Spoon making woes...

Noshtero

Noshtero

Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Messages
1,551
I'm having all sorts of trouble on this damned spoon :thumbdn:

Is there a finese to carving these things, or do I just suck? Granted the wood I'm using is hard as iron. Should I be starting on something nice and soft like pine or basswood? I have... erm. I guess something that resembles a spoon-ish like thing. It has a wee little bowl to it. I can't dig any deeper than about 1/2".

Now I make a mean handle. Curvy, nice and thin, a beauty for sure. It's just the bowl part that is giving me troubles. I have to push so damned hard that I refuse to do pull cuts for fear of ramming my bent knife through my stomach. Is it just the choice of wood? Is there a secret to keeping the wood soft? Soaking it in water or something maybe?

If I can't figure this out then I'm going into business making one of a kind hand made spatulas :D

Thanks!
 
keeping the wood wet while carving (i have read soaking it in water with a bit of bleach to keep away the mold) will make your life easier.

you should be starting with a softer wood though...pine or basswood would be good just to get used to the motion of the knife, or even some green birch or something.

another thing is that your knife may be dull...is it a mora crook knife or a different company/maker? i think i read somewhere that the mora crooked knives tend to come a bit dull and need some honing...
 
Jeez man, I don't know what to tell you! Can you hold the handle in your left, brace your right against your thumb and make pull cuts that way, just pivoting your wrist?

Then you can just wear gloves to give yourself a measure of safety.
 
Lol.. I'm using a Northbay Forge bent knife. It doesn't get much sharper.
I've got the nifty kevlar gloves, but I don't completely trust them.

I think I'll pick up a hunk of pine or something and try again. I have no idea what wood I'm using but it has to be hickory or something. I'm telling you it's like concrete. I have the world's first tactical spoon going here. Bring on that Mors knife test where you see if it can support your weight. I guarantee this spoon can pass it :)
 
Ohhhh it starts.;) I'll try and help a little.

  1. Use green wood when possible. Dry wood soaked in water dosen't really work. Once it's dry the cells collapse and soaking it will only help to a point. Iv'e tried it :(
  2. If your using dry wood, go with a soft one. Basswood is great for beginners. Also... butternut, and Tupelo are good ones. A local wood supplier might be able to set you in the right direction.
  3. Buy a blank. If you go to www.pinewoodforge.com Del sells all kinds of spoon blanks. Good place to start.

Don't get to frustrated. It takes time. Green wood will be like carving a butter stick compared to what you're hacking at now. And Basswood will be like a bar of soap.

Get some proper wood and you'll be surprised at what you can do. :thumbup:

Edited to add: since you hang out here in W&S I'll assume you have a sharp knife to carve with. ;)
 
Like others suggested, use softer wood. But, if don't want to throw away all your progress, you can burn out the bowl. Stick a properly sized rock in your campfire, then put in were you want your bowl, then scrape out the black chared wood. Put the rock back in the fire, and keep doing it, until you get it the depth you want. Or, use coals from the fire, if your worried about exploding rocks.

Disclaimer: I have never made a spoon myself, just from what I have heard.
 
for my spoons i ose the spay blade of a stockman because you can kindof use it like a chisel. i have done mine in pecan wood, which took a while but turned out a nice looking spoon
 
I don't have a link handy but there are some articles on OMF.
+1 for Pinewood Forge/Del Stubbs. For $45 it's one of the best knife values I have ever gotten.

I am no spoon-master but have turned out a few serviceable and symetrical spoons with appropriately deep bowls.

Soaking green wood will keep it from drying too quickly and splitting while you are working on it. No promises that it won't anyway but it helps. Put your spoon aside and get yourself a fresh, green stick of just about anything, split it and start carving just for the sake of getting to know your knife and the wood. I have used green Cherry bush branches, which is reasonably dense yet very easyto carve. "Soft" Maples, Tulip Poplar, just about anything that grows in the deciduous forests of the east works. I have carved a few from dried wood and, depending on the wood can be a real booger or not so bad. Green - just about anything works but avoid open-grained woods or highly figured woods. Plan on carving a few throw-away, practice spoons. Working the green wood, you can turn a rough spoon out in fifteen to twenty minutes just for the experience. I haven't seen what your knife looks like either though. The one I have is an absolute gem and may make it easier too - I don't know.
 
