Even More Spoons!

[Martin]

They say, "If you can't beat them, join them", so at this weekend's RV I decided to have a go at carving some spoons. I managed to get a spoon knife from Ronnie Sunshine's at a very good price and already had my Mora and a Svord Peasant to get me going. Adding my axe and some sandpaper made my kit complete.

I was very kindly donated a nice piece of birch by Roadkillphil and subsequently a lovely piece of cherry by (C)raven (Paul) and finally a piece of apple by Matt.

Starting with the birch, I tried to rough out the blank with my knife but was quickly advised to use the axe to take off the bulk of the material. I'd never used my axe for such work before but thanks to some expert tuition from Paul I quickly got the knack of taking just the right amount of material away leaving my line behind. I must admit that my technique left several people scratching their heads and wincing as I had too many fingers in the way but somehow I got away with it. I must also show my gratitude to Justin Telford who sharpened my axe a couple of years ago and it's still holding a fantastic edge now.

Anyway, this photo shows the fruits of a weekend's labour and very enjoyable it was too.

4137

Martin

[Kernowek Scouser]

Nice work fella T^

[Tony1948]

Nice work MartinT^

[tonx]

Lovely job there Martin :happy-clapping:

Tony

[JonnyP]

They look good mate. How many more do you need to make..?

[Roadkillphil]

'ansum :D

[Martin]

They look good mate. How many more do you need to make..?

Another five to go. :)

Martin

[m0txr]

Expertly done, nice spoons there Martin :happy-clapping:

[harryhawk]

Nice work Martin T^

[jus_young]

Very nice work there Martin and somewhat better than my first attempt this weekend.

[Martin]

Very nice work there Martin and somewhat better than my first attempt this weekend.

I had some very good teachers sat around me, who were only too happy to give me the benefit of their experience. Funnily enough, just what bushcraft is all about. :)

Martin

[bikebum1975]

Damn nice work Martin. Axe carving is fun isn't it? Me personally I have yet to have people watch me they just cringe when I tell them I carve with an axe LOL

[AL...]

Hi Martin Good to meet you.
Real nice looking spoons there . They are great fun to make Just slap some Butchers block oil or Olive oil and they are good to go.
Cheers
AL

[Martin]

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement guys. I'm amazed at how rewarding this is and will definitely be doing more in the near future.

Martin

[Primerib]

Was this seriously your first try? You worked them out very nice and slender! If your work had an "I like" button you could be sure of my click! Are you going to finish them with some oil or the like?

[JonnyP]

Hi Martin Good to meet you.
Real nice looking spoons there . They are great fun to make Just slap some Butchers block oil or Olive oil and they are good to go.
Cheers
AL
Olive is a non setting oil and can go nasty. So best not used on an eating implement.

[Martin]

Was this seriously your first try? You worked them out very nice and slender! If your work had an "I like" button you could be sure of my click! Are you going to finish them with some oil or the like?

Yes mate, first go but I did have some very good teachers and was able to ask loads of questions.

I think I was very lucky to get birch as my first wood to try as it was nice and easy to carve despite being quite well seasoned. The cherry was nice and green but the apple was very dense and hard to carve it's also remarkable how heavy the apple is compared to the birch.

I fancy having a go on some maple and some ash to see what they are like for carving.

I coated the birch spoon with tung oil in the woods and the other two got a coating of mineral oil when I got home. The mineral oil comes from Ikea and is called 'Skydd', which is quite an apt name.

Martin