Variations

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I opened up a cherry log. It really useful to make a couple of wooden wedges before starting the split. The wedges help split the log, and won't damage the axe if they come into contact.

I split the log into ten sections, ready to be turned into ten cooking spoons. 

By the end of the morning I had ten spoons roughed out. 

I used my adze to help speed up hollowing he bowls out. 

The twca cam also quickly removes wood from the bowl, and I find it easier to get a smooth finish.

I've got five pretty much finished, with a few minor refinements still needed. I am really surprised with the variation in colour between the spoons, especially as they're all from the same log. 

Oak burr

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I was digging through my wood pile and found some oak burrs that are about a year old. I'd completely forgotten about them. The swirling grain is amazing, so I thought I'd make as many tiny spoons out of it as I could. So far I've managed six.

Cherry off cuts

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I've been using a lot of cherry recently, and I'm really enjoying the colours that emerge from it. I wanted to do a small production run. I asked people that follow my Facebook and Instagram to pick from one of my designs and this is what they chose:  

Spoon carving video

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Spent some of my Easter weekend playing around with a video camera and iMovie. Hope you like it, if you do I might upload some instructional videos in the near future. 

Testing to Destruction

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For a while now I've wondered what stress a wooden spoon can take. I've had a spoon in my unfinished pile that I wasn't very happy with, so rather than making the small finishing touches, I thought I'd put heavier and heavier weights on it until it breaks!

Now this is a highly unscientific experiment, but a fun, illustrative one. I wasn't controlling for much, and the results are from a group size of one, but it did answer some questions for me.

Essex Wildlife Trust Woodland Management Day

Through the volunteering I do for the Essex Wildlife Trust , I ended up being invited along to their Woodland Management Day at Belfair's Woodland Centre. I'd quote forgotten about it until the email reminder I received on Tuesday saying they were looking forward to seeing me on Sunday. 

Last week was a bit of a busy one, as my day job had me traveling around the country quite a bit. It wasn't until Friday evening that I had the time to start preparing stuff for my stall.

Spoons I have lying around

Tool-roll: Mora (Frost) 106 Carving Knife

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Probably the best wood working knife out there at this price.