spoon carving advice

spoon carving advice · 05-12-2009, 03:18 PM

so i am trying to carve a maple kitchen spoon. I started by bandsawing the general 2-D shape then i used a spoke shave to round the handle and the outside of the "bowl". I am having trouble shaping the inside of the spoon bowl, any suggestions?

ptt49er · 05-12-2009, 03:35 PM

Check out this thread, it's a spoon that Mike made. It's a complete play by play.

Good luck!

Mike Davis · 05-12-2009, 04:01 PM

Thanks for that kick in the teeth, I still haven't sent Cathy her knife!

ptt49er · 05-12-2009, 04:03 PM

Oops...sorry Mike :-X

Mike Davis · 05-12-2009, 04:08 PM

Another of those things i keep forgetting.

RobS. · 05-13-2009, 11:32 AM

I've only made one spoon using my lathe. I did basically the same thing as Mike. I even have the same bowl scraping tool and another similar tool. Can't find that spoon now

Someone likely left it at a family get together.
The rest of my spoons were roughed out with a hatchet, then a broken machete, then a draw knife switching tools as the shape progressed. For the bowls I use gouges/chisels. I have several in different sizes/cuts. I use a small piece of a limb from an elm tree as a mallet. Clamp 'er down and hack away til it looks like a spoon (actually the bowl requires a bit of care and gentle cutting). I do use the belt sander to shape the outside of the bowl - just a bump here and there for uniformity. Some I left a little rough and others I have finished nicely. Unfortunately my wife won't listen to me when I tell her the are NOT for stirring bread dough! She's broken 4 of my very best.
One of my favorites was made from a piece of solid pine lightwood I found one day while cruising timber. I gave it to the guy I was working with.

Got to get me one of them camera things so I can post some pitchers

Mike Davis · 05-13-2009, 12:28 PM

That's kinda funny Rob. I got back into spoon carving because my wife couldn't find a good dough spoon. I made her one out of hard maple and she's been using it for 16 years.

Most of my spoons are made just as you described except for the sander. I use a hand ax, spoke shave, spoon knife and a round card scraper.

I did the lathe spoons as a lark, just trying something new.

Here is another more refined version of a lathe spoon that is kinda famous in Great Britain, not for my making it but for the man who uses /owns it.

brent innc · 05-15-2009, 04:23 PM

Yeah! I remember the offset turning of a spoon by none other than ......al ROY. Good looking spoon Mike.