Spooning in the Woods!

I have done a bit of spoon carving in the past but I decided a course would do me good to try and learn the craft. If you look at the photo below of my first attempt - you will see why! I needed a bit of guidance on some basic skills that I could then work on to create beautiful spoons. What I hadn't realised when I fist tried carving a spoon that like any craft it is a skill that requires talent, patience and practice. 

First attempt at making a spoon!

A knife / spreader that I whittled 

I booked a day of spoon carving with  Gareth from Woodmatters at the Footprint near Windermere  in the South Lakes. It is a beautiful location to spend a day and has a very relaxing feel to it.

I am not going to write too much on this, just some steps of what is involved in carving a spoon. I don't have photos for each step but hopefully this blog will give an idea of how it can take all day to carve a spoon!

1. Choose your wood. I chose cherry as it has a beautiful grain. However, it may have been a better choice to stick to sycamore which is a much softer and easier wood to carve.

2. Using a saw, cut a forearm sized piece of wood and then split this in half using a froe.

3. Remove the pith from your piece of wood.

4. Draw on the basic shape of your spoon. A good way to do this is using a paper guide - if you fold it in half and cut around it this can help to produce a symmetrical spoon. 

5. Mark a line in from the neck towards the head of the spoon with a saw and the on the back of the spoon cut off this section removing 2/3 of the spoon head.

6. On the front of the spoon, saw a notch 5mm deep just down the neck (opposite the notch we cut in step 5.)

7. On the front of the spoon cut down from the mid point on the handle using a hatchet or a carving axe.

8. Still using the axe, on the back of the spoon remove the wood down at an angle towards the head of the spoon. 

9. Using the axe remove as much wood as possible to achieve the spoon shape.

10. Move to using a knife, Mora is a good brand. Keep removing wood until you are happy with the shape. This can be done using a variety of techniques and cuts. The main thing to remember is to work with the grain.

11. Using a spoon knife start removing the centre of the spoon. to create the head of the spoon. 

12. The spoon can be finished off using sandpaper to smooth off the surface or the cuts can be left to give a more natural look.

My finished spoon with lovely cherry grain

And now all I need to do is practice, practice, practice!!!