Walnut and Apple Splash

This spoon was a long time coming. I mean I have had the idea for months, but never acted on it. Mostly because I was scared of messing up. Long ago, I tried wood turning buying the tools and setting out to be the next great turner. As it happens turning was not for me as I did not appreciate the noise, and all the chips that landed everywhere. Carving is very Zen like for me - proably why I carve so many spoons. My son actually turned this little 'handle thing' when he was about 10, and I carved the apple scoop a couple of years back and both sat quietly until this afternoon when I finally attempted to drilling the hole. It took all of 30 seconds and was a none issue.

The result is quite nice as the chocolate and golden browns work well together. Most impressive is that it stands on its own base. And it looks cool too.

2010 68 Maple Ladle

I like the shape of this spoon with the keel running along the back. I gave it an Octogon handle which is hard to see, but there none the less. You can see the darkening that occured as it dried. I scraped and scraped, but was not able to remove all of the discoloration. Kind of depressing, but nowhere near as bad a dropping an almost finished spoon only to have the bowl crack....

Anyway as long as we are palying critic. The bowl needs to be a bit larger to have any real use, but the general S shape gives it good user properties.

If you look close you can see a bit off my workshop. It is a small rolltop desk where most all of my carving is done. I plan to take some pictures of my tools and process over the holidays. The desk works well and the rolltop is great to hide the mess. I only wish is was more sturdy. On my long list is to build one like you would a workbench - a someday project.

2010 67 Maple serving spoon

One of last pieces of maple in the freezer. I have enjoyed the simple chip carving patterns I have added to my spoons as of late. I went so far as buying a book on technique this weekend only to realize what an amatuer I am.

2010 65 and 66 Chestnut Coffee Scoops

Here are 2 Chestnut Coffee Scoops. There are 2 sizes. I prefer the longer one since I can reach into those silly coffee bags. Both turned out nice are potential xmass gifts for a couple of people I know.

Spatulas

Hera are a couple of saute spatulas I recently finished. These are both Boxelder.

1 has a flower coming out of a pot and the other is a vine with flowers.

I recently carved 2 other saute spatulas one in Mulberry with a chipped carved handle and the other is Elm with a small frog on the handle. In my haste I forgot to take pictures before selling them. I had big plans to photograph all 4 together since these pictures did not turn out as well as I would have liked. Luckily, I plan to stick to carving and not selling pictures....

I have 2 small coffee scoops to finish off this week and will post them soon.

Happy Halloween

Here is a final festive picture. This particular spoon is maple. It turned out nice with a slightly curved handle. I added the chipped carved ribbon on the handle. One of the better spoons I have carved in some time.

61 - Maple with Chipped Carved Ribbon.

Trick or Treat

Here are the finished spoons. We have in no particular order.

56 Chestnut Burl - I carved this close to the surface. The back of the bowl is the natural shape of the wood. I saved a nice section of burl that forms a nice thumb rest on the top side. In all a pretty nice spoon.

57 - Walnut spoon. Just a nice user
58 - Alleywood - another user, but I like how th two spoons work together. If you try hard you can see a nice male and female form as they stand beside eachother.

59 - Oak - red oak spoon with an oversized bowl. I like the nice organic look.

60 - Small Redbud server. The last of the redbud. This is the last piece of my small collection of redbud.

In process

Here are a few spoons in the process. I am drying and finishing them. This means lots of scraping, and some sanding when needed. I am working to keep these more natural with only the bowls sanded and the rest scraped.

Not the best spoons I have ever carved, but my supply of materials is down to 3 pieces in the freezer. Getting nervous....I think I may have a problem.


Top to Bottom
redbud
alleywood (or rather unknown)
walnut
Chestnut

The Chestnut has a nice burl on the backside, so we will see if it becomes a gem or just another user...

Coffee Scoops

Here are 4 new little spoons to replace that little plastic coffee scoops I find being used.

On the top right picture they are

2010 55 - Redbud (top left)
2010 54 Alleywood (top right)
2010 53 - Cherry (bottom left)
2010 52 - Cherry (bottom right)

These are a fun way to use up scraps, and they always sell first. They are small, but still take awhile to finish. I think the small size slows me down.

