Refining skills.

A couple of weeks ago I had a lady and now friend come on one of my spoon carving courses wanting to refine her spoon carving skills. There were a couple of things she wanted to look at, one was to achieve a thinner neck and the other was to add a natural curve and flow from a flat piece of timber rather than a crook.

Teaching someone who knows the correct and safe use of tools is always a pleasure as you can watch them knowing that they are safe, and also they can be more receptive to what they want to achieve.

This makes them more focused and the course can be tailored around their needs.

A great day and productive too.

The spoon on the right is a spoon that I carved as a demo spoon as a recap at the end of the day. Now I have never timed myself making a spoon but It must have taken me under 10 minutes to carve from a flat billet.

I promised to finish the spoon as a gift as she liked it, once it was dry it needed a few finishing cuts in order to achieve a smooth finish.

And the finished spoon ready to put in the post.

Yesterday's spoon carving course

Yesterday I ran a spoon carving course teaching students to carve spoons using just an axe and two knives.

It was a good days teaching with some great spoons made.

Axes at rest at the end of the day

For details on courses you can Email me at greenwoodwork26@yahoo.com

Finished Ladle

I finished the Horse Chestnut ladle so I thought that I would put up a few pictures for those who are interested.

I've also been making a couple more and using the adze to hollow the bowls.

This one didn't quite split as I would have wished. I managed to get a decent sized ladle out of the top piece and a smaller scoop from the bottom piece.

I also had a delivery of a load of Birch. I have a course at the workshop at the weekend so it will be perfect for the students to carve.

A few working pics

I thought that I would post up some pictures of a ladle that I am carving at the moment,

I have a few Horse a Chestnut crooked branches from a tree climbing friend.

I have split a few open and I took some pictures of a few stages.

The ladle is at a rough stage and when dry I will finish it with the finishing cuts ,

I will post some pics when it's finished.

Some recent work

Well this is my first post of the year.

I've been a little bit busy with a few commissions but also managed to make a few new spoons,

The first one is a nice big ladle from Horse Chestnut. I managed to get hold of a few nice bent branches big enough for some nice spoons.

There was a big knot on the handle which at the time I was going to either remove or leave. I decided to leave it and do a free form chip carving of a flower and leaf design.

The second is made from Birch.

I'm pleased with this one!

This spoon is a sort of remake of a design of a spoon we have used in the kitchen for years. It's the spoon my wife likes to use for most things in the kitchen.

It's a cooking spoon come scoop that works with everything from turning pancakes to stirring soup.

Found some time to carve.

Ive been very bust recently with work and other things but managed some time to carve some very nice silver Birch.

I have also recieved in the post from Israel a lovely eating spoon from a friend Yoav Elkayam. Along with this wonderfull hand drawn envelope.

I met Yoav at Spoonfest this year and gifted him a little salt spoon from Birch.

I was delighted with his spoon and enjoyed eating my breakfast with it.

In fact I have used it daily ever since and it's a great spoon.

I also saw a post by another friend Sharif Adams, he wrote on his blog of an Apple wood spoon I gave him when I visited his home for a bowl carving course at the start of the year. He has been using it a lot since and it's one of his favourite spoons.

Mine is the one on the left with a very nice patina, I am thrilled that my spoons are enjoyed and used daily, it's a great compliment.

Finding some carving time at the weekend was very much needed and carving this rather nice Birch wood was very rewarding.

I am enjoying carving serving spoons at the moment, I'm also enjoying playing around with some different designs and styles.

Silver Birch serving spoons

I love Birch and it's fantastic wood for carving. It's a joy to use and provides excellent wood for spoons.

Here is a few pics of some serving spoons I have just finished.