Hi All,
My first post, so bear with me, I can waffle on a bit
I carved my first spoon! I had thought my log pile huge, enough for the coldest of winters....
then I looked at it again with a spoon carving eye, choice of two logs then
First one ended up as a cross between a serving spoon and a ladel, bit too curved, if I can find a matching curved log,
I reckon I can make a matching spork for an impressive salad tossing pair,
the log does determine the finished article eh.
Second one is much better, though the curve of the log was a little twisted, I managed to turn it to my advantage so the
handle curves down, this one will lay down flat, and still keep it's contents, a little knot found it's way right
into the middle of the thinnest part of the handle, just above the bowl, I thought it would make the handle too weak,
but managed to leave enough wood around it for strength, that the knot now looks like I intended it to be there,
as the 'bulge' makes quite an attractive feature
I used Hawthorn, the remains of the hedge I layed last winter. Each log had a lovely dark centre, seems the centre had died back a few seasons ago, leaving dead wood.
Questions...
The dead, dark, wood looks as though something stained it, bacteria or fungus maybe worked it's way down from the withered twigy branch which would've grown out the bottom of my spoons bowl had it not died.
Does this make the spoon useless? will it still be ok to use once oiled, or be too pourus?
Natural Oils. Danish oil, linseed, teak, walnut, hazel, or vegitable oils? the list seems endless
is there somewhere to learn about them all, which is the best choice for spoons/bowls/plates ?
are there pro's and cons to each finishing oil?
Looking for my next carving project, I'm thinking of a nice handle for a walking staff, crooked like a shepherds crook,
but maybe not as extreme a bend. Since I have little knowledge about steeming bends in wood, I think I'll have to carve the 'crook' bit seperately, then attatch it to the staff, so I'm now looking for a method. If I leave a fairly
deep tongue (about 3") on the crook, I think I can fit this into a slot in the top of the staff, given some pretty strong (waterproof) glue. So, what glue to use? I don't fancy any epoxy or non natural glue, I'm trying to stick (hehe) to
natural resources I have used a product based on fish (cascamite), a powdered glue you mix with water.
I last used it to glue in newl posts on a new starcase, the glue bond was stronger than the wood (pine I think) as it was impossible to break the bond on a test piece, the wood fractured first and I had to take a chisel to it to get
near the bond
Is Cascamite a 'natural' product? Since it's made from bits of fish I imagine there must be a "bushcraft" type fish glue,
is there a recipie? or an alternative? and is it waterproof?
Pine resin mixed with charcoal? I know it can be used to fix arrowheads etc. but what's it like wood to wood?
Choice of woods: Is there a resource listing types of wood and their best practical application?
I know fruit woods, black thorn & hawthorn are good to use for food utensils,
but what about willow (I have 6 salix species on my land and no interest in cricket! ) and sycamore, what are their best uses? I have used some pollarded willow for bean poles, split off the bark and used it for lashings, great stuff. I seem to remember Sycamore is good for fence poles as it
is resistant to rotting, which puts me off using it for food utensils incase it's resistant to rotting because it maybe has toxins in
Any help, (or book recomendations) will be much appriciated
Cheers Pumpy.
My first post, so bear with me, I can waffle on a bit
I carved my first spoon! I had thought my log pile huge, enough for the coldest of winters....
then I looked at it again with a spoon carving eye, choice of two logs then
First one ended up as a cross between a serving spoon and a ladel, bit too curved, if I can find a matching curved log,
I reckon I can make a matching spork for an impressive salad tossing pair,
the log does determine the finished article eh.
Second one is much better, though the curve of the log was a little twisted, I managed to turn it to my advantage so the
handle curves down, this one will lay down flat, and still keep it's contents, a little knot found it's way right
into the middle of the thinnest part of the handle, just above the bowl, I thought it would make the handle too weak,
but managed to leave enough wood around it for strength, that the knot now looks like I intended it to be there,
as the 'bulge' makes quite an attractive feature
I used Hawthorn, the remains of the hedge I layed last winter. Each log had a lovely dark centre, seems the centre had died back a few seasons ago, leaving dead wood.
Questions...
The dead, dark, wood looks as though something stained it, bacteria or fungus maybe worked it's way down from the withered twigy branch which would've grown out the bottom of my spoons bowl had it not died.
Does this make the spoon useless? will it still be ok to use once oiled, or be too pourus?
Natural Oils. Danish oil, linseed, teak, walnut, hazel, or vegitable oils? the list seems endless
is there somewhere to learn about them all, which is the best choice for spoons/bowls/plates ?
are there pro's and cons to each finishing oil?
Looking for my next carving project, I'm thinking of a nice handle for a walking staff, crooked like a shepherds crook,
but maybe not as extreme a bend. Since I have little knowledge about steeming bends in wood, I think I'll have to carve the 'crook' bit seperately, then attatch it to the staff, so I'm now looking for a method. If I leave a fairly
deep tongue (about 3") on the crook, I think I can fit this into a slot in the top of the staff, given some pretty strong (waterproof) glue. So, what glue to use? I don't fancy any epoxy or non natural glue, I'm trying to stick (hehe) to
natural resources
I have used a product based on fish (cascamite), a powdered glue you mix with water. I last used it to glue in newl posts on a new starcase, the glue bond was stronger than the wood (pine I think) as it was impossible to break the bond on a test piece, the wood fractured first and I had to take a chisel to it to get
near the bond
Is Cascamite a 'natural' product? Since it's made from bits of fish I imagine there must be a "bushcraft" type fish glue,
is there a recipie? or an alternative? and is it waterproof?
Pine resin mixed with charcoal? I know it can be used to fix arrowheads etc. but what's it like wood to wood?
Choice of woods: Is there a resource listing types of wood and their best practical application?
I know fruit woods, black thorn & hawthorn are good to use for food utensils,
but what about willow (I have 6 salix species on my land and no interest in cricket!
) and sycamore, what are their best uses? I have used some pollarded willow for bean poles, split off the bark and used it for lashings, great stuff. I seem to remember Sycamore is good for fence poles as it is resistant to rotting, which puts me off using it for food utensils incase it's resistant to rotting because it maybe has toxins in
Any help, (or book recomendations) will be much appriciated
Cheers Pumpy.
your insight into wood types is pricless, I can see there's no substitute for experiance, my learning curve gets steeper and the log pile smaller the more I look at it 
