It's a Spoon Thang

[Keoma]

Hello! I have been searching for ages! It just now occurred to me that I should ask yo guys! I need to find a spoon burr? Spoon Bit? Spoon gouge? Spoon Cutter outter?! It would help if I knew what they were called. I have several burr bits that I put in my drill press and besides wearing out, they are not big enough. If anyone could point me the right direction I would very much appreciate it! Thanx so much!

[ChrisS]

As a machinest I would never use a burr in a drill press unless I had a cross slide attached to the table. It is very dangerous. It will pull your hand in. It sounds like you need a milling machine with a round end endmill.
It is hard to rough mill things like a spoon shape. When you are done you have a lot of hand sanding. I would use a shaft grinder with the work clamped down. If you are making spoons hand carve them out.

I do not know what you are making but you are not doing it the right or the safe way if you have a burr mounted in a drill press. It is very unsafe. I would not want to read your name in the paper under Dumb*** Accidents.

Tell the forum what you are trying to do and they will tell you the right way to accomplish your goal. Safty first, second and last!

If anyone is using a burr in a drill press shame on you! I do not care how well it works. It just is not safe.

[Keoma]

Ha Ha Ha! Nothin like a good old fashioned a** chewing! Thanks for the laugh as well as the advice! My only saving grace is that I can tell you honestly that I don't know if I am using a burr or not! I don't know what it is! I was given a box of my grand fathers tools and that was that. Ha Ha Ha...your reply will make me smile all day! As for safety first I agree whole heartedly! As a rule I never use any saw when it is dark!

[AlArchie]

It sounds like what you are looking for are "spoon bits". Now here's the caveat.....they were (and are) designed to be used in the old style hand brace, and have a square taper shank made for the brace. They are used primarily in hand made furniture (chairs) and will produce a round bottomed hole if you don't bore all the way through. www.leevalley.com has them in sizes up to 5/8".

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,180,42337

There is no way to fit these into a drill press unless you cut the shank off.

Further, these are made for sloooooooow speed so even if you did adapt them, your drill press might not slow down enough to drill without burning the steel.

If it's just larger diameter holes you are after, you might conside the Forstner style bits. They will cut a clean sided hole with clean entry and no tear-out. You can get these in sizes from 1/4" to 4" diameter. These do work well in a drill press.

There are also "spade bits" that you can find at the local hardwares and they are typically available up to 2" dia. These will drill a fairly clean entry hole but are notorious for tear-out on the exit side of the work piece. They also have a sharp brad point to start and with the exception of that point will bore a flat bottomed hole.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/Search.aspx?c=2&action=n
Spade bits.......

Let us know exactly what type of hole you intend to bore and maybe you can get some better input.



Al

[JimSawyer]

I think what you're looking for is called a scorp. Flex-cut has some as well as Woodcraft. These are hand tools.
Hope this helps.

[mdallensr]

Keoma, I posted some photos of the way I carve the inside of a spoon bowl. You can do it with your regular tools, but it helps to have a curved (or hook) knife to finish up the areas when you're at the bottom of the bowl and right on-grain. I leave mine with the tool marks, but if you want to sand them, there's not much work left to do. Good luck. Mike

Love spoon bowl carving. - Wood Carving Illustrated Photo Gallery

[kitaye]

I use a spoon gouge but it is a hand tool not a power tool.

Mike, that is an awsome series of pictures. Cleared up a few things I've been doing wrong. Now I need to find one of those bent knife blades.

[Keoma]

Oh Wow Mike! thank you so much! OK...where do I find a good set like what your using? You gave me the bug...I am working on a Love Scoop right now...thank you again. Very helpful! How long from the first stab do you think it takes you to gouge that out?

[mdallensr]

Keoma, it takes me about 15 minutes to carve the inside of the bowl, given "carvable" wood. I've done some cherry, walnut and lacewood spoons that were more like ceramic than wood, and they took some patience. The spoon in the photos is butternut and soft butternut at that. No time at all, but I've done more than a hundred of them so experience helps. With a Foredom and a Typhoon bit, you could probably shape it in 30 seconds, but I'm an edge-tool guy and would rather make chips. In Shirley Adler's book on Love Spoons, she shows ways to fix mistakes such as carving all the way through the bowl. I'd rather not have to do that and haven't butchered one yet.

My bent knives come from John Dunkle, who also sells Blue Velvet stropping compound (pretty much the same as Yellowstone, sold by his father, Herb). John sells his wares at carving shows, and since he lives in Ohio, I see him often. Some others make similar knives. John also sells a leather strop with a rounded edge to sharpen gouges, chisels and knives, including the bent knives. My palm gouges are Ramelson or some generic version. The trick is to use the big #5 or whatever sweep fits the final shape of the bowl. Good luck. Mike

[Keoma]

Thank you! Can you tell me how to get in contact with him? I did a search on yahoo and lo and behold...I was brought right back here! Wow! LOL...I really appreciate your help!