My First Spoon

[Magicdave]

So this is my first spoon, it's just small.

Overall Length - 12cm.
Inside bowl - 28mm long x 19mm wide x 6mm deep.

I decided to work small while working out what I was doing. It took 3 attempts, the first 2 I whittled the handles clean off.

These were my first attempts at greenwood working and I learned a lot. At first I wasn't sure about working without a vice, but I got used to it and started to enjoy the freedom of not drawing out any initial shapes on the wood. I will definitely work on my symmetry, but I also started to enjoy that there are areas that take character from not having symmetry.

I'll continue to work this small for a while yet I think.

Any critiques are of course welcome.

13066

[Magicdave]

Just thinking some other views might be good, particularly for scale.

1306713068130691307013071

[David_JAFO]

hello,
I don't see anything wrong with that. If you can use it to stir, eat, etc.. then there you have it.. a spoon.
Regards
David
T^

[Magicdave]

Thanks David, there are a couple of things wrong with it as far as function goes. I think I got a touch to thin of the bottom of the bowl and for this reason I finished it with Renaissance Micro-crystaline wax, not food safe.

That way it will always be my first spoon rather than ending up in the bin when the bowl falls apart after loads of washing.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Image of a carved wooden spoon I picked up in our hardware store bargain bucket. The bowl of the spoon looks very similar in shape & thickness to yours. As long as it's not leaking I'm sure your still have a perfectly good usable spoon. Wash off the Renaissance Micro-crystalline wax. You could apply some veg oil or stain the spoon with a tea solution give it a darker colour? Looks ok IMHO but your the creator.
Regards
David

13072

[Magicdave]

I actually used a stainless steel teaspoon as a bit of reference for working on the bowl, so that's not really surprising. The sides of the spoon are 1mm thick and the front stretches out to 2mm. If the base of the bowl was 1mm I'd be happy, it's not so obvious from the pictures but there the thickness isn't so even.

I'm happy with my first go and what I learned. I'm going to leave this one and move on to the next.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Perseverance don't give up :wink:
Regards
David

[Magicdave]

That's the plan David. Thanks.

[OakAshandThorn]

T^ Brilliant :cool:. Much better than my first spoon, I foolishly chose seasoned Black Oak and put a nick in my crook knife :rolleyes: :p.

[Magicdave]

Thanks. In fairness it's not my first woodworking, though it has been quite a while. Just my first greenwood and spoon. Still a lot to be learned, not being my first with wood/tools is an advantage, but it's a very different beast, I reckoned it would be.


I foolishly chose seasoned Black Oak and put a nick in my crook knife .

I have no idea what this wood is. There were no leaves on the trees yet, not that I can identify many even when there is, and my knowledge of wood before it comes seasoned from a supplier is zero. Something else I'm looking forward to learning.

[OakAshandThorn]

I have no idea what this wood is. There were no leaves on the trees yet, not that I can identify many even when there is, and my knowledge of wood before it comes seasoned from a supplier is zero. Something else I'm looking forward to learning.
It's a common hardwood in my state, we have a lot of oaks here: Black Oak, White Oak, Scarlet Oak, Chestnut Oak/Rock Oak, Dwarf Chestnut Oak, Northern Red, Pin, Bear, and Post. But to be fair, it was a Mora 164 with factory edge ;).
My godfather, in his glory days (he is now suffering from Alzheimer's), could tell the species just by looking at the grain and colouration of a board. My eye isn't trained nearly as well...yet :).

[Magicdave]

Oh man, sorry. My wording was terrible. I know what Oak, and variations are. Well, once their off the tree and on a workbench I do. What I meant was that I have no idea what wood this is that I have used.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Magicdave]

Actually, that's not that well worded either. It sounds like I can identify a seasoned plained block variation of any oak. That's not the case. What I meant to say is that I'm not a stranger to them.

[-Tim-]

Nothing quite as relaxing/rewarding as sitting by a campfire whittling away making a spoon.

Last one I made was out of some standing dead wood / Silver Birch / fire wood on a "do nothing day" no sand paper just used some rounded pebbles to smooth down and some olive oil, ate that days evening meal with it.

Still have it in the campervan.

Cheers
Tim

[Magicdave]

Nothing quite as relaxing/rewarding as sitting by a campfire whittling away making a spoon.

For sure, I just found this out. Even though I let it dry and finished it off when I got home. ...See the following.


no sand paper just used some rounded pebbles to smooth down and some olive oil

I used sandpaper to finish this, which is obvious to see for those that work with wood. It is a goal not to. Heres' why.

A lecturer once said to me (and the full class) that the finest of finest violin makers don't touch sandpaper. This inspired me, I followed it up (within the hour) by taking the next thing I was working on to him and heard the reply, something along the lines of... "That's a nice profile, now sand it down and finish it off". It was just a look, a glance of understanding and no more words were necessary. I had mistakenly heard his lesson wrong, and to be honest I think he knew that in advance.

It's not that the best of the best avoid sand paper, but that they don't need it. It's what I strive for.

Not surprisingly, though it was at the time, the same afternoons lesson was on how to use sandpaper as a cutting tool, rather than for what most people think it to be.

[-Tim-]

Hi Dave, I didn't use sandpaper simply because I didn't have any as we were on the banks of a sea loch a good days paddle away from any where really, I had my crook knife, mora and axe as tools, oh and pebbles lots of them :)

Cheers
Tim

[Magicdave]

I didn't have any as we were on the banks of a sea loch a good days paddle away from any where really

Sounds like a great time to me.

[-Tim-]

Sounds like a great time to me.

It most certainly was, if you would like to read about the trip ..... http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?8830-Canoe-trip-Six-days-on-three-Sea-Lochs

Cheers
Tim

[Magicdave]

Will do. I've cheated and I'm working on carving a shi*t shovel, with a branch I brought home with me, while watching a bit of Matt Hayes on Youtube at the moment. I'll have a look when he's done.

[Magicdave]

Oh, would "Toilet Trowel" have been more to taste?

[-Tim-]

Oh, would "Toilet Trowel" have been more to taste?

:jumping-joy:
Cheers
Tim

[Magicdave]

Pheww!!! I hoped so. :) Never mean to offend.

[Magicdave]

Damn!! I just split the Shovel down the length of the spoon. On to the next.

[bikebum1975]

Those are a couple fine looking spoons.

[Magicdave]

Those are a couple fine looking spoons.

Thanks, I appreciate that. It's actually all the same spoon. I posted one image then thought it better to take/post images from different angles. And I'm glad you like it.