Wood carving inspiration.

[Quixoticgeek]

On my [thread=136432]Sixteen Skills in 2016[/thread] project I've set myself two wood carving related tasks:

• 04. Carve a spoon
• 08. Carve something useful other than a spoon

I'm not a very experienced wood carver, last time I tried to do carve a spoon I spent 4 hours in A&E... I've done things like pegs, a butter knife, and under Mesquites instruction and supervision I made a net needle.

Tool wise I have a Mora clipper, Dave Budd spoon knife, some Leatherman tools and a couple of awls.

Can anyone suggest any relatively simple, yet also useful, items that I could have a go at carving? I know there are lots of things I could try carving but I don't know the relative skill levels required. So before I hospitalise myself trying to replicate the Lewis chess set, any ideas?

Julia

 

[Mesquite]

Simple things that spring to mind include a lucet (that will then lead you into the world of weaving cordage with it ), a butter spreader or a spatula

 

[Barney Rubble]

Have a go at carving a spatula. Can be as simple or as intricate as you wish. They're also much easier to make than spoons and can be done using much safer knife grips (chest lever grip for the most part).

 

[Wild wandering woodsman]

A spurtle would be an idea for you


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mountainm]

try a "try stick"
http://www.karamat.com/trystick.pdf

 

[Tiley]

A 'try stick' is a great place to start though not inherently useful in itself as an object. A butter spreader - a bit like a spatula but a bit smaller - is fun to make with an almost infinite variety of shapes open to you. There are some good examples in Sundqvist's "Swedish Carving Techniques", which might also give you a few other ideas for simple, worthwhile projects.

 

[forrestdweller]

maybe a slingshot (fork) or a walking stick?!

or a bow drill set (if you don't have one already)...
whistle...

 

[Zingmo]

How about a back-scratcher? Start with a stick 18-20 inches long with a slight curve. Carve a nice scratchy finger-nail like end, thin down the middle and shape a handle on the other end.

Z

 

[mrcharly]

I second the suggestion of a spatula. Home-made wooden ones are usually better. A butter knife can be made fancy out of hardwood - they can be surprisingly sharp and nobody says boo if you use a wooden knife to spread butter/cheese on a train.

Then try converting a thick branch to a useful mallet. This just involves learning to pick a suitable branch (hard enough wood) of the right thickness, and thinning down a section so that the grip is right. Think of a mini baseball bat. V useful for pounding in tent pegs.

For something more challenging, how about a comb?

 

[Robson Valley]

I suggest that you find a straight, round branch, perhaps 3/4" = 7/8" diamenter, some 14" - 16" long, stripped of bark. Carve a 3-tined fork with a simple round handle, rounded at the end.
I've just measured the 3" tines. Stirring soups and stews, it doesn't splash like a spoon. Serving pasta, stirring rice, flipping frying foods. I use the rounded handle end for stirring pasta and pie dough. Quite bash-worthy for breaking lumps of frozen foods. You can always shorten the rounded handle end to suit your needs.

After all the spoons and forks that I carved, I kept one of each for use in my own kitchen. I'll select the fork 10X over any spoon for the above tasks.

 

[Nativewood]

I'll second butter spreader followed by spatula then spirtle. None require use of the spoon knife and the simpler they are in form often equates to the more useful they'll be.