A New, Simple Love Spoon

[mlthomas36]

I have ruined many spoons by trying to cut or wedge out wood from a tight space. It seems I put too much side load and split the wood. I can understand your problem, for me I find it fun to challenge myself to do the smallest opening I can. Someday I want to make all my decorated spoons around 4-6 inches long. Fly Fisher has been a great inspiration to me with his ball&cage and chains.

[MackTheKnife]

I know your pain! It's best to go slow and easy with the sharpest knife you have. Here is a photo of the knife I used to do the piercings. It's from Pinewood Forge, the Skinny Sloyd. And, no, I have no connection to Pinewood other than liking their products.

[mlthomas36]

Thanks Bob, I am going to try the skinny sloyd that you use. Pinewood Forge has been really good for everything I have needed. Have to give it a try. Mike

[David Stanley]

Another nice little spoon Bob. I like the rounded raised edge encircling the Maltese Cross. Nicely crafted details like this, lift what is already an elegant design, up to a new level.

[MackTheKnife]

Thanks, David. I had originally planned to just have a line around the cross similar to the border I did for the handle. But, like I told Laura, the design evolved during carving. One thing I've learned over the nearly half-century I've been playing with knives and wood is that adjusting the design during carving is seldom a bad idea. Pencil and paper are just starting points.

[David Stanley]

I find that I draw and render the design in great detail before I start – to use a print of the drawing as a pattern. (This is probably due to my background which is two dimensional work mostly.) But that's only the plan view, I then roughly pencil in the profile on the side of the blank. When it comes to the carving after sawing and piercing out all the interior cuts, Then I mostly work intuitively, like you, I have no idea what I'm going to do below the surface until I do it.

I know you don't like sawing and I've got to say; it's my least favourite part but after investing so much time in the design – one of my favourite parts, I've got to keep to at least some of it by sawing it out methodically.

[Buffalo Bif]

Yup, nice spoon- I'll echo others here, first one I've seen makes me want to try one. love the simplicity

[MackTheKnife]

You know, David, as an engineer by trade and training, I understand the need to draw the design in detail. I do the same thing. I have a 6"x8" sketch book that I use to work out the arrangement and proportion of the elements of the spoon. Once I have something I like, I sketch it directly on the wood in pencil. I used to do a full size drawing on tracing paper then use transfer paper to copy the design onto the wood. After doing a few like this I realized that the design I drew on the wood didn't need to be exactly fair, true and symmetrical as I always adjusted by "rack o' the eye" during carving anyway. Now the only layout tools I use are a square to lay out the center line and the extents of the spoon and a compass for the circular elements. Everything else I free-hand. I will do a profile sketch of the bowl on paper, but I don't usually draw it on the wood.

Besides being constitutionally unable to saw a straight line, much less a curved one, I find the process of mounting and dismounting the saw blade for each piercing onerous. I figure that if I drill a hole, or series of holes of the proper size I can finish a piercing in about the same amount of time as it would take to drill a hole, dismount a saw blade, remount it, saw the hole, dismount the blade, and finish carve the hole. That may not be true, but the thought comforts me anyway.

[MackTheKnife]

Thanks, Brian. I highly recommend the exercise of carving love spoons!