My first spoon...

Well, I’ve been all over the place with the wood these days. Making a bunch of stools and such for a little cash but also hot on the learning curve with the lathe and getting the hang of turning bowls.

Spoons seemed to go with bowls in my mind. Seeing as the lathe is in the basement, I figured spoon carving was a good way to take a project outside in the nice weather when I tire of the subterranean shop. I bought a little sloyd knife from Murphy out of Ayer, Mass—I like it.

I tried to make a crooked knife but in a word – crap. Oh well, I tried. So, I bit the bullet and bought a Flexcut 8 sweep palm gouge. Wow. Worth the money. Got lots of advice from LJ’s—- and I tried like hell to get a cheap equine hoof knife, even. This just turned out to be the easiest affordable solution.

Without further ado, I present my first spoon. I think it’s Box Elder scrap from wood I foraged for turning. Box Elder smells bad enough that I wouldn’t eat with this one. Just a beginner carving exercise, I guess.

Finished it in mineral oil and beeswax.

Learned a bit. Bled a bit. Likely, ordering a Kevlar glove and sewing up a bit of leather for the ol’ thumb.

Thanks for looking…

-- "Take extra care not to lose what you feel" (Winwood/Capaldi/Wood)