Jeff H said:
I don't have a link handy but there are some articles on OMF.
+1 for Pinewood Forge/Del Stubbs. For $45 it's one of the best knife values I have ever gotten.
Click to expand...

While I think any knife you're comfortable with will work, +1,000,000,000,000,000,000 on Del's knife.

Carvingknives007.jpg
 
Unless you're one of those purists who has to use a knife or you won't be able to live with the guilt :D buy a scorp, which is a type of draw gouge. Nice deep bowls will be your trademark. You could buy a Carvin' Jack which has all the blades you need. I've read mixed reviews of it - most people like the blades but don't like the tiny nail nicks and they find it not real comfortable in the hand. I'm going to buy one soon, since I'm wanting to get back into whittling as a hobby.
 
I have some very nice crooked knives, but in hard wood (hard as in dry and hard, not necessarily deciduous), as well as wood prone to splitting along the grain, I find it easier to use chip cuts to rough out the shape of the interior bowl and than finish it off with sandpaper (I like to start with 3M Sandblaster 60 grit). Our ancient ancestors probably shaped wood with rocks and real sand long before they learned to carve with metal knives.

I have also used a Dremel with high speed cutters. Works great, but somehow it feels like cheating.
 
guyfalks said:
......I have also used a Dremel with high speed cutters. Works great, but somehow it feels like cheating.
Click to expand...

If a SPOON is the goal - "whatever works best.":thumbup:
I have a shop full of stuff I could probably make some really nice spoons with but I just get a kick out of using whatever knife I am carrying and my crooked knife to see how good a spoon I can get with just that. My wife expects some nice stuff like Tarmix101 posted (gee, thanks for raising the bar;)) so I am going to have to "cheat" too because the ones I have been making with just those two tools are pretty,.... well,.... "rustic.":D
 
I like the idea of burning out the bowl of the spoon. Has anybody here ever actually tried it?
 
Sorry to be airing my ignorance in public

but

why carve spoons ?

If its a cos ya can thing , thats cool , I never had much call to use a spoon when I was camping rough tho , skewers and forks , yeah , but spoons no ..

I cooked roo rabbit goat piglet wallaby and sheep and fish over my fire and never had to use a spoon to eat them .

The fruits and veg I got was all either eaten raw or roasted .

The most creative I got was making a couple forks for handling the hot stuff cooking or eating , and making a plate to sit the hot stuff on to eat it .

I am missing something here ....
 
Whittling is just fun, and a stew just tastes better when you eat it from a spoon you make yourself.
I had good results using coals from the fire to scorch a hole for the bowl. Keep it moving and be careful not to burn it too deep.
 
I just like carving stuff. I'm pretty handy with my knife, but I'm very new to bent knives to make bowls.

I like to make letter openers for friends and family. I do some wood burning on them to make them personalized. I also enjoy making ball in cages. Those take considerably more time. I've made them for my nieces.

I'm going to get some pine or basswood and give this another go.

Here's what I have so far on the first spoon. It's very rough:
DSC03750.jpg
 
Noshtero said:
DSC03750.jpg
Click to expand...


I don't think it looks bad at all. You hacked it out of what looks like some very dry, seasoned, dense grained wood. That would be hard for anyone.

In the pic below the top spoon was carved out of dry as a bone white pine, the middle was carved out of green spruce (lots of knots) and the bottom spoon was carved out of dry Butternut. The Spruce was by far the easiest to work, but all carved well.

IMG_0479.jpg


Keep at it with some proper wood. You'll be pleasantly surprised.:thumbup: Also, if you have a sharp SAK, give it a try as well. They are great carvers.
 
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