[ejnelson]

Hello all! I finished this spoon over the weekend and would like your opinions! The wood is basswood and the finish is garnet shellac and wax. The design was my own.

[Sharon of the Dell]

WOW! that is one beautiful spoon.

[Keoma]

O that is sublime! Good For you! What a treasure! I can't think of anything better to scoop my coffee! Congratulations on the design! Wa hoo is that a beauty!

[mark yundt]

Wonderful! The bowl area is so crisp and clean,,good depth too! As far as the handle goes,,I see a future Acanthus carver in our group. Nice work EJ.

[ejnelson]

Thanks for the great comments everyone! They are very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by mark yundt

Wonderful! The bowl area is so crisp and clean,,good depth too! As far as the handle goes,,I see a future Acanthus carver in our group. Nice work EJ.

Thanks Mark, that is the direction my interests are taking me. I figure I needed to start doing something to get to know the tools a little bit. Acanthus, shells, volutes, etc.. are all items I would like to add to some of the things I make.

By the way, one of the difficulties I have is in the small area where the leaves curl over. What tool or method would you use to get a clean cut? I think the tools I have are either too small or too big!

[tnartist05]

I more than agree with the postings here about your spoon! Plus really like the details you created in your spoon handle and just a excellent job you did over all!

Forrest

[Ron T]

Wow! That is one nice spoon. What a great carving, design and finishing job.

[Thor]

Lovely results! The finish you got on basswood is really beautiful. I've never seen it come out that color before.
Acanthus leaves are a tremendous challenge, and you've really nailed it.
Thor

[bill#1]

Beautiful work on the spoon..I love it..

bill#1

[mark yundt]

It appears that whatever tools you do have got you through this O.K.

What were the tools you used for this as far as size and shape goes? As well as the size of the handle itself?

Curls were tough for me as well when I started. You can have them swirl such as you did,,or you can have them actually roll back on themselves. The second is a bit trickier than the other.
For what you carved I would say something in the #11 family would produce the desired cuts in the center of the curl,to give it some depth and a bit of a bowl shape,again ,,it depends on size. Naturally a smaller # 11 can fit in these areas,,but a larger one won't. That's why I lean more towards smaller chisels,,they'll make cuts larger ones can't. And with repeated cuts will mimic a larger chisel.
Another thing,,just in how you handle the lines of the carving and curl,,especially when it's fairly flat,,you can fool your eye into thinking it's really curling over. Like in a drawing,,nothing is really standing off the page or going into the page,,yet it looks like it's in 3D.

If this type of carving is what you are interested in,,then learning the Acanthus leaf is time well spent. This has to be one of the most versatile shapes going. And they come in a variety of styles. I use them repeatedly. There are many books you can find that cover these in all their forms. It's close to several types of lettuce. Or,,,if you don't mind looking really strange,,,I've been known to become fascinated with heads of lettuce in the store,,following my wife around,,stretching out the leaves saying " just look how this folds back on itself,,,look how the eyelets are formed,," For reasons unknown to me she seems to speed up and ducks down the next aisle mumbling something about either buy that or put it down. She doesn't know what she just missed with my playing with a head of lettuce. Poor girl.