...)

The branch after cutting away all the bark.
I decided for some insane reason that I wanted to make the bowl of my spoon out of the section where the branch forks out into a smaller one. I wanted to keep all those interesting colours you can see, and while it paid off in the end it made things very difficult at times.

941086bf-df1d-430b-a4e0-c71934918fb1.jpg



Removing the waste and roughing out a shape

23278d47-4fc8-492c-bac4-b36dc243abcd.jpg



Refining things a little
Now we're getting somewhere. The big knot in the grain on the backside of the bowl came from my choice to use that forking section of branch. I like how it looks though.

fc5e0f9a-3a9b-49b2-8d91-fe292883b89e.jpg


bfb4b990-afdf-41c7-b1d0-68bcaa8a8f8e.jpg



The current situation
The spoon as it stands now. When I started, I didn't have a crook knife so I had to order one, wait for it to be delivered before I could continue. I'm very pleased with the bowl although I am tempted to try and make it a lot deeper.

The spoon itself is far from finished. Need to smooth out all those angles, sand it down, and finally put a finish on it (something I've not done before so that will be good to learn).

1f9227a0-cd97-4e58-a6b4-4f28c5b6e806.jpg



Bonus level unlocked!
As I chose to make the bowl from the middle of the branch, I had a small piece of wood leftover, so I decided to make a smaller "teaspoon" as well. This I'm not as pleased with overall, but I learnt even more from it as well as getting two spoons from one hunk of wood. Bonus!

ed30cd1b-3af3-4be0-b724-c2037e11cf2f.jpg


f147aaff-54c2-47cb-a85d-62b52673cb8c.jpg


I really like the green vein running through this one. Like a go-faster stripe!

CIMG1630.jpg


I got a lot out of these two in terms of experience and satisfaction. All comments/critique welcome!

I also have a few questions of the community...

Firstly is, what is the green stuff? The branch had been down on the ground for some time, so the bark was a little mouldy and fuzzy in places, so is the green stuff rot/mould in the grain? If so, would that make it unsafe for eating with?

Secondly, on the main spoon there were two spots where the wood was very soft, soft enough to make accidental imprints and marks with fingernails etc very easily. It felt more like working with balsawood or something. Again, was this rot? Or just a natural occurance within some wood?

Oh and finally, the crook knife I ordered is very odd. It's just a mora 164, but well for starters it's completely different to the one in the picture on amazon. The one they advertise has that stupid pointy end - now, I'm actually glad the one that came didn't have that, but still puzzled. Also, you can't see too clearly on my photos but the metal is a very dark, dull colour, almost purple. What's with that? Has the metal reacted badly to something?

Cheers!
 

ozzy1977

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
8,558
3
46
Henley
Cracking job :) cant say that I have seen green staining like that before.
Most people find the single bevel knife the better of the 2, as you can put a bit of pressure on the back of the blade, which you cant with the double edged one. I started with the double, like many and soon changed to the single
 
Last edited:

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Nice work fella, I would think the green is spalting, i.e rot? Can't see it being a problem if you seal the wood with something? Are you leaving them 'in the rough' or will you be sanding them?

Not sure about the knife's colour, I have the one with the point and I ended up grinding it round! Also it's pretty easy to grind off one side of a double knife, I did that with my other flatter curve spoon knife, also by Mora!
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
Nice work!

I'd say the green was spalting too, not sure though?

I think the purple metal might just be a patina developing?[B
 
Last edited:

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Nice work there; I wouldn't worry about safety, just seal the spoons with a drying oil, my choice is Walnut which is cheap as chips in almost any supermarket, just make sure it's dried properly before you oil it.

As to the condition of the wood itself, you've just discovered one of the pitfalls of using "found" wood as opposed to cutting and using green stuff. But there's no reason why both of those shouldn't end up keepers. One thing you may want to think about though, if the wood is a little "punky", it may not want to be sanded as it may just tear and crumble; it may be as well to get your finish with your tools and then oil it.

The main thing is that you've done them and learnt from the experience............I think they'll be grand!
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE