Glaucus' wood carving thread (spoons etc)

[Glaucus]

I thought I would post it in here. Out of the spam of GD it is kind of Home related.
Well I took up a new hobby at the start of the year and am about half way through my second spoon, this one is a big bowl serving spoon.

Kit
I got it all from http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk
Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet - I find the handle to thin and can't grip it. I don't have any grip strength it seems, hopefully that will improve through use, but I just find the handle to thin.

Bahco Laplander Folding Bushcraft Saw - really is fantastic, it cuts through wood like butter
Mora 120 woodcarving knife - again fantastic
Mora Drawknife - haven't used it yet
Mora Single edge Crook / Spoon Knife - fantastic but I need another with the blade on the other side.

Not a cheap hobby to start with that plus some cheap ass wet stones set me back
£171.50

 

[Glaucus]

First spoon, all purpose, suppose soup spoon is closest

One log

Split

Shape forming

You have to leave it for a few weeks to dry slowly, then sanded down

Oiled several times with food grade mineral oil

 

[Glaucus]

Spoon Two, Serving spoon/ladle

This time I thought instead of my damp dank garage. I would go somewhere nice and peaceful. So I went back to a childhood palace, that is now hardly ever used.

I managed to find a fallen down tree that hadn't been down to long, to get a blank from. Don't really want to be cutting down living stuff. Especially when you can find most stuff with a bit of looking.

Rough shape axed out

This is what happens when you are inexperienced and don't think about what and how you are cutting. Isn't as bad as it looks, a shallow angle cut, so has just taken the top layer of skin off, could have been so much worse, these knifes are designed to cut hardwood.

Gone to the knife to work at the shape

I had to get home before it got dark (motorbike battery, means dodgy lights) so this is where i got to today, plus I really need to get hold of that second hook knife, it wasn't an issue with the small knife, now I'm getting much deeper its so back handed on two corners of the bowl.

Next time, I must take full first aid kit.

 

[Glaucus]

I like it. Mad hobby though . Probably easier going to asda

For spoons yeah, but it's the creating part. Also hopefully as I learn I'll get bigger.

I went a weekend bodging and made a small stool I'll get some pictures up, it was intensely satisfying, most of those tools we used.

Would be interested to see that.
By the end of the year I would like to build a chair with a woven seat.

 

[Glaucus]

Fantastic work, there's a palace near me that does similar courses from one day to a week, depending what you won't.

 

[Glaucus]

Well finely got a knew knife, double sided. I still realy need one with a left only blade. You can file this down, but it's good being double sided when the work is easy.

So I finally did some more on my serving spoon, it's a bit lopsided and the bowl isn't as deep as I would have liked, but it's well seasoned and dried out know, which makes it so much harder.



Reminder of how it was several hours ago.

Now almost finished, Still needs some more sanding then oiling.

Probably bowl next, but to build a chair or other stuff, I really need to build a shave horse.

 

[Glaucus]

You are turning into such a hippie.
)

I am quite a hippie, just not a conventional one.
I'm all for building on green belt, nuclear, windfarms etc.
on the flip side, I think those of us who want to, should be able to live a simpler life, but regulations and planning permissions kind of makes it extremely hard.

Can you do wooden knifes, they wouldn't be sharp.

 

[Glaucus]

This site
http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/Kuksa tutorial.htm


And youtube is very good.
Wranglerstar for knife and axe sharpening videos. And he does a lot of other interesting stuff.
http://m.youtube.com/#/user/wranglerstar


Also Ben Orford, again good for sharpening videos.
Walks through a lot of wood working, axe handles, spoons etc.
http://m.youtube.com/user/BenOrford

Ben Orford is the one I watched to learn how to carve a spoon.

Need to stop spending money on gadgets and get some reeds for weaving.


The two more advanced projects I've seen, which one day I can dream of being able to do is canoe http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/sof-skin-on-frame-canoe-3.htm


And FlatBow ( I like lesser heard stuff, hence that over long bow)
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/downloads/pdf/Carving-an-Ash-Flat-Bow.pdf

 

[Glaucus]

started roughing out the shape for a Kuksa Cup today, its now wrapped in a damp towel, hopefully it wont dry out to much over the weekend. off all next week, other than a meeting Tuesday afternoon.

and if you want to know what a properly expert one should look like

 

[Glaucus]

thanks, I don't suppose you have any idea on a knife do you?
I want a heavy knife to use a bit like an axe, for chopping rather than cutting. for roughing out the shape, when the axe gets a bit to imprecise.

would love to go on a chair course, even better would be a shaving horse course (building one).

 

[Glaucus]

Ta, tbh didnt hurt, it has left an awful looking big scar though.

 

[Glaucus]

At my snails pace I reckon about 10-12 hours work. That took about two hours for me, I expect an experienced person would get to that stage in about 10-15 mins.

 

[Glaucus]

Out of interest how big was the block of wood you started with and where did you pick it up from?

My in laws have a caravan in wales and i bought a whittling knife for when we went down but i struggled to find any decent looking bits of wood that weren't rotted.

The small stuff for the spoons is easy enough, just walk around some woods and find storm damaged stuff.
The bow is about 6" diameter, dad volunteers on reopening and maintaining canals. They chop a lot down, so I put an order in.

You could use a mallet and chisel to remove the bulk. A decent chisel like a marples, sharpened to a mirror finish would easily remove the bulk and be more accurate than an axe.

I guess that wouldn't be bushcraft though? The finished item doesn't look rough enough to have just used bushcraft tools.

This is more bushcraft than wood work, so as few tools as possible.

 

[Glaucus]

After a long time off and the bowl cracking as it dried, got bored tonight and did a small teaspoon, in 70mins.
Went wood hunting today and got some bigger bits, such a shame i dont have a chainsaw, theres a downed oak, i would like some 4ft diamter slices from. No one else will toouch it, but it is just 10meters of a popular path.

Rough axe work done

Knife work

Hook knife

Need to let it dry for a few days, sand and oil.