Learn to Carve an Eating Spoon
In this 6 hour workshop we will take a deep dive into the world of green wood spoon carving. We’ll cover all the skills you’ll need to go out into the woods identify, cut, cleave, axe, carve, and finish a beautiful and ergonomic piece of functional wooden ware.
Both the most basic of daily utilitarian objects and a surprisingly complex piece of design involving compound curves, intersecting wood grain directions, slight proportional nuances and very sharp tools. There is a lot that can be learned from a humble wooden spoon!
What we’ll cover in the course.
✺ What is Green Woodworking?
A little bit of context on the history and tradition of Green Woodworking and how it fits into todays culture.
✺ Wood Identification and Selection
Some basic tree identification and how to select the best species for carving. We’ll touch on where to source wood and discuss how to work with the grain to process the tree from a log into a manageable ‘billet’ for carving.
✺ Tool Use & Safety
You’ll be introduced to the various tools used for carving and how to safely use them. We will be using a froe, hand saws, axes, straight knives and bent/crook knives. We will spend time learning body positioning and safe axe swinging. We will also cover multiple different knife grips and what work they are best suited to.
✺ Design & Function
We’ll take a look at the geometry of proportion and ergonomics and discuss what makes a comfortable eating spoon. I will show you some techniques that help keep a spoon strong whilst still allowing for elegant and delicate designs.
✺ Embellishment & Finishing
You’ll learn some techniques for decorating your finished spoons including chip carving and kohlrosing. Finally we’ll go over how to best dry and then finish your spoons with a suitable food safe oil.