2010 Chestnut teaspoon

I carved this as my contribution to Norman's spoon collection. You will find a smaller version I carved for my son somewhere in the blog. It is a tad over 7 inches long. Unfortunately, it needs to be closer to 9 inches. This has been a real struggle for me. I just carve and what gets created, just does. Trying to carve adhering to specific deminsions has not been easy.

Oh well, I carved 2 similar spoons and should be able to carve a third. Anyhow this one turned out pretty nice. I still like the little 4 inch one better, but I think is realted to the fact that it just appeared as I was carving and this one was planned.

I still plan to carve a spoon for the collection, but I am again almost out of wood. I need to go out and up my raw materials. I carve so many spoons that I find running out of wood to be my primary hurdle.

This one is not numbered.

Spoon Gathering

Here are the final pictures. These are from the 4th Spoon Gathering Spring of 2010. This was the largest event to date with about 50 carvers and at another 20 spectators. This has become an annual trip for me. Nebrasks to Milan, Mn in 7 hours. I only wish I could go more then once each year.

Spoon Gathering

Here are a few pictures of the Third Spoon Gathering. The weather was very bad. I only stayed the night and then ran home like a scared kitten. I am not a fan of cold weather. Not sure why I took so few pictures.

There is also a picture of me there, just for those who may be curious.

Walnut Tulip set

Here is another in walnut

RedHeart Tulip Salad Set

Another picture I wanted to share. This is one of my trademark creations. They started me off in selling my spoons versus just carving and collecting.

Teaspoon Collection

Here are some more pictures from the Second Spoon gathering

Norman S has an extensive collection of teaspoons he has been collection for years. Here shared his collection and I was fotunate enough to photograph many of his spoons. Hopefully he does not take offense to me posting this here. Someday I hope to add one of my spoons to his collection.

Spoon Gathering

Here are pictures from the Second Spoon gathering in Milan MN. There is a picture of Frank here. He has since past on, but he is among my inspirations. Frank, Dell, Jim, Tom, and Fred have all inspired my carvings personally. They are all great carvers in the scandanavian tradition.

They taught me about carving green wood, making a blank with an axe, scrapers, and finish. I wanted to post these to inspire others, but also my computer is acting wonky and I fear loosing these forever.

2010 51 Spalted Cherry

Spalted Cherry spoon. Nice peace sign carved in the handle. Curve is almost too much to be a good user, but neat still the same.

Status: Available $20

2010 50 Chestnut spoon

Here is another Chestnut carving. Just a simple spoon, but I was able to save some of the interesting grain. A good user and nice to look at.


Status: Available $20

2010 49 Chestnut saute

Here is a Chestnut saute or spatula. I would encourage you to carve one or three. It is a great beginner carving since you do not need a hook knife, and you can use it everyday when cooking. They easily replace metal and plastic spatulas. This particular one has the beginning of a burl on the handle which I was able to keep.

Status: already sold for $20

Early fall Spoons

2010 46 Crabapple frog

2010 47 Chestnut Chip

2010 48 Maple Leaf

This is the last of my neighbors crab apple tree and although I love the wood I am glad to be on to something different for a while. The hardest part for me is having the time to find wood. I seem to have plenty of time to carve spoons...

The Chestnut is new to me. I like carving that. Took me a long time to ID this wood and it was alleywood for quite a while. I call wood that I can not identify alleywood - as in found in the alley behind my house.

The small maple spoon is a blank I received at the last spoon gathering in Mn. The blank was done so well I barely had to cave it. Something fun for beginning carvers. I froze the rest of the blanks in case someone needs an extra.

I have several more spoons waiting to be finished and a special spoon to post soon.

One final picture of a few Netsuke carvings. My spoon shaving horse an some older tools I still use. I wll post soon a picture of my knee horse.

Old Spoons

In addition to the canes. Here are some old pictures of spoons carved several years ago. I sure wish I had kept a few of them. Hopefully someone is still enjoying them.

Canes and walking sticks

Here are some pictures of canes and walking sticks I have carved over the years. I still have several of these. Others where gifts.

2010 45 Cherry dipper

Interesting piece of cherry. I added some chip carving in the rim and on the handle.

Status: available $20

2010 44 Crab apple Tulip

I just love the shape of the tulip flower and it makes a great spoon. I did some basic kelrosing on the handle which is something new to me. I use this technique to add my signature and number. You then rub coffee dust into the slices. Once you oil the spoon the black coffee is locked into the spoon forever.

Status: available $20