Spoon Carving Book Pdf ((TOP))
Marissa Albero
Even experienced spoon carvers sometimes fall into this pitfall and continue carving for too long without stropping or sharpening their knife. So make it a habit to strop regularly. Sometimes even in between. But at least after and before carving and sharpen your knives regularly. Do you have the feeling that instead of getting better, you are getting worse? Do you get streaks or scratches when you carve? There is a good chance that your knives are not sharp (enough), blunt or even damaged! Sharp tools are therefore not only safer, but also a basic requirement for achieving better results, which is why they are number 1, 2 and 3 on the list, but because otherwise this blog will be way too long, we continue to the next tip.
Do you want to put your spoon to the test even further? For example to test whether it also works for soup? Then hold it under the tap and see what happens. Then you immediately notice whether the form works properly. Is the water still running off somewhere? Then your spoon is too narrow or too low or both. Then taste your spoon. Does the water stay on the spoon until you have it in your mouth? No, then see what you need to change so that is does. More depth in the back? Adjusting the angle?
Choose a spoon model and only start carving other models when you have mastered that model perfectly. Challenge yourself to carve a set of 4 or 6 of the same spoons. This helps you to understand and master a certain technique or shape to perfection.
In addition to our ancestors, we can also learn from our colleagues. Buy, trade, or borrow a spoon from a maker whose work you like. Study and try the spoon. How thin or thick is the bowl or handle. Have a look at the lines (just like you would in a sporty car). How is the connection of the bowl to the handle made. What is the curvature from the bowl to the handle? Where is the deepest point? Is the spoon big or small, are the lines angular or curved? Does it eat well? Can you eat from a bowl as well as from a plate? Could you carve these shapes yourself? Which elements do you want to apply in your own designs? All this helps you develop your own style.
Everyone can, and should carve a wooden spoon. This Instructable will show you how to get started carving your very own spoon and hopefully answer some of the basic questions regarding wood carving, whittling, and how to create your own wooden spoons that you can cook and eat with.
I've been collecting spoons of the world for a while (see second photo) and have always had an interest in odd spoons. Big ones, tiny ones, it doesn't mater really, there's just something about the spoon that from a design and function standpoint catches my interest. At some point I eventually started making my own spoons, and carving them with other people as well as a social event - it's a great thing to share in as a group activity.
Carving a wooden spoon is a great activity because the process is directed, but still has a place for creativity. It's easy enough for anyone to learn and delivers success at virtually any level of completion because there's always a use for an odd spoon and even when they don't go exactly to plan, they still come out as a beautiful handmade work of functional art.
If the spoon you want to carve is smaller than the piece of wood you've selected, use the table saw to cut the chunk into a thinner piece so you have to remove less material by hand when carving.
Then, use the miter saw to cut the chunk of wood to length at the ends of your spoon outline.
This is called creating a blank.
Something that's fun to do is to create many blanks at once and then pass them out to your friends so you can all carve together. Bring some knives and it's a carving party!
Next, use a scroll saw to cut along your outline. I tried to cut as close to my spoon sketch as possible since that's less material to remove later. That being said, if you want to have more material to be creative with as you carve, give yourself a little more room when you cut.
You can't go wrong by making your blank a bit larger and thicker then the intended finished spoon, you can always remove more material later.
If you want to spend more time carving - simply skip this step and remove more material by hand using the carving tools.
This step is completely optional, but since it was sitting right next to me, I used the belt sander to quickly round over the edges on the spoon and sand down to my spoon outline. Again, anything done with a power tool just saves you the work of having to do it by hand in the forthcoming carving step.
Finally, let's make some wood shavings!
Now at the very beginning it's useful just to get a feel for the knife and how it removes material from your spoon blank. Carving along the shaft or handle of the spoon is the easiest place to practice. Start by taking small strokes, removing small amounts of material, and carving away from yourself. While there are situations where you can safely carve towards yourself, at the beginning it's easier to just carve away.
