Spoon carving tutorial

[mdallensr]

Hi all. I started this tutorial this spring while I was carving a gift spoon for my kids’ high school band director. I’ve had a couple of questions about spoon carving recently so I decided to quit procrastinating and post the tutorial. It’s a fairly simple design but serves to demonstrate the steps I take to make a blank and carve a spoon.
#1. Select or cut a blank that is a little longer than the pattern. We’re going to keep the waste attached at both ends while we carve the spoon.
#2. Make sure the edges are square with the surface so you’ll have no problems cutting the waste pieces on the band saw.
#3. Trace or transfer the pattern onto the front surface.
#4. Use a square to mark the ends of the spoon on the front surface.
#5. Carry those lines around the sides of the blank

[mdallensr]

#6. I use a template to draw the side (elevation) view on both sides of the blank.
#7. One side pattern will be your guide when you make your cut on the band saw; the other side pattern will let you check the far side to be sure you’re making a straight, square cut.
#8. Connect the pattern lines to show where the band saw blade will start the cut.
#9. Start the band saw cut and check the alignment to be sure the blade and blank are square.
#10. Make the back cut, stopping short of the bottom of the bowl to keep the waste attached. Make a mental note to do some maintenance on all of the tools that rusted this winter and spring in my outside shop.

[mdallensr]

#11. Use the band saw to cut the bowl waste piece, again stopping just short of the bottom to keep the waste attached. Check the cut as before by marking the blank with the blade and checking both sides.
#12. The band saw cuts are done
#13. Keeping the waste attached gives a flat stable base for carving the spoon details and inner bowl. It also adds strength to some fragile areas that would be easily broken during carving.
#14. Drill the starter holes for scroll sawing the blind holes.
#15. A band saw or scroll saw can be used to cut the pattern. I’ve been using my scroll saw more when I have few to cut (since it’s slower) but want the perfect finish it leaves on the spoon sides. I don’t want to spend a lot of time cleaning up the sides, so I cut just to the line with a 13-tooth blade.

[mdallensr]

#16. The blank is complete and ready to carve.
#17. The scroll saw makes a smooth cut that will finish beautifully.
#18. The carving on this design is minimal; just some rounding and a few details.
#19. I like the way the profile and carving reveal the wood grain in this cypress piece. It’s almost quarter-sawn and that presents a lot of interesting wood grain in the finished carving.
#20. We’re ready to carve the inside of the bowl, and that’s much easier and safer with that waste piece still attached.

[mdallensr]

#21. I use 3 gouges to carve the inside of the bowl and posted a series of photos in the gallery a couple of years ago on how I do this (Spoons - Wood Carving Illustrated Photo Gallery). I carve the back of the bowl last, which releases the waste pieces from the blank. Even though this spoon bowl looks pretty deep, there is a lot of wood left in the bowl. Keep checking the thickness by feel as you carve.
#22. This spoon got several coats of Tung oil rubbed out with #0000 steel wool, then a few coats of clear Bri-Wax.
#23. I like to sand and finish the back of the spoon, particularly when the wood grain and color enhance the look of a simple design.
#24. It’s “almost” quarter-sawn, but close enough to cut through a lot of growth rings and add some interest.
#25. The scroll saw cut is smooth enough to provide a sharp, clear surface for the Tung oil to expose the grain and growth rings.

The band director liked it. Good luck! Mike

[MelNM]

Very good tutorial it definately will help me with my project.
Mel

[James A]

What type of wood do you use for the spoon. Also, what size of peice do you use. I might have to make one for my band director for not being as good at the beginning of the year as I should sence having to have my wisdom teeth out 5 days ago.

[Iowa Carver]

Wow, that is really cool. Nice and well done tutorial and carving. Thanks for posting it.

Corey

[mdallensr]

James A, I started carving spoons several several years ago from basswood, then used butternut, mahogany, lacewood, cherry, aspen, walnut, cypress (in the tutorial), Alaskan yellow cedar, and some scrap, pallet wood. I think the wood grain and color add a lot of interest, so I don't use basswood much anymore (but it's the easiest to carve). Most of my blanks are about an inch thick, but I've used 3/4" stock. I've carved some spoons with curved handles that required stock 1 1/2" thick. I won't carve many more spoons from walnut; that's a struggle! Good luck Mike

[BobD]

Nice work, Mike! Thanks for doing the tutorial!

Bob