How Do You Carve A Wooden Spoon
Author Lee H Arten explains how he taught himself how to make his first wooden spoon a gift for his wife-to-be.
How do you carve a wooden spoon. Water absorbs much quicker through the end of the fibers so soak a spoon for a day or two in a plastic bucket shoe-box sized tubs work great any iron will react with the wood. These basic tools will get you there. Here is what Ive learned.
Pines and spruces dont use ring porous species eg. Push the gouge forward into the wood making cuts towards the center of the bowl. If you turn it occasionally in the bag.
Start sanding your spoon with coarse-grit sandpaper. You can slowly move on to medium and fine grit once you are done with the coarse grit. Do not let them soak for a long time in water and never put them in the dishwasher which will cause the wood to deteriorate quickly.
If its easier you can clamp down the spoon to a table and carve away with the gouge. Sand your spoon to 220-grit then apply a nontoxic oil finish eg. You do not need to dry your spoon if you have used dried or seasoned wood to carve it.
Take out little strips at a time and again avoid going too deep at once. Of course you can carve a spoon from any wood but diffuse-porous wood tends to work best. Place it in a plastic ziplock bag with some small dry wood chips and leave it open at room temperature to release the moisture.
I make most of my spoons from relatively dry wood and some species I prefer to carve dry. Ill do the overnight soaking once on the whole spoon then when I remove it from the jar I use a small rag from a cotton T shirt to wipe off as much oil as I can. Yes you can carve spoons from dry woodwithin limitations.