Think about removing small chunks of material strategically from the tops of curves. Carving down, into notches is more difficult and so I usually like to orient the wood to my knife so that I'm carving over the crest of a curve or along a straight line.
Diving the knife down usually results in a larger-than-intended piece of material cleaving off. Better to stay in control of the cut and carve along the top of the material.
Turning a square block-like blank into a smooth spoon takes time - as in, several hours. So, don't expect the spoon to take form instantly, instead, just stay with it and work slowly towards the goal.
Once you've roughed out the handle of the spoon it's time to start working on the head. I found it easier to start with the convex back of the spoon rather than the dished out concave side.
Begin removing material along the edges of the blank and round out the spoon head to make a smooth transition from the back of the spoon to the rim/wall.
Keep rounding out the back of the spoon and creating a smooth continuous slope.
On to the concave side of the spoon - use a rounded sweep gouge or hook knife to start removing material from the face of the spoon.
Remove small bits of material until you begin to form a small divit. Keep removing material digging out wood closer and closer to the outer wall of your spoon.
I alternated between gouging from the center of the spoon towards the wall and working the tool down the wall of the spoon towards the center. Different strokes for different folks...and tired hands.
The hook knife was useful for shallow divots, but not very good at digging deep. That's where the sweep gouge comes in handy.
After extensive hand carving it was time to smooth out the carving marks with some sanding.
I used a small drum hand sanding attachment for a rotary tool, a 1" diameter 80 grit flap wheel and the small Dremel sanding heads to sand the inside concave dish of the spoon.
Hand sanding and a belt sander do just fine for the easier to reach back and handle of the spoon.
After the mechanical sanding came a bunch of detail hand sanding.
Starting with 120 grit paper and working my way up to 220 incrementally, I sanded every knook and cranny of the spoon smoothing out any remaining carving tool marks and making all the surfaces pleasurable to hold and splinter-free.
As a final step, apply a food-safe protective finish to the smoothly sanded spoon.
I used a product called "Emmet's Good Stuff" which is a food safe Gel Varnish that I've used in the past and had good results from.
UPDATE: Emmets Good Stuff although claims to be food safe, is definitely not! Thanks so much The Green Gentleman for posting a link below in the comments to the MSDS sheet. Don't use this stuff! I will re-finish the projects that I've made that use it with some thing that's actually food safe.
Mineral oil is also an completely acceptable finish, as well as any other "butcher block oil" or beeswax based finish that you may like to use.
Once the finish is dry you've got a spoon that's ready to use and enjoy!
Beautiful spoon! Thank you for this useful instructable!
In addition, for spoon carving one of the most important is to choose a hook knife. In this article, you can find what is the best hook knife for spoon carving: -hook-knife-for-spoon-carving/
A finish that contains toxic chemicals may be quite safe after it dries and cures. Of course you would not want to drink to solvent in an oil-based finish like polyurethane, but that evaporates and outgases. Once dry, a wooden spoon with such a finish might be no more dangerous than a plastic spoon..
If you have a band sander, mot of the "carving" can be achieved using that tool, including the back and the handle. All but the bowl of the spoon. Not for the purist perhaps, but very efficient. A dust mask and vacuum is important, though. This will create a TON of wood dust.
Personally I like seeing the very small toolmarks in hand made woden items, spoons, Kuksas, etc. It's an aesthetic choice but I also think it's nice to see how things were made well before the advent of sandpaper. My Dad taught me how the Japanese master craftsman would use wood planes to get a mirror finish.
Very nice work.
Making a spoon using the woodcarving method may seem like a long task, but there is still room for creativity in it. Freshly minted carvers carve a wooden spoon in all schools and wood carving studios. It is an entry-level sculpting work, an excellent trainer for developing skills in carving symmetrical shapes and developing a sense of form.
When selecting your wood, consider whether you want to use dry or green (wet, freshly cut) wood. Green wood is easier to carve because it's softer but can be prone to cracking as it dries. Dry wood is more difficult to carve but less likely to crack. Whichever type of wood you choose, ensure it has no knots or other defects that could weaken the spoon's structure or create obstacles during carving.
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